Iconography, Symbolism & representation in art and architecture
More general subjects:
In mente Dei, in gremio Annae. The Source and the Receptacle of Marian Immaculacy in Sixteenth-Century Piacenza
Starting from the notion of Maria ante saecula which implies the Virgin’s presence in God’s mind before the world and humanity the paper will firstly analyse the place of Mary’s soul before and during the Creation. This aspect will be studied through the Allegory of the Immaculate Conception painted by Malosso for the Church of San Francesco in Piacenza. Then it will examine the debate surrounding the controversial transmission of the original stain from Saint Anne to Mary to the point of considering the Virgin’s purification after her birth. These considerations will lead to tackling an ambiguous altarpiece by Pordenone where at first sight the spectator could confuse Saint Anne with the Virgin.
Arbor Anna fructuosa. Apropos of an Image of Saint Anne and the Fruits of Redemption
This essay examines a small anonymous wooden sculpture produced in the eighteenth century in north-eastern Brazil. Of rare iconography the sculpture depicts a Selbdritt in which Saint Anne offers a bowl of apples to the Child while the group is framed by a laden apple tree. The overt emphasis placed on the tree and the offering of fruits encouraged the search for its formal prototypes and their meaning. Thus I present the apples and the apple tree (and other trees and fruits) in Marian and Saint Anne iconography and compare this visual material with an extensive literary corpus that encompasses biblical text Christological-Mariological literature liturgical hymns paraenetics and folk songs highlighting its occurrences in the Lusophone world. Finally after briefly specifying the sociocultural context of eighteenth-century Brazilian artistic production I conclude that the sculpture can be understood as a late repository of the multiple debates that permeated the construction of Mary and Anne characters as a support for what constitutes the very essence of Christianity — and of which the apples and the apple tree are the figurative synthesis: the path of humanity from the fall from grace to redemption.
Images of Saint Anne in the Ionian Islands (Fifteenth–Eighteenth Centuries)
The article examines the preservation of the Byzantine iconographic tradition alongside the growing influence of Western style in images of Saint Anne on three Greek Ionian Islands after the establishment of Venetian rule: Corfu (1386) Zante (1482) and Kefalonia (1500). A new political religious and social context characterized the production of art on these three islands during their occupation by the Republic of Venice. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 when icon painters sought refuge in Venetian-held Crete and the later flight to the Ionian Islands (which were also Venetian possessions) after the sack of Crete in 1699 the Ionian Islands played a decisive role in the development of post-Byzantine art and later modern Greek painting.
The Pregnancies of Mary-Anne in Fifteenth- to Sixteenth-Century Franco-Flemish Manuscript Illuminations. Between Iconographic Appropriation and Iconographic Development
This chapter discusses the pregnancy representations of the Virgin Mary and Saint Anne. More precisely it focuses on the iconographic permeability and flexibility between the two hagiographic figures in what mostly concerns manuscript illuminations. In this sense manuscript illuminations showing a pregnant Saint Anne are related to Marian representations as in the Annunciation the Throne of Wisdom etc. The chapter tackles mostly Franco-Flemish source material however these sources suggest a much larger area of dissemination for such pregnancy representations dominated not only by the cult of Saint Anne but also by commercial networks (Flemish/Spanish). Furthermore pregnancy representations permeate other holy motherhoods from apocryphal stories — those of Mary Salome and Mary Cleophas.
Representations of Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period
Exploring Iconographic Flexibility and Permeability
Between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries the cult of the Virgin Mary underwent significant changes a shift clearly revealed by an increase in artistic representations of Mary as well as a flourishing devotional literature in her honour written in both Latin and the vernacular. One aspect of this change was a broader attention to Mary’s genealogical line and in particular to her relationship with St Anne. The result was not only a renewed focus on the vita Annae but also a significant overlap in how these two women were represented juxtaposed and perceived.
