Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Miniatura medievale'

Il lavoro tratta della produzione miniata a Bologna sotto la signoria dei Bentivoglio, tra il quinto decennio del Quattrocento ed il secondo decennio del secolo successivo.
The work is about the illuminated manuscripts made in Bologna under the domination of the Bentivoglio family, between the fifth decade of the Fifteenth Century to the second decade of the next.

Il lavoro tratta della produzione miniata a Bologna sotto la signoria dei Bentivoglio, tra il quinto decennio del Quattrocento ed il secondo decennio del secolo successivo.
The work is about the illuminated manuscripts made in Bologna under the domination of the Bentivoglio family, between the fifth decade of the Fifteenth Century to the second decade of the next.

La tesi di dottorato ha come obiettivo principale l'indagine sull'arrivo e sulla diffusione della miniatura nella regione di Cilicia a partire dal XII secolo attraverso un'analisi stilistica e comparativa delle principali opere artistiche di questo periodo, ovvero i manoscritti Erevan, Matenadaran 7347; Washington D.C., Freer Art Gallery 50,3; Venezia, San Lazzaro 1635; Baltimora, Walters Art Gallery 538; Varsavia, Biblioteka Narodowa, Akc. 17680. Questi cinque Vangeli sono i più lussuosi e caratteristici della seconda metà del XII secolo e talvolta hanno strette somiglianze con gli altri manoscritti meno importanti. L'analisi visiva diretta mi ha dato l'opportunità di raccogliere molti dettagli non visibili dalle riproduzioni fotografiche e di redigere schede tecniche complete. In generale, la storia dell'arte della Cilicia è una successione di molte scoperte che hanno migliorato la visione della gamma espressiva della miniatura armena. Le nuove opportunità hanno dato agli artisti occasioni di esaminare manoscritti occidentali, e questa influenza artistica ha trasformato l'arte manoscritta armena. Ad esempio, la scoperta che uccelli, pesci ed esseri umani possono essere usati per formare le lettere dell'alfabeto è un'influenza dall'Occidente. Sebbene gli armeni si siano trovati in un mondo cosmopolita, la base ideologica e iconografica rimane invariata e una continuità radicale attraverso i secoli è quindi verificabile ed innegabile. Tre indici fondamentali lo dimostrano con assoluta certezza: la mobilità degli artisti tra l'Armenia e la Cilicia (incluso il miniatore Kozma, autore di Matenadaran 7347); la presenza di manoscritti dell'undicesimo secolo in Cilicia e l'uso della stessa tecnica pittorica e della stessa tavolozza di colori. La storia degli studi sui Vangeli cilici del XII secolo si limita principalmente ad alcune pubblicazioni generali di alcuni grandi studiosi (come Sirarpie Der Nersessian, Helen Evans, Viktor Lazarev).
The doctoral thesis has for main objective the investigation on the arrival and the diffusion of the miniature in the Cilician region from the 12th century through a stylistic and comparative analysis of the main artistic works of this period, or the manuscripts Yerevan, Matenadaran 7347; Washington DC, Freer Art Gallery 50.3; Venice, St Lazarus 1635; Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery 538; Warsaw, Biblioteka Narodowa, Akc. 17680. These five Gospels are the most luxurious and characteristic of the second half of the Twelfth century and sometimes they have close similarities with the other less important manuscripts. Direct visual analysis gave me the opportunity to collect many details not visible by photographic reproductions, and to establish completes datasheets. In general, the art history of Cilicia is a succession of many discoveries that have improved the vision of the expressive range of the Armenian miniature. The new opportunities have given occasions to the artists to examine manuscripts from the West, and this artistic influence has transformed the Armenian manuscript art. For example, the discovery that birds, fish and humans can be used to form the letters of the alphabet is an Armenian debt to the West. Although Armenians have found themselves in a cosmopolitan world, the ideological and iconographic base remains unchanged, and a radical continuity through the centuries is therefore verifiable and undeniable. Three fundamental indices prove it with absolute certainty: the mobility of the artists between Armenia and Cilicia (including the miniaturist Kozma, author of Matenadaran 7347); the presence of eleventh century manuscripts in Cilicia and the use of the same pictorial technique and the same color palette. The history of studies about the Cilician Gospels of the twelfth century is mainly limited to some general publications of some great scholars (such as Sirarpie Der Nersessian, Helen Evans, Viktor Lazarev).

