Marcin Hińcza (1592-1668) was a Jesuit priest and writer, author of five devotional books. He was interested in visual arts and their utility in enlisting the believers during the Counter-Reformation combat with the protestants. The first part of the article presents emblem books of Hińcza (Plęsy Anjołów and Chwała z Krzyża) as an example of the Jesuit literary current of emblemata sacra i.e. emblem books used to meditate the life of Christ (exponents of the current: Jan David, Jerónimo Nadal, Antoine Sucquet). The literary current based on the symbolic theology (theologia symbolica, iconomystica) which – as Jacob Masen had described it – implied that symbolic arts can be used as a support in decrypting the meaning of God’s creation. The second part of the article analyses the persuasive functions of emblematic icons in meditative works of Hińcza in the context of Kwintylian’s concept of affectus (gr. pathos). The emotive influence on the spectator of emblematic icons was an element of the Hińcza’s didactic technique whose aim was to enable his readers the moral recollection during meditative exercises.
The aim of the article is to present the 17th-century meditations of Jesuit Marcin Hińcza entitled Plęsy Jezusa z aniołami [Jesus Dancing with Angels] in the context of Ignatius of Loyola’s meditation method and the main topic of the work which is the cosmic dance. Hińcza used the dance metaphor in quite the paradoxical way, because as opposed to the moralistic writings of his times he didn’t criticise it but rather applied to explain allegorically God’s plan on earth and the idea of imitatio Christi. In the title of his work Hińcza used the word “pląs” which in Polish means: dancing, jumping, applauding and also triumphing. This variety of significations served the autor to present the cosmic meaning of Christ’s “dance”. In Plęsy Jezusa z aniołami Jesus has “jumped” from heavens to the womb of Virgin Mary, then he “jumped out” to the earth to run it around (as Logos), next He “jumped” upon the cross on Calvary and triumphantly made his last “jump” back to Heavens. According to the meditative idea of imitatio worshippers should imitate the angels in supporting the Saviour in his “leaps”. The interpretational background of the article are the New Testament apocrypha and the Church Fathers’ writings.
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