Seite - 47 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 05/01

Paola von Wyss-Giacosa Between Erudition and Faith Jean-Jacques Chifflet’s Tract on the Shroud of Besançon (1624) ABSTRACT The shroud of Besançon, a large cloth considered a precious relic as an “imprint” left by Christ’s body on his burial linen, experienced a period of intense veneration and public debate from the early 16th century to the end of the 18th century. With the publication of De linteis sepulchralibus Christi servatoris crisis historica (Antwerp, 1624), a treatise that was as erudite as it was intellectually and conceptually biased, the Besançon au- thor Jean-Jacques Chifflet significantly contributed to perceptions of his local shroud and its reception. A noteworthy selection of visual material that included the very first reproduction of the shroud of Besançon in a print medium was an important part of the book’s argument. This article offers a close reading of sections of Chifflet’s treatise, with particular attention given to the author’s targeted use of engravings as illustra- tiones (images meant, quite literally, to illuminate the text, its meaning and intention), and thus explores the representation of a local relic as a part and product of a cultural practice and of shared notions. KEYWORDS Jean-Jacques Chifflet, Shroud of Besançon, Book Illustration, Catholic Relic, Bernard Picart, Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde BIOGRAPHY Paola von Wyss-Giacosa works as a lecturer, researcher and guest curator at the Eth- nographic Museum of the University of Zurich since 1997. From 2007 to 2010 she held a postdoctoral position at the University Research Priority Program Asia and Europe of the same institution. In 2014 she was a Fellow at the Max-Weber-Kolleg, University of Erfurt, and in 2015 she was Acting Junior Professor for the Chair of Entangled History at the same institution. She is the author of Religionsbilder der frühen Aufklärung. Ber- nard Picarts Bildtafeln für die “Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde” (Wabern, 2006) and the co-author and co-editor of a number of volumes. She is a member of the Research Center Gotha, of the research group Media and Religion, of the research group International Exchange on Media and Religion, and of the editorial board of CROMOHS – Cyber Review of Modern Historiography. Her research topics include media and religion, book illustration and travel literature of the early modern period. DOI: 10.25364/05.4:2019.1.4 Between Erudition and Faith | 47www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1