ABSTRACT
In the quest for salvation on which the devout engaged, maniera and enargeia became part of sixteenth-century confessional debates in which art played a prominent part, as the power of art to arouse the emotions in receptive audiences became increasingly important for patrons, artists, and devout audiences seeking salvation. Enargeia’s spiritual associations originated with Plato’s consideration of the Prime Mover. In the Early Christian era, its spiritual potential was exploited by theologians, versed in Classical philosophy, starting with St. Paul. As Jane Heath pointed out, enargeia was part of the cultural discourse prevalent in Paul’s time and it was part of a tradition of narrative and oratory that relied on stimulating vivid sense-perception. Heath also pointed out that a comparable, if paradoxical, feeling of longing for the absent brought present through enargeia is the emotions felt by lovers, who have been separated. Thus eros and spirituality can respond in a similar manner to stimulus.