This volume traces the often significant iconographic flexibility in terms of both how the Virgin Mary and Saint Anne were presented and perceived and what can be termed a permeability between visual representations of the two saints. Focusing on the multiple readings layers of meaning and the visual interplay between the vita Mariae and the vita Annae the chapters gathered here explore the overlap and influence between different iconographic motifs and how these were used to advance political religious and social ideologies at the time of their creation as well as exploring representations across a range of different media from sculptures and frescoes to panel paintings and manuscript illuminations.
The Anna Selbdritt and the Cult of the Three Maries. An Early Fourteenth-Century Wall Painting in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary
This study concentrates upon a little-known late medieval wall painting depicting the Holy Kinship. The fresco is located in the parish church in Csaroda a village in north-eastern Hungary and was painted in the first decades of the fourteenth century. Scholarship dedicated to the iconography of Saint Anne and the Holy Kinship focuses on the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries because of the late medieval blossoming of devotion towards the Virgin’s mother and Christ’s extended family. Studies of earlier centuries mostly take into account manuscripts. The case of the Holy Kinship in Csaroda proves that the state of research regarding the iconography of Anne and the Holy Kinship has little relevance for explaining images that were produced beyond the confines of upper-class patronage. The ascending cult of Saint Anne and her three daughters in fourteenth-century France offers examples that bear the closest resemblance to the Csaroda fresco. Illustrated manuscripts of John of Venette’s L’Histoire des trois Maries albeit produced later than the mural in Hungary provide the closest visual parallels. However the use and dissemination of manuscripts is different from the function and reception context that can be assigned to a wall painting and my aim is to investigate possible circulation and reuse of this motif in the case of the wall painting in Csaroda.
‘Worthy Vestment for the Sovereign Priest’. Matriarchal Priesthood, Marian Allegory, and the Amiens Confraternity of Notre-Dame de Puy
This essay examines the oldest extant panel painting from Amiens cathedral’s Marian poetry confraternity of Puy Notre-Dame. Known as the Priesthood of the Virgin the panel depicts Mary dressed as an Old Testament high priest investing her son with the Levitical lineage that she in turn received from her mother. The painting uses typology allegory liturgy and the hagiography of Saint Anne to create a ‘visual poem’ that was meant to inspire one of the confraternity’s annual chant royal competitions. As such the panel elucidates the palinod verse written by the confraternity master and that featured as the refrain in the contestants’ compositions. This palinod appears on a banderole near the confraternity master who kneels in the lower right corner of the painting: ‘Worthy vestment for the sovereign priest.’
Moving with Saint Anne. Representations of Anna Selbdritt between Central Europe and the Tyrolean Region
The cult of Saint Anne was at its peak between the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries particularly in German-speaking countries including the historical Tyrol. This essay focuses on the influence of images from the German-speaking area on the arrival and the establishment of the cult of Saint Anne in the Tyrolean area and outlines through an iconographic analysis the fortune and decline of the cult of the Mother of Mary in the historical Tyrol.
The Panel of the Virgin and Saint Anne from the Church of the Archangels in Iprari. Iconographic and Ideological Aspects
The chapter deals with the eleventh-century iconic images of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne depicted on the eastern part of a south wall in the Church of the Archangels in Iprari ad 1096 (Upper Svaneti north-west Georgia). The topography of the panel and its iconographic context underline its specific role in the decorative programme of this church. The murals of Iprari are the earliest work of ‘King’s Painter Tevdore’ who painted three churches in Svaneti between ad 1096 and ad 1130. The title of Tevdore mentioned in the dedicatory inscription reveals his links with the royal court. I argue that the inclusion of the panel of the Virgin and Saint Anne in a small church dedicated to the archangels with a limited number of images together with religious context has an important political meaning.