The present work is a systematic study of the Venetian production of items with illuminated paintings under rock crystal. Such a peculiar form of artistic craft has developed in the lagoon during the second half of the thirteenth century and was attested until the middle of the following century. The technique involved the application of painted parchment on different pieces of goldsmith’s art and it took advantage of the precious transparency of crystal to show up the shinning colors of the images. Even if it was already known in a limited way beyond the Alps, it became the prerogative of Venetian workshops: they only became able to skillfully value it and started a great market of luxury products. The thesis examines all the existing pieces: each one is considered by type, function, goldsmith’s decoration and, most of all, figurative matrix of the illuminated paintings. These objects are listed in a chronological order, better suited to visually show changes in the choice of decorative solutions happened over time. In addition to the catalog it has been prepared the main body of the book, divided into four sections. The research starts from an overview of the critical history of the subject. The limited knowledge of the subject is viewed in the more general lack of interest in Venetian artistic experiences during thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Furthermore the research looks towards the material component of the pieces, studying the particular technique, its original context and the typically Venetian characteristics. Moreover a list of different structural types of pieces and their specific functions was carried out according to quantitative criteria. A first review of liturgical objects showed that crosses clearly stand out among them, followed by devotional tables, reliquaries, candlesticks, portable altars and even tissues of sacred insignia. There are also evidences for private and completely secular uses, such as the two wooden game boards for chess and backgammon. The study has finally focused on the section devoted to the stylistic analysis of illuminated paintings. They were infact produced in the same workshops engaged in book illustration and their examination allows expanding our understanding of the illumination during that period in Venice, which has only a few fixed points regarding the manuscripts’ decoration. In particular, the emerging of different groups of illuminators implies the activity of many workshops with characteristic figurative matrix and the presence of a very lively environment in which personalities of high standing coexisted with minor artists.
Il presente lavoro è uno studio sistematico della produzione veneziana di oggetti con miniature sotto cristallo di rocca, peculiare tecnica affermatasi in laguna nel corso della seconda metà del Duecento ed attestata fino alla metà del secolo successivo. Essa prevedeva l’applicazione di pergamene dipinte su pezzi di oreficeria di diversa natura e si avvaleva della preziosa trasparenza del cristallo per far esaltare le vivaci colorazioni delle immagini. Nota già da alte datazioni in oggetti di produzione oltralpina, tale forma di artigianato artistico divenne prerogativa delle botteghe veneziane, che seppero abilmente valorizzarla creando un fiorente commercio di prodotti di lusso. Nella tesi vengono esaminati tutti gli esemplari esistenti, dei quali si analizza la tipologia, la funzione, l’apparato aurificiario nonché lo stile miniature. I pezzi sono catalogati secondo un criterio cronologico, atto a chiarire visivamente i mutamenti avvenuti nel corso del tempo. Accanto al catalogo, è stato predisposto il corpo principale del volume, articolato in quattro sezioni. La ricerca parte dall’esame della vicenda critica, che contestualizza la limitata conoscenza dell’argomento nel più generale scarso interesse rivolto dalla critica novecentesca alle esperienze figurative veneziane sorte a cavallo fra XIII e XIV secolo. In seguito ci si volge allo studio della componente materiale delle opere, attraverso l’indagine della particolare tecnica esecutiva, dell’originale contesto di formazione e delle peculiarità prettamente veneziane. Si è dunque proceduto nel sondare le diverse tipologie strutturali dei pezzi e le funzioni caratteristiche, secondo un criterio espositivo di tipo quantitativo. Dapprima si sono passate in rassegna le oreficerie sacre: tra esse spiccano nettamente le croci, seguite da tavole devozionali, reliquiari, candelieri, altari portatili e perfino da tessuti di insegne liturgiche. Vengono poi le prove riservate ad un utilizzo privato e del tutto profano, che si condensano in due tavolieri lignei per il gioco degli scacchi e della tavola reale. Il fulcro del lavoro è infine condensato nella sezione dedicata all’analisi stilistica dei manufatti. Le pergamene sotto cristallo sono infatti prodotte nelle stesse botteghe che si dedicavano all’illustrazione libraria ed il loro esame ha permesso di ampliare la conoscenza della miniatura del periodo, che per quanto riguarda la decorazione di codici dispone di ben pochi punti fermi. Sono emersi in particolare vari gruppi omogenei di miniature, che sottintendono l’attività di botteghe dalla diversa matrice figurativa, e la presenza di un contesto molto vivace, in cui convivono personalità di alta levatura ed artisti minori dal fare poco sorvegliato.

