Janes, Dominic (2012) William Bennett’s heresy: male same-sex desire and the art of the Eucharist. Journal of Victorian Culture 17 (4), pp. 413-435. ISSN 1355-5502.
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Abstract
In 1869, W.J.E. Bennett, one of the most prominent Anglo-Catholic ritualists in Victorian England, was on trial for heresy. He had caused particular outrage by claiming that Jesus Christ was visually present in the Eucharist. This article explores the links between Bennett's writings and his campaign of rebuilding works at his parish church at Frome in Somerset. Bennett advanced a form of incarnational theology that was sufficiently radical that he can be said to have participated in, and even to have contributed to, the development of the visual expression of same-sex desire in later Victorian Britain. The cultural politics of the aestheticized body of Christ mean that incarnational theology can be considered in relation to the development of new forms of homoerotic expression. Bennett's visual and textual legacy suggests avenues for further research into the aesthetic aspects of Victorian religiosity and the religiosity of art.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Anglo-Catholicism, W.J.E. Bennett, Eucharist, homosexuality, Pre-Raphaelite artists, Simeon Solomon |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Gender and Sexuality, Birkbeck (BiGS), Social Research, Birkbeck Institute for (BISR) |
| Depositing User: | Dominic Janes |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jan 2013 13:36 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Apr 2025 08:42 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/5769 |
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