Art History Archive
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The Development of Stained Glass in Gothic Cathedrals
Posted on April 28, 2013 | No CommentsIn this research paper, I will be primarily focusing on the stained glass windows and architectural styles employed in five gothic buildings in France, each having their own unique and notable attributes pertaining to the development of stained glass windows. -
The Eucharistic Man of Sorrows in Late Medieval Art
Posted on April 28, 2013 | No CommentsEucharistic devotion also found it's ways of visual expression in the art of the period. Numerous new iconographical types were created in late medieval art for the purpose of visualizing the mystery of the Eucharist. -
The Anecdotal Way to Santiago de Compostela
Posted on April 22, 2013 | No CommentsVideo of the Keynote Lecture by David L. Simon from the 34th Annual Plymouth State University Medieval and Renaissance Forum -
The Cathedral of Bourges: A Witness to Judeo-Christian Dialogue in Medieval Berry
Posted on April 1, 2013 | No CommentsPositing any kind of Jewish-Christian “golden age” in Western Europe during the medieval centuries may seem somewhat foolish in light of what happened to Jews between 1240 and 1492: expulsions, forced conversions, social and political ostracism, deprivation of income and compa- rable economic oppression, accusation of and prosecution for so-called “crimes” against Christians, periodic rampages by Crusaders, and other attacks—both physical and mental— which functioned as insults to Judaism. -
Revealing the Early Renaissance: Stories and Secrets in Florentine Art
Posted on March 29, 2013 | No CommentsA symposium held at the Art Gallery of Ontario offered new insights into the artistic community of 14th-century Florence. -
Hades Stabbed by the Cross of Christ
Posted on March 29, 2013 | No CommentsA Byzantine ivory carved with the crucifixion of Christ has long been considered one of the treasures of the medieval collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. -
Scotland’s St Oran’s Cross to be restored
Posted on March 26, 2013 | No CommentsOne of the most important symbols of medieval Scotland, St Oran’s Cross, will be re-erected for the first time in centuries, as part of the celebrations of the 1450th anniversary of the established of a monastery on Iona in Scotland. -
The Persuasive Power of a Mother’s Breast: The Most Desperate Act of the Virgin Mary’s Advocacy
Posted on March 17, 2013 | No CommentsThe image of the Virgo Lactans orMaria Lactans (the image of the Virgin Mary suckling the Child Jesus), which occurs as early as the third century in the catacomb of Priscilla inRome, later spread ing across Europe, is found in a number of Irish sources. -
Saga Motifs on Gotland Picture Stones: The Case of Hildr Högnadóttir
Posted on March 17, 2013 | No CommentsThis article will only examine one of these legends, namely the ‘Hildr legend’ in the context of two of these stones, lärbro stora hammars and stenkyrka smiss . An attempt will be made to place the images in a larger context than has been done before, and by doing so to strenghten the probability that they were indeed intended to refer to the original Hildr legend. -
The Hidden Masters of the Middle Ages: the Limbourg Brothers
Posted on March 13, 2013 | No CommentsTheir best known work is the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, which is called the 'most valuable book in the world.' -
Scandinavian late Viking Age art styles as a part of the visual display of warriors in 11th-century Estonia
Posted on February 24, 2013 | No CommentsArtefacts decorated in Scandinavian Late Viking Age art styles have been known for a long time in the Estonian archaeological material, and were first published as early as 1914 by Max Ebert; a more comprehensive overview was given in 1929 by Birger Nerman. The finds include silver-plated and sometimes partially gilded weapons, as well as belt and scabbard fittings, plaques, and only a few pieces of jewellery. -
Was medieval manuscript marginalia pure distraction?
