Article
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Rhythms, expressions, and representations of the body. From the Ancient World to the Baroque
Ricardo da COSTA
Original title: Ritmos, expresiones y representaciones del cuerpo
Published in Rhythms, expressions and representations of the body
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The face as the place of the subject that existed: artistic figurations from Antiquity to Baroque
Alexandre Emerick NEVES
Original title: O rosto como lugar do sujeito que houve: figurações artísticas da Antiguidade ao Barroco
Published in Rhythms, expressions and representations of the body
Keywords: Antiquity, Baroque, Face, Presence and Absence.
Generally, when we refer to human representation, we immediately remember the human body, the human figure, and when we deal with the subject, the first reference is his face or, more specifically, his portrait. It is interesting to remember, in this regard, that the face itself can be fragmented, divided into significant, if not autonomous, parts. Without intending to go through an exhaustive and linear history of the face, consenting to jumps and returns between Antiquity and the Baroque with some providential escapes, I turn to Giorgio Agamben regarding the asymmetrical relationship between the head and the body, while Georges Didi-Huberman and Jacques Rancière help us on the affinity of the images of figured bodies with the presence or absence of the subject, especially in the face.
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The role of the Philosophy and Jesuit imagery in the Portuguese missions (1500-1597)
Humberto Schubert COELHO
Original title: O papel da Filosofia e do imaginário jesuítico nas missões portuguesas (1500-1597)
Published in The World of Tradition
Keywords: Cultural Imagery, Jesuit Education, Jesuit Mission, Philosophy, Portuguese Thought, Transcendence.
As the importance of the Society of Jesus in the Portuguese colonizing process is indisputable, the specificities of Jesuit cultural imagery were equally decisive to define several elements in the cultural formation of the colonies. Often centred on literature at many points of its historical development, Portuguese thought of the time was heavily determined by philosophy. Particularly in the sixteenth century, the first century of global colonization, the evangelizing impetus of the Society of Jesus acted as a main existential drive in both cultural and political process of sending missionaries abroad. This paper emphasizes the capital relevance of transcendent beliefs and values in the worldview of such missionaries, and how they shaped the missionary ethos in the daily life, the educational initiatives and the first reports of Jesuit authors.
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Life and death of the enjoyment of Beauty in the breasts of the Renaissance (c.1300-1600)
Alexandre Emerick NEVES
Original title: Vida e morte do gozo da Beleza nos seios da Renascença (c.1300-1600)
Published in The World of Tradition
Keywords: Beauty, Erotic gaze, Pudency, Renaissance, Western Christianity.
By considering the breast as a significant fragment of the beauty of the female body, recurrently figured in the arts, I analyse how the convergence between the aesthetic and moral dimensions is associated with the intentions of the gazes and the impetus of the hands, from the approach of bodies to the possession of the breast. The sum of biblical lessons with Greco-Roman thought demonstrates how pudency promotes the enjoyment of beauty, culminating in significant artistic representations, from Late Gothic to Baroque, as a consolidation of the values of Western Christianity.
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Thanatology of the Corpus Hermeticum (c. 100-300): the philosophical concept of Death in the Hermetic Tractates
David Pessoa de LIRA
Original title: A Tanatologia do Corpus Hermeticum (c. 100-300): o conceito filosófico da Morte nos Tratados Herméticos
Published in The World of Tradition
Keywords: Corpus Hermeticum, Death, Hermetic Literature, Hermeticism, Marcus Aurelius’ Antoninus, Philosophy, Stoicism, Thanatology.
This article attempts to examine the idea of death, its problem, in the scope of hermeticism in Antiquity, having mainly as object of analysis the Corpus Hermeticum. In particular, the problem of death, in the Corpus Hermeticum, is treated from the ontological point of view. A history of ideas about death in the Corpus Hermeticum supposes an analysis of the underlying conception of the world by the Hermetic authors, and not just of their philosophy. Although this study is linked to an examination of ideas about the meaning of life and the conception of immortality, which are problems related to the theme of death, here it does not imply an analysis of these problems, but a conclusive indication that some Hermetic Tractates show the dilemma of death between dissolution and change from the reflection of the Stoic Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
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The process of islamization in Western Africa under the rulership of the Empire of Mālī
Ahmed-Salem Ould Mohamed BABA; Vicente CASTRO MARTÍNEZ
Original title: El proceso de islamización de África occidental bajo el Imperio de Mālī
Published in Mirabilia Journal 34
Keywords: Animism, Black Africa, Haŷŷ, Islam, Saadies, Trade.
In this article, it is analyzed the role that had the best-known sub-Saharan empire, Mālī, in the acceleration of the process of islamization which took place in the southern part of the Sahara Desert between the XIIIth and XVIth centuries. However, it proves to be useful for the mentioning of the fact that the adoption of the Muslim religion by the Western Africa peoples do not cause the abandonment of their traditional beliefs, but a syncretism between them, despite the intentions of their rulers. On the other hand, apart from religious aspects, it will be very important the investigation of the commercial exchanges as one of the essential elements in the development of the penetration of Islamic values along this region of the African continent, in conjunction with the importance of the art as an indicator of this process advancement. To do that, it will be paid close attention to the development of the peculiar Sudanese art that was implemented in the main cities of the empire, around which is related this investigation, Timbuktu.
