Article (Mirabilia Ars)
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The Choir Books of the monastery of St. Benedict of Cátris: codicological analyses of an Antiphonarium
Antónia Fialho CONDE, Isabel Maria Botelho de Gusmão Dias Sarreira Cid da SILVA
Original title: Os Livros de Coro do mosteiro cisterciense de S. Bento de Cástris: análise codicológica de um Antifonário
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Keywords: Ancient bookmaking, Ancient religious libraries, Antiphonarium, Cistercian feminine Monastery.
Study of an Antiphonarium (materials, structure, techniques, pagination, decorated alphabets, biding) trying to identify its main characteristics to be possible to connect it to other books of the same type (Choir Books) belonging to the ancient library of the Cistercian Monastery of S. Bento de Cástris of the city of Évora, Portugal.
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Goodness, Justice and Truth. Three Marian virtues in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and in the Book of Santa Maria, by Ramon Llull
Ricardo da COSTA, Bárbara DANTAS
Original title: Bondade, Justiça e Verdade. Três virtudes marianas nas Cantigas de Santa Maria e no Livro de Santa Maria, de Ramon Llull
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Keywords: Alfonso X, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Enluminures, Libre de Sancta Maria, Medieval Art, Ramon Llull.
The Cantigas de Santa Maria is a cultural landmark in medieval Spain. This magnific work of the thirteenth century is composed of 420 praises and narratives of miracles of the Virgin Mary and written in galician-portuguese language. Furthermore, have hundreds of miniatures. Sponsored by King Alfonso X (1221-1284), is not great only for its artistic value, but, specially, for its historical value. Each song registry differents aspects of medieval sensibility. Thus, the objective of this study is to make a comparative analysis (textual and imagistic) of three philosophical-theological virtues of the Virgin Mary – Goodness, Truth and Justice – present in the praise 140 of the Cantigas de Santa María and in the Libre de Sancta Maria (c. 1290) from the Catalan philosopher Ramon Llull (1232-1316), to analyze the symbolic structures from marian spirituality, typical religious and artistic manifestation of the thirteenth century in the Medieval West.
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The Hispano-Islamisms of Juan Guas. The fabrication of a Historiographical Stereotype
Roberto GONZÁLEZ RAMOS
Original title: The Hispano-Islamisms of Juan Guas. The fabrication of a Historiographical Stereotype
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Keywords: Historiographical nationalism, Historiography, Islamic influence, Juan Guas, Late Gothic Architecture.
Formalist currents tinged with nationalism in twentieth century historiography developed the idea of Toledo’s late Gothic architecture being imbued with elements and features from Hispano-Islamic architecture, especially in the case of one of its leading lights, the architect Juan Guas. This gave rise to descriptions of a specific, hispanicized style, which had modified its essentially Northern European characteristics. This essay analyses the gradual construction of the aforementioned historiographical viewpoint, its champions, and their arguments and methodological approach. The process can then be reconstructed, with a view to revisiting it and critically analysing underlying assumptions.
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Álvaro de Luna and the political discourses of the Chapel of Saint James
Cinthia ROCHA
Original title: Álvaro de Luna e os discursos políticos da Capela de Santiago
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Keywords: 15th century, Crown of Castile, Funerary chapels, Nobility, Álvaro de Luna.
The Chapel of Saint James, built in the Cathedral of Toledo during the fifteenth century to become the burial place of Alvaro de Luna and his lineage, is one of the leading exponents of Spanish Late Gothic. The construction process had two phases: during the life of the Constable, when he took charge of the work, and a few decades after the tragic death of the former Favorite, when the Chapel elements were completed and his body transferred under the responsibility of his daughter, María de Luna y Pimentel, II Duchess of the Infantado. As the building occurred at different moments of a broad process of transformations, the structure also indicates changes in the representations and strategies used by the noblemen within conflicts of intra-nobility nature. The objective of this paper is analyze the Chapel of Saint James, understanding it as a complex form of political action, whose examination may contribute to the comprehension of the transformations that marked the fifteenth century in Castile, as the conflicts that involved the representation of groups and/or individuals were active agents of the changes that engendered the consolidation of high-nobility ideology.
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The Beauty and Love in Ibn Sīnā (980-1037)
Ricardo da COSTA, Evandro Santana PEREIRA
Original title: O Belo e o Amor em Ibn Sīnā (980-1037)
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Keywords: Aesthetics, Beauty., Ibn Sīnā, Love.
This paper analyses the subjects of Love and Beauty in the Risalah fi’l- ‘ishq (A Treatise on Love) of the philosopher Ibn Sīnā (980-1037).