Posted on February 17, 2013 | No CommentsIn medical works, recipe books, herbals and scientific works, it was very common with marginal illustrations, or even full-page illustrations. The illustrations were used as an aid to understand the text, and could be used as help in following steps of a recipe or a medical procedure. -
Hidden in Plain Sight: The “Pietre di Paragone” and the Preeminence of Medieval Measurements in Communal Italy
Posted on February 11, 2013 | No CommentsPropelled by an active engagement with measurements, the medieval communes devised a revolutionary method to preserve these measurements, which I call Pietre di Paragone. -
The Epistemological Function of Monsters in the Middle Ages
Posted on February 10, 2013 | No CommentsIn this paper I will first outline the history of teratology (the study of monsters) from antiquity to the late Middle Ages in order to lay the foundation and to help the reader grasp the larger cultural-historical context. -
Making the martyr: the liturgical persona of Saint Thomas Becket in visual imagery
Posted on February 10, 2013 | No CommentsHow was the historical figure of the worldly chancellor reconciled to the saintly archbishop who was martyred for his faith on the floor of Canterbury Cathedral? One of the most important vehicles of expression in the Middle Ages was the liturgy. -
Picturing Gregory: The Evolving Imagery of Canon Law
Posted on February 4, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper surveys images created for the opening of the Liber extra between around 1240 and 1350, from a variety of standpoints: iconography, page layout, patrons and readers - and also suggests possible ideological agendas that might be embedded in the illustrations. -
Medieval enchantment techniques: St Christopher and the Siren
Posted on January 31, 2013 | No CommentsThe traditional image of St Christopher, which was particularly frequent in the Middle Ages, portrays him crossing the waters of a river while he is carrying the child Jesus on his shoulder. -
The Church Atrium as a Ritual Space: The Cathedral of Tyre and St Peter’s in Rome
Posted on January 31, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper will attempt to outline a perspective on ritual and space regard ing the Early Christian atrium by confronting two cases of early church atria: one known from a literary source, the other from its archaeological reconstruction. -
Bawdy badges and the Black Death : late medieval apotropaic devices against the spread of the plague
Posted on January 27, 2013 | No CommentsOwing to the fact that historians generally view the late medieval period as an "age of faith," the existence ofthese remarkable objects raises some fundamental questions about the exact socio-religious nature ofmedieval culture. The primary questions, however, that need answering are: when, where, and for whom were the badges produced, and perhaps most importantly, why. -
British government temporarily halts export of 700-year-old painting
Posted on January 17, 2013 | No CommentsAn early 14th-century painting by Pietro Lorenzetti will not be allowed to leave the United Kingdom, at least temporarily, while an attempt is made to raise over £5 million to purchase the art-piece. -
An Investigation Into the Use of Color As a Device to Convey Memes During The Little Ice Age
Posted on January 7, 2013 | No CommentsNo single element in art drives emotion more effectively than color. The Greeks knew this and deliberately painted their marble works for the purpose of eliciting a reaction in the viewer. -
The Mystery of the Marble Man and his Hat: A Reconsideration of the Bari Episcopal Throne
Posted on December 31, 2012 | No CommentsUntil the twentieth century, the throne was universally held to have been sculpted in or immediately before 1098 for Elias, the abbot of San Nicola and archbishop of Bari and Canosa. -
St Edmund of East Anglia and his miracles: variations in literature and art
Posted on December 23, 2012 | No CommentsEdmund was said to have been crowned at the age of just fourteen years by St Humbert on 25 December 855 in the then royal capital Burna, (probably Bures St Mary, Suffolk). Almost nothing is known of his life and reign, though he was recorded as a just and uncompromising ruler, the embodiment of the Greek ideal of the kalòs kai agathòs – that is, the right balance of the Good and the Beautiful, the combination of virtues that could create the perfect nobleman. -
Church Wall Paintings and Mosaics: Principles of their arrangement and relationship to church architecture
Posted on December 16, 2012 | No CommentsThe history of Orthodox church wall-painting and mosaics, East and West, is a very rich one. On the one hand it reveals tremendous creativity in the Church’s response to architectural and pastoral changes. On the other hand it shows how consistently it has been faithful to unchanging spiritual principles. -
A Single Leaf: Tolkien’s Visual Art and Fantasy
Posted on December 10, 2012 | No CommentsWith such a model in mind, then, we have entered into a discussion of art, myth‐making, and the Primary World from a combined academic and artistic perspective.