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The Λόγος Τέλειος in Lactantius’ De Vita Beata: Philological Analysis of the Hermetic Fragmentum of the Divinæ Institutiones 7.18.4-5
David Pessoa de LIRA
Original title: O Λόγος Τέλειος em De Vita Beata de Lactâncio: análise filológica do Fragmentum Hermético das Divinæ Institutiones 7. 18. 4-5
Published in Mirabilia Journal 34
Keywords: Asclepius Latinus, Fragmentum Hermeticum, Hermetic Literature, Lactantius, Philology, Λόγος Τέλειος.
This article analyzes the fragmentum of the Λόγος Τέλειος in Lactantius's De Vita Beata, Divinæ Institutiones 7. 18. 4-5. Of particular interest here is the idea and argument of the Hermetic fragmentum Λόγος Τέλειος in contrast to the idea in its context in De Vita Beata. Although there has been significant research on the small apocalypse or prediction of Asclepius Latinus 26a, this article focuses on understanding the aspects that characterize the Λόγος Τέλειος without dwelling beforehand on the idea of prediction and the future, nor on the subsequent interpretations developed for future events in the Latin translation of the Asclepius Latinus. The Coptic ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ ⲧⲉⲗⲉⲓⲟⲥ [Logos Teleios] (Nag Hammadi VI.8 (73,23-36)) corroborates various aspects of Λόγος Τέλειος. The first text helps to understand the second one reciprocally. Therefore, the comparative method is used here to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the Greek Λόγος Τέλειος, the Coptic ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ ⲧⲉⲗⲉⲓⲟⲥ, the Asclepius Latinus 26a and the intervention in these texts in sources of fragmentum transmission. The comparative analysis shows some relevant results in the relationship between the Λόγος Τέλειος en De Vita Beata de Lactantius. As result, one could perceive that the Λόγος Τέλειος is a text that deals with periodic cataclysm and timelessness and its demonstradum is different from Lactantius’ conception.
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Duplex Spiritus Almus: the semantics of the “X” in the Romanesque period
Dominique J. PERSOONS
Original title: Duplex Spiritus Almus: la sémantique du “X” à l’époque romane
Published in Music in Antiquity, Middle Ages & Renaissance
Keywords: Double soul, Holy Spirit, Jaca, Ornate letters, Plato.
The illumination from the early thirteenth century English manuscript Harley-MS-4951 shows a curious disposition of the divine trinity. If the Father and the Son are easily identified, the Holy Spirit appears in the form of an X surmounted by two animal heads, one threatening and the other affable. This suggests that the Spirit was considered double and made up of two opposing spirits. This hypothesis is verified by the observation of the tympanum of the cathedral of Jaca.
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Soissons: the stone builds the Marian faith (The Cantiga 53 of Cantigas de Santa Maria by Afonso X)
Bárbara DANTAS
Original title: Soissons: a pedra edifica a fé mariana (a Cantiga 53 das Cantigas de Santa Maria de Afonso X)
Published in Mirabilia Journal
Keywords: Alfonso X, Cantigas de Santa María, Middle Ages, Soissons Cathedral.
Alfonso X, sovereign of the peninsular kingdoms of León and Castilla, honored the fame of the kings of the medieval West of the 13th century and dedicated much of his time and money to promoting the arts, sciences and Marian cult. One of the ways to unite all these initiatives was the creation of the Cantigas de Santa María, a set of hundreds of stories of miracles and praises to the Virgin Mary, in which another hundred full-page illuminations are recorded. This work will focus on Cantiga 53 and aims to show the technical development implemented by gothic architects, as well as the syncretism between the French and peninsular kingdoms with regard to cathedral architecture, for the example of Soissons Cathedral.
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Is there a great cosmic wheel hidden in the tympanum of Moissac Abbey?
Cécile M. FOSSOUL; Dominique J. PERSOONS
Original title: ¿Hay una gran rueda cósmica escondida en el tímpano de la Abadía de Moissac?
Published in Mirabilia Journal
Keywords: Cosmic, Invisible image, Moissac, Tympanum, Wheel.
The tympanum of the Abbey of Moissac, which belonged to the Cistercian order, known for its austerity, presents a strange iconography: Christ in Glory is surrounded by the four evangelists who adopt paradoxical positions, and a kind of laxity that seems at first glance incomprehensible. Also, the two angels keep their hands in the air for no apparent reason. When arranged symmetrically, Romanesque angels generally hold the halo of Christ. However, in Moissac those angels seem to be “paralyzed”. Does the tympanum contain a hidden iconography? Could the 12th century Christianity transmitted secret images? Today, this question could have been answered through the use of graphic design software.