Royal Jewels of Poland and Lithuania
Collections of the Jagiellon and Vasa Dynasts
This volume delves into the rich histories of the Jagiellon and Vasa dynasties shedding light on the profound interplay between jewellery and socio-political forces. Readers are invited into an era where jewellery bore multifaceted significance from symbolising power and piety to facilitating economic engagements. The royal perception of value extended beyond traditional treasures with a keen interest in animal-derived artefacts. These unconventional items such as elk hooves or eagle stones were highly esteemed reflecting both luxury’s diverse nature and the era’s cultural and mystical beliefs. Rather than merely cataloguing these artefacts this study animates them intertwining narratives of monarchs nobles craftsmen and the lands from which these treasures emerged. It delves into a world where a gem’s glint signifies might gold hints at empires’ expanse and a narwhal’s horn could determine kingdoms’ destinies. Jewellery has long held a central position in history particularly among the elite. These pieces were not simply decorative; they conveyed prestige societal position and authority. They symbolised both worldly and spiritual prominence enriched with a complex symbolism. Beyond showcasing wealth jewellery played crucial roles in diplomacy and politics. What meanings did these unique gems carry for their initial owners? This book uncovers the tales magnetism and mystery surrounding these jewellery collections. It paints a picture where jewellery transcends mere ornamentation serving as a powerful testament to influence devotion and grandeur.
Contending Representations II: Entangled Republican Spaces in Early Modern Venice
This bookaddresses the issue of political celebration in early modern Venice. Dealing with processional orders and iconographic programs historiographical narratives and urbanistic canons stylistic features and diplomatic accounts the interdisciplinary contributions gathered in these pages aim to question the performative effectiveness and the social consistency of the so called ‘myth’ of Venice: a system of symbols beliefs and meanings offering a self-portrait of the ruling elite the Venetian patriciate. In order to do so the volume calls for a spatial turn in Venetian studies blurring the boundaries between institutionalized and unofficial ceremonial spaces and considering their ongoing interaction in representing the rule of the Serenissima. The twelve chapters move from Ducal Palace to the Venetian streets and from the city of Venice to its dominions thus widening considerably the range of social and political actors and audiences involved in the analysis. Such multifocal perspective allows us to challenge the very idea of a single ‘myth’ of Venice.
L’Église et les églises
Iconographie du monde grégorien
Vers le milieu du xi e siècle le pape s’empare d’un projet à vocation universelle : la réforme de l'Église. L'initiative entraîne à de profonds changements de société et au renouvellement des formes et moyens d'expression architecturaux et iconographiques. Nouveau chapitre dans un débat ancien ouvert dans les années 1970 par Hélène Toubert et Ernst Kitzinger et sans cesse réinvesti par les spécialistes du roman l'ouvrage vise à mieux comprendre la réception artistique des idées de réforme à Rome en Italie et en France. L’enquête procède par cumul d’expériences acquises sur des monuments singuliers et emblématiques des XIe et XIIe siècles. Elle révèle la diversité des discours et des solutions en écho à leur temps et à leur lieu et montre aussi l’unité des répertoires iconographiques des systèmes de pensée et des enjeux tous liés au nouveau modèle de la société chrétienne.
Crusader Rhetoric and the Infancy Cycles on Medieval Baptismal Fonts in the Baltic Region
This is the first comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis to demonstrate that the representation of Infancy cycles on twelfth-and-thirteenth-century baptismal fonts was primarily a northern predilection in the Latin West directly influenced by the contemporary military campaigns. The Infantia Christi Corpus a collection of approximately one-hundred-and-fifty fonts verifies how the Danish and Gotland workshops modified and augmented biblical history to reflect the prevailing crusader ideology and rhetoric that dominated life during the Valdemarian era in the Baltic region. The artisans constructed the pictorial programs according to the readings of the Mass for the feast days in the seasons of Advent Christmas and Epiphanytide. The political ambitions of the northern leaders and the Church to create a Land of St. Peter in the Baltic region strategically influenced the integration of Holy Land motifs warrior saints militia Christi and martyrdom in the Infancy cycles to justify the escalating northern conquests.
Neither before nor after in the history of baptismal fonts have so many been ornamented with the Infancy cycle in elaborate pictorial programs. A brief revival of elaborate Infancy cycles occurs on the fourteenth and fifteenth century fonts commissioned for sites previously located in the Christian borderlands east of the Elbe River with the rise of the Baltic military orders and the advancement of the Church authority. This extraordinary study integrates theological liturgical historical and political developments broadening our understanding of what constituted northern crusader art in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.