This thesis is aimed at a reconsideration of the last quarter of XIII century Genoese illuminating painting related to the scriptorium of St. Domenico monastery and characterized by the style of the so-called Master of the ms. Lat. 42. The analysis of manuscripts, already identified as Genoese but which needed further research, and previously unknown or attributed to another context allowed me not only to enrich the Ligurian corpus but also to open new frontiers of research. In particular I have analyzed types of books not yet considered in the Genoese production, such as philosophical and legal texts, and I have not only focused on stylistic aspects but also on the mise en page, the mise en teste, iconographic details and the construction of the image painted along the borders of the page and in the historiated initials. The work has been organized in this way. Chapter 1 introduces the theme of the research, giving a reconstruction of the critical history of the last quarter of XIII century Genoese illuminating painting, and focusing on questions which need further research, in particular the relationship between the Dominican scriptorium and the activities of Pisa scribes and illuminators, who were in Genoa as prisoners after the Battle of Meloria (1284). Chapter 2 deals with the value of books for the Dominicans in order to understand more deeply the possible role of this order in the circulation, execution, and production of manuscripts in Genoa. Chapters 3-5 focus on liturgical, legal and medieval manuscripts respectively. Each chapter essay is followed by the catalogue proper with an entry for each manuscript I saw directly. Chapters 6-9 expand upon specific texts, situating their creation and function more fully within their social and political context, with a special focus on the meaning of iconographical programs, compositions and motifs in the last Thirteenth century Genoese society.

The aim of this research is to analyse a superb medieval illuminated Psalter that is kept in the Biblioteca del Seminario vescovile in Padua (ms. 353). The exceptional beauty of its full-page miniatures and historiated initials in a distinctive Gothic language makes of this manuscript one of the highest examples of thirteenth-century European illumination. The excellent quality of its materials indicate that this lavish codex results from a very prestigious commission. First of all, this study intends to investigate the origins of this precious manuscript arrived in Padua from the Paris of Louis IX in the time of Francesco il Vecchio da Carrara. The mysterious identity of the patroness who appears in a miniature in the book as a modestly dressed lady is examined and a new hypothesis on her has been put forward. The detailed examination of the calendar shed light on her mysterious identity revealing her possible relation to the Capetian court. The manuscript was illuminated in Paris, possibly in the end of the 1260s, as the analysis of the script, the iconography, and the syle of the decoration testify to. The comparison with some of the most sumptuous Parisian exemplars commissioned by the royalty in the 1250s-1270s confirms both the exceptionality of this Psalter in thirteenth-century illumination history and the high status of this female patron. At the end of the fourteenth century, the Psalter was already in Padua in possession of another distinguished female owner named Bartolomea Da Carrara. The Paduan historical and cultural context is analysed in the second part of this work to document the story of the Psalter. The book belonged to the abbess of the Paduan Benedictine monastery of San Pietro Bartolomea da Carrara as some notes on the book confirm. Her mysterious identity has been explored and a link to the influential Carrara family seems to result from the analysis of the medieval documents found. After her death in 1413, the codex was preserved by the nuns of San Pietro until it entered the Biblioteca del Seminario in the nineteenth century where it is still kept.
La presente ricerca si propone di prendere in esame un superbo Salterio pervenuto alla Biblioteca del Seminario vescovile di Padova (ms. 353) in età napoleonica dal monastero benedettino femminile di San Pietro dove fu conservato per circa quattro secoli. Questo codice che si mostra essere una squisita opera francese del Duecento, confezionata per una misteriosa gentildonna ritratta in una miniatura a piena pagina di fronte alla Vergine in trono con il Bambino, giunse nella Padova carrarese tra la fine del Trecento e gli inizi del Quattrocento e servì alla preghiera di una illustre figura femminile patavina quale fu la badessa del monastero di San Pietro Bartolomea da Carrara. L'appartenenza del manoscritto a questa donna, sulla cui identità la critica si è a lungo interrogata nel tentativo di dimostrare un possibile legame con la famiglia dei da Carrara, nel Trecento signora di Padova, è attestata da due note di possesso e da alcune significative annotazioni che documentano anche la data di morte di Bartolomea nel marzo del 1413 e il suo lascito del codice alla comunità di San Pietro, che lo conservò gelosamente fino all'Ottocento. Poco prima delle soppressioni napoleoniche, che determinarono la fine del monastero di San Pietro, le religiose di questa comunità dovettero affidarlo al vescovo di Padova Francesco Scipione Dondi Dall'Orologio che qualche tempo dopo lo donò alla Biblioteca del Seminario come documenta una nota apposta al principio. Questo studio è quindi inteso da un lato a indagare le origini di questo prezioso esemplare che si configura come uno dei più straordinari esiti dell'arte gotica francese e dall'altro ad esaminare l'avventurosa storia di questo manoscritto che dalla Francia di Luigi IX pervenne nella Padova di Francesco il Vecchio. L'analisi paleografica, iconografica e stilistica ha permesso di individuare il contesto di provenienza di questo codice di grandissimo pregio riconoscendone il legame con la miniatura parigina del terzo quarto del Duecento di ambiente assai vicino alla corte capetingia. Si è inoltre avanzata una nuova ipotesi identificativa della committente basata principalmente sullo studio delle ricorrenze del calendario e delle litanie. Si è poi cercato di spiegare attraverso quali vie questo manoscritto potrebbe essere giunto in città in epoca carrarese, prestando particolare attenzione alla figura di Bartolomea da Carrara che possedette il manoscritto tra la fine del Trecento e gli inizi del Quattrocento e sulla quale lo spoglio delle fonti documentarie ha permesso di trovare nuovi appigli cronologici e soprattutto degli elementi che sembrano confermare l'ipotesi del rapporto con la dinastia carrarese.

