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Iconophages: A History of Ingesting Images
An unprecedented art-historical account of practices of image ingestion from ancient Egypt to the twentieth century
Eating and drinking images may seem like an anomalous notion but, since antiquity, in the European and Mediterranean worlds, people have swallowed down frescoes, icons, engravings, eucharistic hosts stamped with images, heraldic wafers, marzipan figures, and other sculpted dishes. Either specifically made for human consumption or diverted from their original purpose so as to be ingested, these figured artifacts have been not only gazed upon but also incorporated—taken into the body—as solids or liquids.
How can we explain such behavior? Why take an image into one’s own body, devouring it at the risk of destroying it, consuming rather than contemplating it wisely from a distance? What structures of the imagination underlie and justify these desires for incorporation? What are the visual configurations offered up to the mouth, and what are their effects? What therapeutic, religious, symbolic, and social functions can we attribute to these forms of relations with icons? These are a few of the questions raised in this investigation into iconophagy.
Iconophages aims to retrace, for the first time, the history of iconophagy. Jérémie Koering examines this unexplored facet of the history of images through an interdisciplinary approach that ranges across art history, cultural and material history, anthropology, philosophy, and the history of the body and the senses. He analyzes the human investment, in terms of culture and imagination, at stake in this seemingly paradoxical way of experiencing images. Beyond the hidden knowledge unearthed here, these pages bring to light a new way of understanding images, just as they illuminate the occasionally outlandish relations we maintain with them.
Eating and drinking images may seem like an anomalous notion but, since antiquity, in the European and Mediterranean worlds, people have swallowed down frescoes, icons, engravings, eucharistic hosts stamped with images, heraldic wafers, marzipan figures, and other sculpted dishes. Either specifically made for human consumption or diverted from their original purpose so as to be ingested, these figured artifacts have been not only gazed upon but also incorporated—taken into the body—as solids or liquids.
How can we explain such behavior? Why take an image into one’s own body, devouring it at the risk of destroying it, consuming rather than contemplating it wisely from a distance? What structures of the imagination underlie and justify these desires for incorporation? What are the visual configurations offered up to the mouth, and what are their effects? What therapeutic, religious, symbolic, and social functions can we attribute to these forms of relations with icons? These are a few of the questions raised in this investigation into iconophagy.
Iconophages aims to retrace, for the first time, the history of iconophagy. Jérémie Koering examines this unexplored facet of the history of images through an interdisciplinary approach that ranges across art history, cultural and material history, anthropology, philosophy, and the history of the body and the senses. He analyzes the human investment, in terms of culture and imagination, at stake in this seemingly paradoxical way of experiencing images. Beyond the hidden knowledge unearthed here, these pages bring to light a new way of understanding images, just as they illuminate the occasionally outlandish relations we maintain with them.
480 pages, Hardcover
Published August 20, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 2, 2024
The background of this book is historical, specifically a history that seeks to uncover the motivations behind the practice of iconophagy. However, it is insightful in presenting not only the historical but also the anthropological aspects of consuming images (at least up until the 20th century, as modern contexts receive relatively less attention here). Iconophagy as a devotional and medical (spiritual) practice seems undeniable. The majority of the discussion in this book centres on the relationship between iconophagy and the Judeo-Christian heritage in the West. In this context, it may be challenging to explore iconophagy within the Islamic tradition, given that iconoclasm remains prevalent in various Islamic schools of thought to this day. While there are some retrospective examinations that look back to ancient practices, such as those in Egypt (Horus the Child), the motivation for most acts of iconophagy remains the channelling of spiritual desire and healing.
Reading this book, I found myself reflecting on metabolism as a concept. If consuming an image is intended as a devotional act, then the image consumed, along with its material and 'DNA,' merges with the consumer, involving a metabolic process that allows for this unity. This metabolic process is not extensively discussed in the book. The book also briefly touches on the political (or rather, social) aspect of iconophagy, explored in the chapter "Sharing Images." This chapter made me reflect on possible connections between the Eucharist, the creation of reproducible images, and the advent of reproductive technologies such as the printing press—all deeply intertwined with the political potential of iconophagy. In this context, I thought about political campaign foods, for example, printed with certain brand or party logos.
Even so, I highly recommend this book, as it encourages us to rethink aesthetic experiences—how iconophagy, like synesthesia, allows us to imagine experiencing the visual through the stomach.
Reading this book, I found myself reflecting on metabolism as a concept. If consuming an image is intended as a devotional act, then the image consumed, along with its material and 'DNA,' merges with the consumer, involving a metabolic process that allows for this unity. This metabolic process is not extensively discussed in the book. The book also briefly touches on the political (or rather, social) aspect of iconophagy, explored in the chapter "Sharing Images." This chapter made me reflect on possible connections between the Eucharist, the creation of reproducible images, and the advent of reproductive technologies such as the printing press—all deeply intertwined with the political potential of iconophagy. In this context, I thought about political campaign foods, for example, printed with certain brand or party logos.
Even so, I highly recommend this book, as it encourages us to rethink aesthetic experiences—how iconophagy, like synesthesia, allows us to imagine experiencing the visual through the stomach.
January 22, 2025
Occasionally treads back over its own ground a fair amount. Would have enjoyed more philosophical repercussions around the idea of eating the image, rather than contemporary reasonings for doing so. The sociological sections (eg with waffles and bread) we're particularly interesting, and I loved the intro and conclusion.
August 6, 2025
I need to read it 5 times before I can fully understand it. Interesting, but complicated, especially for someone with no background in religious studies. Anyway, I enjoyed it, but if you ask me what do I remember after reading, it's the sugar sculptures that were not eaten after!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews