Less Known Iconography of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in the Prague Loreto in Connection with the Teaching of St Lawrence of Brindisi

Abstract

The text describes and contextualises collections of sermons by Lawrence of Brindisi about the Virgin Mary called Mariale, mainly the sermons about the teachings of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Lawrence of Brindisi, a capuchin monk and a European diplomat, was an important person in European church history of the 16th and the 17th centuries, but his texts are not yet fully appreciated. The text compares the theological question with the works of art from Prague Loreta. The comparison of the layout of this Marian pilgrimage place and thoughts of Franciscan spirituality contained in Lawrence’s sermons demonstrates the mutual interconnection between the specific period of theological thinking and a particular example of artistic expression.