An approach to the iconography of the Book of Hours of Isabel the Catholic, Ms. II / Tesoro, Real Biblioteca: 4 Marian Images between the biblical text and apocryphal legends
Herbert GONZÁLEZ ZYMLA, Concepción del CASTILLO BLASCO
Original title: Una aproximación a la iconografía del Libro de Horas de Isabel la Católica, Ms. II/Tesoro, Real Biblioteca: 4 Imágenes marianas entre el texto bíblico y las leyendas apócrifas
Published in
Keywords: Apocripha, Book of Hours, Isabel the Catholic, Marian iconography, Medieval Art.
This article focuses on highlighting the role that, in the context of the spread of the devotio moderna during the late Middle Ages, acquired the precious Book of Hours of Queen Isabel the Catholic. To focus as much as possible the research topic, our paper analyzes –between the many miniatures illustrating this splendid illuminated codex– only four images referred to Mary: the Presentation of the Virgin to the Temple, the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi and the Coronation of the Virgin Mary. We complete our analysis by comparing these four images with the biblical and apocryphal texts that narrate these Marian events.
Bodies, clothing and social structure: the Germanic art of miniature illustrations in the Codex Manesse (13th century)
Beatriz Passamai PEREIRA
Original title: Corpos, vestuário e estrutura social: a arte germânica da iluminura no Codex Manesse (século XIII)
Published in
Keywords: Body, Clothing, Codex Manesse, Medieval Art, Miniature Illustrations.
This research investigated the clothing of the ministerial knights in the Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift with the aim of capturing the reflections of the medieval social order of the thirteenth century based on the miniature ilustrai-ons present in this manuscript. The miniatures of the Manessische Handschrift are an excellent reference to the idea we have of life and the world in the Middle Ages. They depict the panorama of medieval clothing very well. For this reason the present investigation analyzed the dress of the troubadours. Clothes are an extension of the body, such an important element for the Christian medieval conception. The study sought to inventory the pieces of garment that compose the vestments of the ministerial knights; we categorized such pieces based on the medieval social hierarchy and related characteristics such as colors and cuts to the medieval social orders. As a theoretical research, primary and secondary sources were used, such as: Codex Manesse: Die Miniaturen der Großen Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (Ingo Walther and Gisela Siebert), De Amore (Andreas Capellanus), Ars Amatoria (Ovid) and The Lais of Marie de France. The analysis finds its basis in the method proposed by Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968) in the work Meaning in the Visual Arts. This study also uses the notion of image suggested by Jean-Claude Schmitt (1946-) in two works: The Body of Images and The Thematic Dictionary of the Medieval Occident. From the universe of 137 miniature ilustrations, six were selected based on the fol-lowing criteria: 1) the vestments of ministerial knights; 2) images containing a male and a female figure. Based on the analysis, we were able to catch the re-flexes of the medieval social order of the thirteenth century, as we observed the dress of the troubadours represented in Codex Manesse. The civilian dress prevailed: it was mainly used by the nobility and, therefore, by the ministeriales.
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.
Goodness, Justice and Truth. Three Marian virtues in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and in the Book of Santa Maria, by Ramon Llull
Ricardo da COSTA, Bárbara DANTAS
Original title: Bondade, Justiça e Verdade. Três virtudes marianas nas Cantigas de Santa Maria e no Livro de Santa Maria, de Ramon Llull
Published in
Keywords: Alfonso X, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Enluminures, Libre de Sancta Maria, Medieval Art, Ramon Llull.
The Cantigas de Santa Maria is a cultural landmark in medieval Spain. This magnific work of the thirteenth century is composed of 420 praises and narratives of miracles of the Virgin Mary and written in galician-portuguese language. Furthermore, have hundreds of miniatures. Sponsored by King Alfonso X (1221-1284), is not great only for its artistic value, but, specially, for its historical value. Each song registry differents aspects of medieval sensibility. Thus, the objective of this study is to make a comparative analysis (textual and imagistic) of three philosophical-theological virtues of the Virgin Mary – Goodness, Truth and Justice – present in the praise 140 of the Cantigas de Santa María and in the Libre de Sancta Maria (c. 1290) from the Catalan philosopher Ramon Llull (1232-1316), to analyze the symbolic structures from marian spirituality, typical religious and artistic manifestation of the thirteenth century in the Medieval West.
History through Image: an iconological analysis of the Saint George’s Altarpiece by Bernat Martorell
Carlos Vinicius Costa de MENDONÇA, Bárbara Lofiego Pimenta LOFEGO
Original title: A História através da Imagem: uma análise iconológica do Retábulo de São Jorge (1425-1437) de Bernat Martorell (c. 1390-1452)
Published in Art, Criticism and Mysticism
Keywords: 15th century, Bernat Martorell, International Gothic, Medieval Art, St. George.
This work aims to establish an iconological analysis based on the art historian Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968) methodology of analysis. The addressed work is the St. George’s Altarpiece (1425-1437) by the Catalan painter Bernat Martorell (1390-1452). The major goal is to data the collection of St George’s legend and the copic texts that tells his life, highlighting the chivalrous ideal represented by this saint in the fifteenth century medieval society. This work also aims to provide a comprehensive overview of this society, which was identified whth St. George’s image, in that particular period.
Medieval art, the longing for beauty and the fourth way of St. Thomas Aquinas
Armando Alexandres dos SANTOS
Original title: A arte medieval, o anseio pela beleza e a quarta via de São Tomás de Aquino
Published in
Keywords: Evidences of the existence of God, Longing for beauty, Medieval Art, Pulchritudinis via, St. Thomas Aquinas.
