The Cantigas de Santa Maria of King Afonso X (13th century). Cantiga 84: religious orders and aedificationes
Bárbara DANTAS
Original title: As Cantigas de Santa Maria do rei Afonso X (século XIII). Cantiga 84: as ordens religiosas e as aedificationes
Published in
Keywords: Cantigas de Santa María, Medieval Architecture, Medieval Literature, Miniature, Religious Orders.
This work aims to show the importance of medieval religious orders for the realization of architectural works in the medieval period. The main source of this study is not an architectural work in itself, but a codex. Both in images and texts, this book delights us with many references to architectural works. It is the Cantigas de Santa Maria of King Afonso X. A compendium of the 13th century formed by about 420 songs recorded in Galician-Portuguese through rhythmic verses. The songs are “illuminated” by hundreds of historical full-page illuminations that represent in images what the text says in words. Cantiga 84 is the driving force behind this brief survey of some buildings that marked the Middle Ages and still enchant the world.
The witness Queen. Jeanne d’Evreux in her Book of Hours
Ofelia MANZI, Patricia GRAU-DIECKMANN
Original title: La reina testigo. Jeanne d’Evreux en su Libro de Horas
Published in
Keywords: Book of Hours, Jeanne d’Evreux, Miniature, Politic iconography, St. Louis.
The Books of Hours produced in the late Middle Ages are a key plastic document for studying the iconography of the period. The multiplication of copies from the thirteenth century has given to the art of the Middle Ages some of the most interesting products in both formal and iconographic aspects. An additional element of interest of these works is the illustration developed in the margins, where figures and scenes are a sort of “parallel universe” in relation to the central theme of the respective folio. One of the most interesting works, not only for its extraordinary artistic level but also for its condition and original workmanship, is the tiny Book of Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, third wife of Charles IV, who took on herself the responsibility and the final possibility of continuity of Capetian dynasty. In this manuscript some historical characters embodying an interpretative key are present. Two folios belonging respectively to the Hours of the Virgin and the Hours of St. Louis, have miniatures that testify a game between past and present, in which the contemporary history integrates with the biblical one, and demonstrate the value given to the image by its multiple possibilities of meaning.
