Search Results (5)

For the Norman kings of Sicily and the ecclesiastical authorities who ruled their dioceses, Byzantine art served as both a symbol of luxury and a model of prestige. Similarly to the mosaics of Palermo, Monreale, and Cefalú, as well as textiles and goldsmithing, the manuscripts preserved in the National Library of Madrid stand as prime examples of the fascination that the dignitaries of the Kingdom of Sicily had for Byzantine esthetics. Among these manuscripts, the Sacramentary of Messina (Madrid, BNE Ms. 52) is perhaps the most striking. This Latin sacramentary, comprising 303 folios, features illuminated initials, a calendar with depictions of classical topics, such as the Spinario and a compelling depiction of August inspired by the Byzantine Koimesis, the months and zodiac, and two full-page illustrations depicting the Virgin Glykophilousa, the Crucifixion, and the Deesis. This study has a dual focus. First, it aims to analyze the iconographic peculiarities of the monthly images in this Latin calendar. Second, it seeks to provide new insights into the manuscript’s patronage and its place of origin. In this context, one of the most striking and significant aspects of the sacramentary’s iconography is the prominent role of the Virgin, a theme that will also be examined in this study. Archbishop Richard Palmer emerges as the leading candidate to have been the driving force in the patronage of the manuscript to the Royal scriptoria of Palermo. Full article

The medieval textiles collection of the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR) has been in place since 1865 and nowadays preserves about 1000 medieval and pre-modern weavings and embroideries. These extremely valuable objects, dated between the 14th and the 19th centuries, are mainly religious embroidered garments and veils with special significance in the Byzantine li-turgy. Ecclesiastical embroideries of Byzantine tradition are characterized by a complex technique: metallic threads with a silk core, metallic wires and coloured silk threads are couched over padding on layers of silk and cellulosic supports so as to create relief through light reflection. The silk sup-ports and the sewing threads are coloured, mainly in red, blue, green and yellow hues, and analytical investigations of the dyes used in embroideries preserved in the MNAR, in the Putna and Sucevița Monasteries, have been released in previous studies by the corresponding author. The present work continues the approach with research into dyes in about 25 aëres and epitaphioi from the MNAR collection. Considering their privileged function in the liturgical ritual, these luxurious pieces embroidered with silver, gilded silver or coloured silk threads and decorated with pearls, sequins or semi-precious stones are the most faithful description of the stylistic and technological evolution of the art of post-Byzantine embroidery in the Romanian provinces. The data resulting from the present research will improve the knowledge regarding this topic. Dye analysis was performed by liquid chromatography with diode array detection, while fibres were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (with attenuated total reflectance) and optical microscopy. The biological sources identified—carminic acid-based dyes, redwood, dyer’s broom, weld, indigo-based dyes––will be discussed in correspondence with their use in the embroidery technique: support, lining and embroidery threads, together with other sources previously reported on Byzantine embroideries in Romanian collections, and in similar objects preserved at Holy Mount Athos. Full article

After a difficult conquest under the Umayyads, the eastern Maghreb or Ifrîqiya region was turned into the western borderland of the Abbasid Empire in the second half of the 8th century, and its governance was soon delegated to the Aghlabid Emirate (800–909). In this context, the Sahel (or Ifriqîyan coastline) quickly became a major centre of asceticism and pious collective retreat in places dedicated to ribât activities. This practice provided a framework for the life of devout people who kept a watchful eye on the Byzantine enemy while zealously performing their devotions. A genuine frontier society of religious men and devotees, ascetics and traditionalists arose in this burgeoning coastal fringe. Over the last two decades, this topic has given rise to a very rich historiography, notably produced by Tunisian researchers who have profoundly renewed our understanding. Based on these considerable achievements, the present contribution proposes to broaden the analysis in order to show how the rise of this movement of warrior piety, advocating an ideal of jihâd, must be related to a more global phenomenon, considered at the scale of the Abbasid Empire. Remaining in a comparative dimension, this article also proposes several approaches to the specific architecture of ribât sites, especially the place devoted to the community mosque. Full article

In traditional Christian artistic visualization, the episode of Hagar and Ishmael in the desert has given rise to various iconographic types: “The feast for the weaning of Isaac and Sara’s protests,” “Abraham bids farewell to Hagar and Ishmael,” “Hagar and Ishmael in the desert” and “Divine salvation for Hagar and Ishmael”. This study looks into the continuity and variation over time of the second of these types: “Abraham bids farewell to Hagar and Ishmael,” the one most depicted out of this entire biblical topic or episode. Since the Byzantine Octateuch in the East (11th century.) and the Canterbury Hexateuch (ca. 1025–1049) in the West, this iconographic type has remained into the Late Modern period, with some variations over time. This study is exclusively iconographic or descriptive; it only verifies the codification of the type in order to set out an analytical basis prior to future hermeneutic or iconological studies. Full article

The imagery of the vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek 37. 1–14) still fascinates theologians and historians of religion with its exegetical and liturgical significance. Rarely represented in medieval art, the iconography of this singular topic related to the Last Judgment deserves closer attention on the part of art historians. The aim of the present contribution is to remedy this situation by offering an analysis of the main pictorial representations of Ezekiel’s prophecy within the medieval East and West. This paper examines the evolution of the theme from the first pictorial evidence from Mesopotamia through the Roman late antique funerary sculpture into the Catalan and Germanic illuminated manuscript production from 11th and 12th centuries. Then, the field of the investigation broadens by taking into consideration the Byzantine artistic patterns of Ezekiel’s vision of the resurrection of the dead. Finally, this paper accents the multilayered contribution of the mural paintings from the Balkan cultural field. In order to reconsider this subject through the prism of the artistic interactions between East and West, the continuity of an ancient pictorial tradition that seems to have been previously neglected is highlighted. Full article