La tesi è articolata in quattro capitoli. Nel primo si è ripercorso lo status questionis e la fortuna critica del Maestro del "Pantheon" e della sua bottega: tale artista, infatti, è noto agli studi già da un secolo. Si sono pertanto enumerati i diversi interventi degli studiosi, soffermandosi sui principali, esponendoli criticarmene e provvedendo a sfrondare le ipotesi oggigiorno meno praticabili. Nel secondo capitolo si è data voce ad un’analisi del codice Lat. 4895 (Parigi, Bibliothèque nationale de France), mostrando le specificità sia del miniatore bolognese, attivo nei primi fogli, sia del Maestro del "Pantheon", attivo nella restante parte delle carte. Nel terzo capitolo si sono analizzati i codici attribuibili alla bottega del Maestro del "Pantheon", collocati cronologicamente nel quarto decennio del XIV secolo, nonché sono stati presi in considerazione i volumi commissionati da Bruzio Visconti, il quale fu prolifico mecenate di manoscritti miniati tra quarto e quinto decennio del XIV secolo. Nel quarto capitolo, infine, si sono voluti mostrare i collegamenti fra il Maestro del "Pantheon" e la cultura figurativa lombarda della prima metà del secolo; facendo anche emergere la figura di Giovami Visconti, arcivescovo di Milano, quale committente e possessore di codici.
The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first traces the status questionis and the critical fortune of the Master of the "Pantheon" and of his workshop: this artist, in fact, has been known for a century. Therefore, the various interventions of the scholars have been enumerated, focusing on the main ones, exposing them, criticize them and removing the hypotheses that are less probable today. In the second chapter, was provided an analysis of the ms. Lat. 4895 (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France), showing the specific characteristics firstly of the Bolognese illuminator, active in the first leaves, and secondly of the Master of the "Pantheon", active in the remaining leaves. The third chapter analyzes the codes attributable to the workshop of the Master of the "Pantheon", placed chronologically in the fourth decade of the fourteenth century, as well as the volumes commissioned by Bruzio Visconti, who was a prolific patron of illuminated manuscripts between the fourth and fifth decade of the fourteenth century. Finally, in the fourth chapter, is showed the connections between the Master of the "Pantheon" and the Lombard figurative culture of the first half of the century; also bringing out the figure of Giovami Visconti, archbishop of Milan, as patron and owner of manuscripts.

