Catholic Priest Burning Idol House, Sogno, Kingdom of Kongo, 1740s
Capuchin missionary putting torch to fetish house; some villagers are observing, others are fleeing. Some of the objects used by a magician, e.g., snakes, goat heads, claws, are shown in foreground. Catholic priests, writes James Sweet, had little tolerance for African rituals and practices. Across Central Africa, priests burned 'idol houses' and 'fetish objects' in grand public displays meant to demonstrate the impotence of African spirits and religious leaders (Recreating Africa [University of North Carolina Press, 2003], p. 110). This source in Italian is a modern printing of a 1747 manuscript (located in the Biblioteca Civica of Turin) which describes Capuchin expeditions to the Kingdom of Kongo. The watercolor paintings record moments in the daily lives of missionaries Bernardino Ignazio and Gaspare da Bassano, who were resident in Sogno from 1743-1747. Sogno (Sonyo in English) was a province of the kingdom. The illustrations and accompanying manuscript were done by Ignazio. (Thanks to James Sweet for assistance in interpreting the source.)
Image Title
Catholic Priest Burning Idol House, Sogno, Kingdom of Kongo, 1740s
RegID
SI-OB-683
Date
1740-1750
Title
Catholic Priest Burning Idol House, Sogno, Kingdom of Kongo, 1740s
Source
Paola Collo and Silvia Benso (eds.), Sogno: Bamba, Pemba, Ovando e altre contrade dei regni di Congo, Angola e adjacenti (Milan: published privately by Franco Maria Ricci, 1986), p. 163.
Language
Italian
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--West Central North
Reproduced In
Paola Collo and Silvia Benso (eds.), Sogno: Bamba, Pemba, Ovando e altre contrade dei regni di Congo, Angola e adjacenti (Milan: published privately by Franco Maria Ricci, 1986), p. 163.
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Randall Ericson; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Identifier
sogno163