This article focuses on the fourth way of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) for the rational demonstration of the existence of God (the way of degrees of perfection) from the specific point of view of the continuous search, in everything, of beauty as an ideal of religious inspiration, in the art and life of the medieval people.
Sacred Architecture and Nature in the Cantigas de Santa María
Ricardo da COSTA, Bárbara DANTAS
Original title: A Arquitetura Sagrada e a Natureza nas Cantigas de Santa María (séc. XIII)
Published in Art, Criticism and Mysticism
Keywords: Cantigas de Santa Maria, Medieval Art, Medieval Literature, Nature.
The Middle Ages was the time of insertion of man in Natural environment. More than that: it was, mainly, the time of the conquest of space, the large land clearance, the architectural constructions (sometimes in the middle of Nature), and the expansions at the expense of the environment. The monastic movements were the drivers of this increase. In this sense, the monks were, par excellence, the pathfinders, the lords, the domesticators of Nature, both subjects as objects to induce this process of understanding, civilization. Theology itself so allowed (“For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority”, Jas 3, 7). The Western civilization was the daughter of this process, of this relationship, of this symbiosis, often unintended, between Nature and Culture, Civilization and Barbarism, raw and cooked. The purpose of this study is to analyze the iconography of the illuminations of two songs and one praise present in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, a work attributed to Alfonso X, the Wise. Our methodology consisted of thematically define the presence of Nature in those three illuminated, so when we fix the following artistic tops: 1) The Sacred Nature (cantiga 10), 2) The Supplicant Nature (cantiga 93) and 3) The Saving Nature (cantiga 7). In order, from Nature that surrounds and adorns the Virgin to Nature, which witnesses the passage of time, in a paradoxical duality between the eternal time of Nature and the fleeting and fickle weather of Art. Meanwhile, the Nature who pleads isolates the leper in his retreat, and, ultimately, the saving Nature is one that involves with his heavenly robe who ask the intercession of the Virgin.
The Death of the Virgin Mary (1295) in the Macedonian church of the Panagia Peribleptos in Ohrid. Iconographic interpretation from the prospective of three apocryphal writings
José María SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ
Original title: La muerte de la Virgen María (1295) en la iglesia macedonia de la Panagia Peribleptos de Ohrid. Interpretación iconográfica a la luz de tres escritos apócrifos
Published in Relations between History and Literature in Ancient and Medieval World
Keywords: Byzantine painting, Iconography, Koimesis, Medieval Art, apocryphal literature.
Painted in 1295 by the Greek painters Michael Astrapas and Eutychios, the fresco of the Virgin’s Death (Koimesis) in the church of Panagia Peribleptos in Ohrid, Macedonia, highlights the main events described by the apocryphal stories on the death, the burial, the resurrection and the assumption of Mary, reinterpreted by the theologians and the hymns’ writers. This mural painting integrates in a diachronic development the scenes of the Virgin’s farewell to her friends, the coming of the apostles on clouds, the death, the funeral and the burial of Mary, including the episode on the attempt of desecration, the punishment and the conversion of a Jew named Jephonias, as well as the Virgin’s assumption, a subject performed for the first time in art. This article tries to explain and to illustrate the iconographic elements contained in this mural painting, analyzing them from the perspective of three apocryphal texts on the Mary’s death and assumption. Through such analysis we would highlight the direct and essential influence of certain Literature (apocryphal) in the creation of certain History, understood at the same time as History of Art (iconography) and History of Religions (dogmatic).
The Dialogue on the edge: the Librum disputationis Petri et Raimundi phantastici (1311)
Ricardo da COSTA
Original title: O Diálogo no limite: “A disputa entre Pedro e Ramon, o superfantástico” (1311)
Published in Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Peninsula Cultural History
Keywords: Disputatio, Medieval Art, Medieval Philosophy, Ramon Llull.
The purpose of this conference is to present the phylosophical debate between Pedro and Ramon Llull (Librum disputationis Petri et Raimundi phantastici), and analyze the limits of the medieval dialogue. Debate or conversion? We intend to discuss the parameters of medieval dialogue lulian, aspects that led our author to the most extreme fantasies of literary-philosophical dialogue: the dramatization of the conflict between ideals and realistic attitudes. In addition, we intend to do a iconographic analysis of one of the most famous artistic representations of Ramon Llull: “The rear of the army and relief of Mr. Ramon Llull of Majorca to destroy the tower of falsehood and ignorance”, seventh miniature from Breviculum (1325).
The Envy in Curial and Güelfa and its representation in the Middle Ages autumn art
Ricardo da COSTA, Armando Alexandre dos SANTOS
Original title: A Inveja em Curial e Guelfa e sua representação na arte do outono da Idade Média
Published in Art, Criticism and Mysticism
Keywords: Capital Sins, Medieval Art, Medieval Philosophy, Medieval Theology.
In the anonymous chivalric novel Curial and Guelfa (XVth century), the Envy, one of the seven capital sins of the Medieval Septenary, offers a literary background (but also a philosophical-moral one) and is the foundation of both the plot teatralization and the characters poetic construction. As a recurrent theme in Medieval Philosophy, Theology and Homiletics, therefore, the Envy can also be considered as the novel’s leitmotiv. The purpose of this work is to present some initial remarks concerning this theme in Curial and Guelfa, and especially, relate it to some artistic representations of Envy in the period, such as, for example, the Arena Chapel Fresco (1308) of Giotto di Bondone (c. 1266-1337), The Last Judgement (c. 1393), of Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1362-1422), besides, naturally, the famous iconographic representation of the theme by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516): The Seven Capital Sins (c. 1485). To this purpose, our analysis will be methodologically based on the literary narrative method of Johan Huizinga (1872-1945), as exposed in his classic The Autumn of the Middle Ages (1919).