The scope of my thesis is to analyze the genesis and the development of the Divine Comedy illustration in Northern Italy during the XIV century. In section 1 I present the most representative manuscripts, that I selected because of the great number of illuminations and because of the particular iconographic solutions they present. Section 2 is dedicated to the analysis of the different illuminated images created by the first Divine Comedy illuminators to represent the main characters of Dante’s poem and the landscapes of the three Realms. In my analysis, I pay particular attention to the sources, visual and textual, that inspired illuminators when they had to face the difficult challenge of illustrating a new text with no previous iconographic tradition. In section 3 I analyze the relationship between text and images in the manuscripts chosen for my thesis. Also in this case, I pay great attention to the possible sources that may have inspired illuminators. Concerning this, medieval novel illumination turned out to be a very fruitful field of investigation, as the spread of illuminated novels in Northern Italy at the beginning of the XIV century seems to have been one of the main incitements for the development of a narrative pictorial style.
Il mio lavoro ha come oggetto la genesi e lo sviluppo dell’illustrazione miniata della Divina Commedia nell’Italia nord-orientale nel XIV secolo. La tesi muove dall’individuazione di un corpus di manoscritti significativi per numero di immagini e tipologie illustrative impiegate. Ai manoscritti principali è dedicato un capitolo di approfondimento finalizzato soprattutto a rilevare le principali problematiche storico-artistiche ad essi correlate. Particolare attenzione è dedicata all’Egerton 943, per il quale si propone una nuova datazione. Il lavoro prosegue con un’attenta analisi delle soluzioni adottate dai miniatori della Divina Commedia per illustrare un testo nuovo e pertanto privo di una tradizione iconografica consolidata. Ampio spazio è dato allo studio delle fonti, visive e in alcuni casi testuali, cui si rivolsero i miniatori in cerca di ispirazione, partendo da alcuni affondi analitici sulle iconografie adottate per raffigurare i personaggi principali, quali ad esempio Caronte e Minosse, per poi passare allo studio dei modelli visivi scelti per ricreare le ambientazioni di inferno, purgatorio e paradiso. Allo studio della figurazione si aggiunge poi l’analisi delle principali forme di rapporto testo-immagine nei codici padani della Divina Commedia. Anche in questo caso vengono prese in esame le possibili fonti, attraverso un’approfondita ricognizione delle principali tipologie di racconto per immagine riscontrabili nell’Italia nord-orientale tra la fine del Duecento e l’inizio del secolo successivo. In particolare, si è rivelato proficuo lo studio dei codici cavallereschi, che paiono essere l’ambito privilegiato di elaborazione dei principali sistemi impaginativi che saranno poi impiegati nei più antichi testimoni settentrionali del poema.

Bestiários são manuscritos ricamente ilustrados e, no entanto, há poucos estudos dedicados especificamente às suas imagens. Deste modo, esta pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar o papel das imagens em três bestiários produzidos na Inglaterra entre os séculos XII e XIII, redigidos em latim. Partimos do princípio de que essas imagens não têm uma função meramente ilustrativa ou mnemônica, uma vez que raramente fazem referência às moralizações e exegeses do texto. A proposta principal desta pesquisa é, pois, analisar as imagens e suas funções nos manuscritos tendo em mente que a lógica do pensamento figurativo não é a mesma da do texto.
Bestiaries are richly illustrated manuscripts, however, there are few studies devoted specifically to its images. As it is, the purpose of this research is to investigate the role played by the images in three Latin bestiaries produced in England during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Our hypothesis is that these images do not serve a merely illustrative or mnemonic function, as they rarely reference the textual moralizations and exegeses. The objective of this work is to analyze the images and their functions in the manuscripts bearing in mind that the logic of figurative thought is not the same as the texts.

