Architecture in the Cantigas de Santa Maria by Alfonso X (13th century): Huelva, the Islam and the triumph of the Virgin Mary
Bárbara DANTAS
Original title: Arquitetura nas Cantigas de Santa Maria de Afonso X (séc. XIII): Huelva, o Islã e o triunfo da Virgem Maria
Published in
Keywords: Architecture, Islam, Middle Ages, Virgin Mary, War.
The Cantigas de Santa Maria by king Alfonso X is a work with three artistic expressions: music, literature and painting. There are about 420 songs with reports of miracles and praises to the Virgin written in galician-portuguese and accompanied by illuminations that represent words in images. The focus will be to demonstrate the presence of architectural forms in the text and the illumination of the Cantiga 273, the miracle report of the city of Huelva-Andalusia. The architecture as a record of the defeats and victories occurred in the battles between christians and moors during the centuries of the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the pacific artistic syncretism of that time.
Byzantine iconography of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the light of a homily of St. John Damascene
José María SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ
Original title: Byzantine iconography of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the light of a homily of St. John Damascene
Published in
Keywords: Byzantine Iconography, Medieval Art, Nativity of the Virgin, St. John of Damascus, Virgin Mary.
As a result of the fact that the New Testament mentions little episodes and provides very few details of the real life of the Virgin Mary, several pious apocryphal legends emerged during the first centuries between the eastern Christian communities, which tried by all means to solve this hermetic silence surrounding the birth, childhood, youth, adulthood and death of the Mother of Jesus. These apocryphal accounts were then assumed and interpreted by numerous Church Fathers, theologians and sacral orators. These reflections of such prestigious thinkers structured a solid corpus of doctrine from which several devotions and Marian liturgical feasts of great importance would arise shortly after. The supernatural birth of Mary, after her miraculous conception in the womb of her elderly and sterile mother Anne, is a primary milestone in her “imaginary” life. As natural fruit of these heterogeneous literary and theological sources, the European medieval art and, in a very special way, the Byzantine one, addressed with remarkable enthusiasm the iconographic theme of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary, especially since the 10th-11th centuries, as one of the most significant episodes in the life of the Theotókos. On this basis, our paper proposes a triple complementary objective. First and foremost, it will highlight the content of the apocryphal sources and some thoughts or patristic exegesis on the subject, with particular emphasis in the homilies of St. John Damascene. Secondly, it will look at some Byzantine paintings on The Nativity of Mary, to determine to what extent the apocryphal accounts and the exegetical or doctrinal reflections on this Marian event are reflected in the characters, situations, attitudes, accessories and scenic items represented in these paintings. Finally, it will suggest some author’s interpretations which seem plausible on the possible symbolic meanings underlying in this relevant, dogmatic core and in its corresponding iconographic theme.
The Virgin Mary, Theotokos, and Christ, true God and true man. The mystery of Incarnation according to Cyril of Alexandria
Eirini ARTEMI
Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Christ, Christotokos, Cyril of Alexandria, Nestorius, Theotokos, Virgin Mary.
The 5th century controversy of Bishop Nestorius of Constantinople and Bishop Cyril of Alexandria centred on the Person of Jesus Christ: To what extent is Jesus human? To what extent divine? And to what extent and how are His humanity and divinity united? Christ has two natures. Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. If Jesus was only human, Cyril urged, and God was elsewhere, the Incarnation, the Word became flesh (human indeed), would be meaningless. On the other hand Nestorius refused that Jesus is a God too, when he questioned the use of Τheotokos (Θεοτόκος) in the veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This led to a greater dispute about his Christology, specifically, his conception of the unity of the divine and human natures of Christ. In this controversy Cyril of Alexandria became his most outspoken opponent. Cyril underlined that Christ is human and God at the same time. He has two natures in the unity of person (Hypostasis). Cyril emphasized the unity of Christ and his divinity, he held that Christ “was at once God and man,” and without “any mixture or blending.” In this way he preserved the distinction between the two natures which became so important in the definition of Chalcedon. Cyril urged that Jesus Christ is at once God and man, and he is “in the likeness of men” since even though he is God he is “in the fashion of a man”. He is God in an appearance like ours, and the Lord in the form of a slave.
The feminine imaginary in Virtuosa Benfeitoria and its mediation between Man and Paradise
Mafalda Maria Leal de Oliveira e Silva FRADE
Original title: O imaginário feminino na Virtuosa Benfeitoria e sua mediação entre o Homem e o Paraíso
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Infant D. Pedro, Middle Ages, Virgin Mary, Virtuosa Benfeitoria, Woman.
The main goal of this research is to study the female imagery in the medieval work Virtuosa Benfeitoria, written by Infante D. Pedro and based on Seneca’s book De Beneficiis. In this text, there are various ideas about the status of women, conveyed by three specific groups: the Graces, the six maidens and the Virgin Mary. Given the religiosity of Middle Ages, the latter is given a leading role (despite the mythological influences of the three Graces and the allegory of the six maidens): she is the epitome of perfection and is responsible for an important role of mediation between Man and Heaven.
The person of Holy Virgin Mary in Christianity and in Qu’ran (Koran)
Eirini ARTEMI
Published in
Keywords: Christianity, Qu’ran, Theotokos, Virgin Mary.
The Holy Virgin Mary or Theotokos is a very significant person for Christians. She is the mother of the enfleshed (sesarkomenos) Son of God. Theotokos thus refers to the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on human nature in addition to his pre-existing divine nature, this being made possible by the cooperation of Virgin Mary. Theotokos is not only the mother of God, but the mother of every Christian. The Christians and mainly Orthodoxs and Roman Catholics think that the Virgin is a very significant part of their religion, of their life. Christians do not “worship” the Virgin Mary. They “venerate” her and show her great honor. She has the all-merciful power of driving away from us, at her sign, the sub-celestial spirits of evil–those ever-vigilant and ardent sowers of enmity and malice among men. She is the highest of all creatures, the Mediatrix for the whole race of mankind. Strive to train everyone in the spirit of humility, for she was humbler that any mortal, and only looks lovingly upon the humble. The Quran, the holy book for Muslims honor holy Virgin Mary too. Muslims think that Virgin Mary is the mother of Prophet Christ. For them, Christ is not God. The Archbishop of Albania Anastasios who was teaching about the religion of Muslims supports that Muslims honour Holy Virgin more than some Christian Confessions of Protestants and some “christian” heresies as Jehovah witness. Also, it is indicative of this honorary position, which in the Quran the name of Mary is found in 33 out of 114 chapters (sura). The 33 chapter is devoted to Mary. Of course in this paper, we will examine the texts of the Holy Scriptures for the Theotokos, and the texts of Quran for Her.
