Jose Gabriel Alegria Sabogal

The current proposal constitutes material for an upcoming book. The title paraphrases the work by Campbell Bonner (Studies in Magical Amulets, 1950) that posits that the aim of the so-called abraxas stones was chiefly medical and did not demonstrably align to gnostic doctrines. I would like to contrast this with my study of the Renaissance manuscripts of Pirro Ligorio (1513-1583) that has been part of my current PhD dissertation. His manuscript in Turin (Degli Antichi Intagli, Ja.17bis) reproduces several unque examples of the Abraxas type, yet his interpretation is, on the one side, mainly medico-magical, and on the other, projects his neoplatonic speculations of a timeless continuity between roman paganism and renaissance christianity as one eternal whole. Attilio Mastrocinque considers many of Ligorios magical gems to be Renaissance creations, which makes them no less interesting.
Our approach seeks to outline these sources with historical criteria, but also to celebrate these elaborations, not as fakes, but as Renaissance creations of the magical imagination. For this aim, I will showcase in my talk my own reconstructive drawings of such magical amulets, that will also be pieces for the exhibition.

José Gabriel Alegría Sabogal is an artist and art historian, born in Berlin and raised in Lima, Perú. He is currently completing his doctoral research with the help of the Max Planck Institute for Art History, Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome. His research interests include religious iconography and Sanskrit philology, the comparative study of religion, and Gnosticism in particular.

https://www.occultlibrary.org/author-database/josegabrielalegriasabogal