La investigación se ha centrado en la iconografía diabólica e infernal en el corpus de los Beatos hispanos, entre la segunda parte del siglo X y las primeras décadas del XIII. En una primera parte se ha indagado acerca de la conceptualización de la personificación del mal en la figura del Diablo y en cómo imaginaron el Infierno las culturas antiguas de la cuenca del Mediterráneo. Se ha dedicado particular interés a las Escrituras canónicas judeocristianas que determinarían la austeridad representativa de las primigenias imágenes de nuestro objeto de estudio, en consonancia con los planteos teológicos de la Patrística temprana. Debido a que las imágenes acompañan al "Comentario al Apocalipsis" de Beato de Liébana, se ha contextualizado la producción hispana dentro del panorama artístico europeo en lo referente a la ilustración del Libro de la Revelación; se han consultado y analizado los escritos apocalípticos extracanónicos y la tradición oral u escrita musulmana como posibles fuentes iconográficas a la hora de representar a los personajes y los lugares del más allá. El trabajo incluye el relevamiento completo de once escenas en que las fuerzas del mal operan en la era escatológica y luego son derrotadas y aprisionadas en la estancia punitiva, en todo el corpus de veintisiete códices. Su análisis demuestra que mientras la iconografía se mantiene fiel a la tradición hispana de sus primeros ejemplares, el estilo se va adaptando a los lineamientos formales del románico, en función de la internacionalización de dicho estilo. El apéndice fotográfico reúne por primera vez la totalidad de las imágenes diabólicas e infernales en el corpus beatiano.
The research has focused on the diabolical and infernal iconography in the corpus of Hispanic Beatus, between the second half of the tenth century and the first decades of the thirteenth. In the first part has inquired about the personification of evil in the figure of the Devil and how Hell was imagined in ancient cultures of the Mediterranean basin. It has devoted particular interest to judeochristians canonical Scriptures that would trigger austerity representative of the primordial images of our object of study, consistent with the theological proposals of the early Fathers. Because the images are accompanying the "Commentary on the Apocalypse" of Beatus of Liebana, it has contextualized the Hispanic production in the European art scene and has analyzed the apocalyptic writings extracanonical and oral or written Muslim tradition as possible iconographic sources when representing the characters and the places of the Other World. The work includes the full survey of eleven scenes in which the forces of evil operating in the eschatological age and then are defeated and imprisoned in punitive stay throughout the corpus of twenty codices. Their analysis shows that while the iconography is faithful to the hispanic iconography tradition of its first copies, the style adapts to the formal guidelines of Romanesque, depending on the internationalization of that style. The photographic appendix meets for the first time all the diabolical and infernal images in the twenty seven copies of the Beatus.

Dans les ouvrages contemporains traitant des arts visuels dans la tradition artistique 'chrétienne' ou 'occidentale' les analyses des œuvres d'art sont souvent effectuées à l'appui d'une approche interdisciplinaire intégrant les méthodes de recherche et les questionnements des sciences sociales ainsi que d'autres disciplines, comme la littérature. Sur se modèle, je tente d’élaborer une méthode de recherche complexe pour l’appliquer dans l’étude de l’iconographie arabe médiévale. Les sources principales de mon travail sont les manuscrits iconographiés de deux 'bestsellers' de la littérature arabe médiévale : les Maqâmât d'al-Harîrî et la traduction arabe de Kalîla wa Dimna de Bîdpây, copiés et peints, pour les premiers au XIIIe siècle, et, pour les seconds, au XIVe siècle, respectivement en Irak, en Syrie et en Egypte. Pour étudier les manuscrits, je propose une approche dont le leitmotiv est l'observation de la relation entre les textes et les images en les considérant comme un ensemble et comme éléments qui constituent des œuvres d'art complexes. Les manuscrits médiévaux contenant des images deviennent ainsi, en tant qu'objets matériels mais aussi comme des produits intellectuels et artistiques, des sources primaires de l’histoire intellectuelle arabe médiévale
In contemporary studies dealing with visual art within the « Western » or « Christian » world, the artworks’ analysis are often proposed on the basis of an interdisciplinary approach integrating methods of different scientific fields such as social sciences, and literature. Following this model, I try to develop a complex method in order to study medieval Arabic iconography. My work’s principal sources are the illustrated manuscripts of the two « bestsellers » of medieval Arabic literature: al-Harîrî’s Maqâmât and the Arabic translation of Bîdpây’s tales, the Kalîla wa Dimna, copied and painted during the second half of the 13th and the first half of the 14th centuries in Irak, Syria and Egypt. In the analysis of the manuscripts, I concentrate on the relationship between text and images while I consider them as elements of a complex artwork, as a whole. While doing so, medieval manuscripts containing images become primary sources of Arabic intellectual history as material objects but also as intellectual products

