Hortus Artium Medievalium

This article examines the three axial stained glass windows of the choir of Chartres Cathedral which form a vast Marian program by considering its different possible meanings: the links with the cult of the Virgin and more particularly with the disappeared Romanesque and Gothic statues, the involvement of the donors in this cult and the priestly role of the Virgin.

The assumption of a transposition of the Romanesque statue’ forms into monumental sculpture and stained glass windows has already been supported on many occasions, but the installation of a new statue in the choir around 1220 has hardly been taken into account in this discussion. The general characteristics of the two cult statues allow us to assume that the first was sought to be evoked in the sculpture and stained glass windows of the 12th century and the second in the stained glass windows of the 13^th century. The Eucharistic interpretation of the axial windows has also been considered, but it has been challenged with strong arguments. The article proposes a new argumentation for this hypothesis based on several iconographic clues, in particular the omnipresence of the Virgin wearing a chasuble, which suggests that she was given a priestly status.

By drawing attention to the frequent anteriority of most of the various processes chosen and implemented in Byzantine environments, from present-day Turkey to Serbia and Sicily, this paper raises a legitimate question. Indeed, the authors suggest that the major protagonists of the Italian pictorial “renaissance” - Giotto and before him Cavallini - were largely dependent on Byzantine experiments in the precise field of architectural representations. These later formed an essential part of the naturalistic framework of the Italian painting “renaissance” from the 1290s. These architectures - previously experienced in several Byzantine paintings and mosaics - contributed greatly to the true spatial depth that plays an essential role in the pictorial programs of what is still presented today by many specialists as an authentic revolution engaging in the paths of modernity.

The church of Santa Maria Assunta in Adria, known as “Tomba”, houses a terracotta Dormitio Virginis attributed to the so-called “Maestro del sepolcro Fava” and dated between 1440 and 1445. This essay sheds new light on the sculpture by reconstructing its original patronage and context, focusing on its liturgical function. Through a material and iconographical approach, combined with documentary evidence, I argue that it was the central part of a larger altarpiece originally located on the church’s main altar. In the same years, the sculptor Michele da Firenze executed another large terracotta altarpiece for the main altar of Adria Cathedral, of which the Tomba was subsidiary. Therefore, the patronage choices made by the bishops of that period, who promoted the renovation of the two sacred buildings and adorned them with these altarpieces, reveal the leading role played by the clay technique in Polesine during the fifteenth century.

The article presents a little known Legenda Minor of the scriptorium of Tommaso Caffarini da Siena, which is a synthesis of the major version of Saint Catherine’s life. The manuscript can be attributable to Cristoforo Cortese, the leading illuminator in the first half of the XV century in Venice. The essay places this codex in its proper context, thanks to an examination of forgotten works by Cortese, and other works not yet attributed to him, and highlights his ability to embody different stylistic trends during his career.

Cultural landscapes represent a complex combination of natural and anthropogenic, material and immaterial elements which have been well-recognized as fundamental factors in the process of socialisation. However, there is a difference between principled positions on the value of cultural landscapes and the actual practices of their utilisation and protection. This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary study of the impact of the transformations of cultural landscape of the island of Rab (Croatia) from a socio-spatial perspective. The research consists of spatial analysis of the transformations of the island’s physical space, changes of spatial context of its sacral architecture, as well as sociological research with the objective to evaluate attitudes of island’s residents and experts towards the value of island’s cultural landscape, its tangible and intangible elements, and its cultural heritage.

The results indicate the potential for sustainable development of the island based on its cultural, historical and natural heritage, but also insufficient recognition of education and sustainability as a way of preserving and using heritage for development purposes. Based on the results, a participative model of valorisation, preservation, and management of cultural heritage and cultural landscape is proposed.

D. Tončinić, L. Zerbini (eds.), Traian and the Danubian Provinces. The Political, Economic and Religious Life in the Danubian Provinces (F. Lovrić)

B. Caseau Chevallier et E. Neri (eds.), Rituels religieux et sensorialité (Antiquité et Moyen Âge). Parcours de recherche (M. Bilogrivić)

J.-P. Caillet, Art et mémoire. Sauvegarde, illustration et inspiration du passé (P. Vaisse)

B. Rivière (dir.), Autun et S. Balcon-Berry, W. Berry† et Chr. SAPIN (dir.), Le groupe épiscopal et canonial d’Autun - 20 ans de recherches archéologiques (P. Chevalier)

A. Chavarría Arnau, Arqueología de las primeras iglesias del Mediterráneo (siglos IV-X) (A.L. Muñoz)

P. de Vingo, Y.A. Marano, J. Pinar Gil (a cura di), Sepolture di prestigio nel bacino mediterraneo (secoli IV-IX). Definizione, immagini, utilizzo, Atti convegno Pella (No) 28-30 giugno 2017 (G.P. Brogiolo)

A. Coscarella, E. Neri, Gh. Noyé (eds.), Il vetro In transizione (IV-XII secolo). Produzione e commercio in Italia meridionale e nell’Adriatico (P. Vedovetto)

Y.A. Marano, Le fortune di un patriarca. Grado altomedievale e il “testamento” di Fortunato II (G.P. Brogiolo)

A. Milošević, Korpus ranosrednjovjekovne skulpture, 4, Gornja Cetina (Kijevo, Cetina, Vrlika, Koljane, Otišić, Vučipolje, Potravlje, Hrvace)et I. Matejčić, Korpus ranosrednjovjekovne skulpture, 5, Rovinj (P. Chevalier)

J.A. Salgado Pantoja, Raíces en la piedra. Arte románico en los despoblados de Guadalajara (E.C. Santamaría)

M.C. Rossi, Scultura del primo Trecento in Terra di Bari. Cultura figurativa e geografia artistica (M. Cuomo)

N. Budak, Na dnu društvene ljestvice: Robovi i služinčad u srednjovjekovnoj Hrvatskoj (F. Lovrić)