From Drop-Shipped to the Divine: Devotional Kitsch, Gamer Saints, and Popular Catholic Iconography

Abstract: Devotional objects for Catholic saints often conjure a specific visual language in the minds of believers, from small medallions depicting meditative portraits to softly glowing oil paintings adorning the fronts of prayer cards. Despite the Catholic Church’s prominent role in the Western art historical canon, for everyday Catholics, its visual legacy is as much the kitschy tropes of saint cards and candles - the objects of everyday devotion - as it is the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel. The popularity of these objects speaks to the fact that this visual language of devotional kitsch serves a powerful function in the daily lives of believers and facilitates genuine religious experiences. This paper takes a look at the devotional art objects depicting the so-called “millennial gamer saint,” Carlo Acutis, as a case study for how kitsch is utilized in digital spaces, specifically commerce sites like Etsy, in real time to create visual narratives that resonate with believers in the 21st century. It considers the kitschiness of these art objects not as an artistic blemish in the lofty art history of the Church, but as an essential element of saintly devotion, mediated through products and consumption.