While academic discussion of ornament within medieval Islamic art has laboured much over the codification and meaning of certain forms, there has been relatively little research to date on the visual and iconographic function of architecture as ornament in this context. Those few authors that have dealt with this issue have focused overwhelmingly on two-dimensional architectural representations, largely ignoring the considerable body of portable objects from the medieval Middle East that imitate architecture through three-dimensional forms, whether in a mimetically coherent fashion or in a more elliptical or reconfigured manner. This thesis proposes, first and foremost, that there is significant cultural meaning inherent in the use of architecture as an inspiration for the non-essential formal qualities of portable objects from the medieval Islamic world. Through iconographic analysis of the relationships that such objects form with architecture, an understanding of both full-size architecture and its miniature incarnations in the medieval urban context is advanced within the thesis. To maximise the intellectual scope of the study whilst still enabling an in-depth treatment of the material, four discrete studies of different object groups are presented. All of these are thought to date from approximately 1000 to 1350 CE, and to come from the core Middle Eastern territories of Persia, Syria and Egypt. The first chapter examines the glazed ceramic ‘house models’ believed to originate in late or post-Seljuq Persia. The second discusses six-sided ceramic tables from the same milieu, and more numerous related tables produced in Syria during the same period. In the third chapter carved marble jar stands from Cairo, apparently produced from the twelfth century onwards, are analysed. The final chapter, on metalwork, broadens its approach to encompass two very different strains of production: inkwells from Khurasan and incense burners from the breadth of the Middle East. Because much of the thesis focuses on material that has been dramatically understudied, it performs the primary action of compiling examples of each of the object types under study. Though this information is presented as a catalogue vi sommaire, this component of the thesis is not regarded as an end in itself. The major tasks of the thesis are the identification of the architectural tropes that are being evoked within each object group, analysis of the manner in which those forms have been modified to suit the miniature context of the objects, and the location of meaning within such diminutive evocations of architectural form. Through comparisons with other objects, full-size architecture, two-dimensional representations of architecture and historical texts, the thesis moves discourse on this type of motif in Islamic art beyond the traditional and sometimes superficial discussion of ‘ornament’, re-setting architectural iconography within larger contexts of urbanisation and city culture of the medieval Islamic world.

Exterieur n'en est pas moins le complement necessaire de ce tout organique que repre sont envisages d'un double point de vue: histoire du livre juif decore et histoire s'il peut rien nous apprendre d'essentiel sur les developpements stylistiques du par la creation d'images, que par les significations. .
Ant the intimate relation between the elements of the decoration and the physical. .

Thesis (M.A.)--East Tennessee State University, 2004.
Title from electronic submission form. ETSU ETD database URN: etd-1118104-085337 Includes bibliographical references. Also available via Internet at the UMI web site.

The Beatus manuscripts are copies of Commentary on the Apocalypse, a book which was written in the eighth century by Beatus of Liébana. These codes are famous because they have many illuminations of Apocalypse and book of Daniel that accompany the text. This thesis aims to understand if these written sources may have been the transmission medium of iconographic models between the different cultures that lived in the Iberian Peninsula after 711. In order to achieve this goal it was created a catalogue with all the manuscripts preserved until today. On the one hand, the catalogue makes available a part dedicated to a codicological description. On the other hand, it provides a comprehensive iconographic analysis. The catalogue shows that in these codes are used recurring iconographic elements. Especially, the illuminations reproduce the real architecture; thus, the reader can find references to what he/she knows. In addition to architecture, these references concern the use of Kufic script as decoration in the same style of Muslim. Moreover, the illuminations depict the people sitting in the Muslim manner. This sheds light on how actually there was a mutual exchange between the cultures that lived in the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, these written sources should have really been the transmission medium of iconographic models.

Ma thèse de doctorat "Les débuts de l'enluminure arménienne de Cilicie - 2e moitié du XIIe siècle" a pour objectif principal l'investigation sur l'arrivée et la diffusion de la miniature dans la région cilicienne à partir du XIIe siècle à travers une analyse stylistique et comparative des principales oeuvres artistiques de cette période, c'est-à-dire les codex Erevan, Matenadaran 7347; Washington DC, Freer Art Gallery 50,3; Venise, Saint Lazare 1635; Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery 538; Varsovie, Biblioteka Narodowa, Akc. 17680 (plus célèbre comme l'Évangile de Lviv). Ces cinq Évangiles sont les plus luxueux et les plus caractéristiques de la seconde moitié du XIIe siècle et présentent parfois des similitudes étroites avec les autres évangiles moins importants. Des analyses visuelles directes m'ont donné l'occasion de rassembler de nombreux détails non visibles par les reproductions photographiques, et d'établir des fiches techniques complètes. En general, l'histoire de l'art de Cilicie est une succession de nombreuses découvertes qui ont amélioré la vision de la gamme expressive de la miniature arménienne. Les nouvelles opportunités ont donné aux artistes des occasions d'examiner des manuscrits venant d'Occident, et cette influence artistique a transformé l'art du livre arménien. Par exemple, la découverte que les oiseaux, les poissons et les hommes peuvent être utilisés pour former les lettres de l'alphabet est une dette arménienne à l'Occident. Bien que les Arméniens se soient retrouvés dans un monde cosmopolite, la base idéologique et iconographique reste inchangée, et une continuité radicale à travers les siècles est donc vérifiable et indéniable
My doctoral thesis "The beginnings of the Armenian illumination of Cilicia - 2nd half of the 12th century" has for main objective the investigation on the arrival and the diffusion of the miniature in the Cilician region from the 12th century through a stylistic and comparative analysis of the main artistic works of this period, or the manuscripts Yerevan, Matenadaran 7347; Washington DC, Freer Art Gallery 50.3; Venice, St Lazarus 1635; Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery 538; Warsaw, Biblioteka Narodowa, Akc. 17680 (more famous as the Gospel of Lviv). These five Gospels are the most luxurious and characteristic of the second half of the Twelfth century and sometimes they have close similarities with the other less important manuscripts. Direct visual analysis gave me the opportunity to collect many details not visible by photographic reproductions, and to establish completes datasheets. In general, the art history of Cilicia is a succession of many discoveries that have improved the vision of the expressive range of the Armenian miniature. The new opportunities have given occasions to the artists to examine manuscripts from the West, and this artistic influence has transformed the Armenian manuscript art. For example, the discovery that birds, fish and humans can be used to form the letters of the alphabet is an Armenian debt to the West. Although Armenians have found themselves in a cosmopolitan world, the ideological and iconographic base remains unchanged, and a radical continuity through the centuries is therefore verifiable and undeniable

Il lavoro intende indagare alcune specifiche forme della devozione individuale laica in Italia tra Due e Trecento. Attraverso una rosa di sette casi-studio esemplari, manoscritti miniati opportunamente selezionati tra le collezioni di istituzioni italiane ed internazionali, si intende circoscrivere una nuova tipologia libraria: quella cui afferiscono i prodotti che in questa occasione sono stati nominati ‘codici ibridi’ o ‘miscellanee di transizione’. Tali manoscritti si pongono all’intersezione tra due precise categorie di strumenti altrettanto destinati alla devozione individuale di un pubblico laico: questi, molto noti, sono il Salterio ed il Libro d’Ore, tipologie librarie rispettivamente di antica e nuova codificazione, involte a partire dal Duecento in un processo di ibridazione formale che vedrà il sostituirsi del Libro d’Ore al Salterio quale libro rappresentativo della preghiera laica. I 'codici ibridi’ assorbono caratteri di entrambi gli estremi tipologici sopraddetti, senza però risolversi in nessuno dei due, e nemmeno nella loro somma. Questi, infatti, raccolgono al loro interno un inedito ed originale caleidoscopio di testi volti ad assecondare la loro specifica funzione pedagogica. Egualmente, la loro figurazione coadiuva tale intento orchestrandosi in programmi decorativi narrativo-didascalici dalle forti intenzioni mnemotecniche.

The Hours of Edith G. Rosenwald (c.1340–80) is a small book of hours in the Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress. Despite unique iconography and luxurious illuminations, this manuscript has so far received little scholarly attention. This thesis analyzes the size and iconography of the Rosenwald Hours to suggest that it was designed for a specific owner and function. No surviving documentation gives evidence of ownership, yet the standard program of miniatures was changed to suit a specific audience. The manuscript’s iconographic program and stylistic treatment are here considered in the context of contemporary books made for women, particularly women of the royal court in Paris, to suggest a likely audience. One of only a few extant miniature books of hours, the Rosenwald Hours is a valuable tool for looking at the place of small manuscripts in medieval society. This thesis examines the physical size, the iconography, and the inclusion of saint portraits as indicators of a function beyond the standard devotional use. A case is made for the manuscript’s connection to pilgrimage and to protective amulets. Combined with the assessment of its iconography, this study suggests an owner and intended use for miniature books of hours that provides a new way to look at these manuscripts, from obscure Flemish examples to the famous Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux.
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