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Introduction: The Power of Images. Ideas and functions of artistic representations
José María SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ
Original title: Presentación: El Poder de la Imagen. Ideas y funciones de las representaciones artísticas
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Byzantine iconography of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the light of a homily of St. John Damascene
José María SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ
Original title: Byzantine iconography of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the light of a homily of St. John Damascene
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Keywords: Byzantine Iconography, Medieval Art, Nativity of the Virgin, St. John of Damascus, Virgin Mary.
As a result of the fact that the New Testament mentions little episodes and provides very few details of the real life of the Virgin Mary, several pious apocryphal legends emerged during the first centuries between the eastern Christian communities, which tried by all means to solve this hermetic silence surrounding the birth, childhood, youth, adulthood and death of the Mother of Jesus. These apocryphal accounts were then assumed and interpreted by numerous Church Fathers, theologians and sacral orators. These reflections of such prestigious thinkers structured a solid corpus of doctrine from which several devotions and Marian liturgical feasts of great importance would arise shortly after. The supernatural birth of Mary, after her miraculous conception in the womb of her elderly and sterile mother Anne, is a primary milestone in her “imaginary” life. As natural fruit of these heterogeneous literary and theological sources, the European medieval art and, in a very special way, the Byzantine one, addressed with remarkable enthusiasm the iconographic theme of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary, especially since the 10th-11th centuries, as one of the most significant episodes in the life of the Theotókos. On this basis, our paper proposes a triple complementary objective. First and foremost, it will highlight the content of the apocryphal sources and some thoughts or patristic exegesis on the subject, with particular emphasis in the homilies of St. John Damascene. Secondly, it will look at some Byzantine paintings on The Nativity of Mary, to determine to what extent the apocryphal accounts and the exegetical or doctrinal reflections on this Marian event are reflected in the characters, situations, attitudes, accessories and scenic items represented in these paintings. Finally, it will suggest some author’s interpretations which seem plausible on the possible symbolic meanings underlying in this relevant, dogmatic core and in its corresponding iconographic theme.
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Humanism and medieval narrative in Max Weber´s iron cage: the case of Hayden White
Miguel Ángel SANZ LOROÑO
Original title: Humanismo y narrativas medievales en la jaula de hierro de Max Weber: el caso de Hayden White
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Keywords: Cold War, Philosophy of History, Weber, White.
This paper attempts to read the “content of the form” of the medievalist work published by Hayden White in his early academic career. Taking Max Weber as the main guide, White plotted the history of papal schism of 1130 with typical tools of social science: Weberian typology and narrative. Also, White began, from the contradictions and limits of the German sociologist, to develop a personal vision of the humanistic and moral function of historiography. The limits to his humanism that he found in Weber's quasi dystopian narrative of modernization, strongly embodied by the realities of the Cold War, were equally important for this development. Over time, these limitations (from political prohibition to antihumanism) led White from Max Weber to Benedetto Croce. Finally, the neo-Kantian dualism of Weber's epistemology, which dramatically embodied the ontological gap opened up by modernity, had developed by the humanist idealism of the Neapolitan philosopher.
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Orthodox Christianity and “Modernity”
Eirini ARTEMI
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Keywords: Christianity, Modernity, Post-patristic, Theology.
Nowadays, there is a question about the relationship between patristic and “after patristic” theology, according to Orthodox theology. This theology comes from the writings of the Fathers, the tradition of the Orthodox Church but also from the general revealed truth of the Church. The opposite of orthodox theology is “after patristic” theology. The latter is an extension of the various newer theologies of western Christian Churches. They make a relevance of theology and feminist, or politics, or different social problems, etc. What is the view of the Orthodox Theology, when many Orthodox support these kinds of theologies and some others have negative attitude to these theologies. Is there any real connection between patristic theology and “modern theology”?
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Interior decoration of lay public spaces in the Middle Ages
Jesús CANTERA MONTENEGRO, Ángela ORGANERO MANZANERO
Original title: Decoración de interiores públicos laicos en la Edad Media
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Keywords: Ambrogio Lorenzetti, European painting, Fiscal system, Florence and Siena, Political propaganda.
The secular presence on art during XIV century, reflects how artistics genres started a process of indipenditation of eclesiastic world. In Europe, in this age a fiscal system was stablished that aloud a fluence transmission of money to coffers. This made Florence and Siena gain a strong economic stability. With the total control of middle class, took place the building of Public Palace of Siena and the decoration of the Sala dei Nove by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. This frescos constitutes a unicum european painting because his conception and convey feelings, like one of famous manifiestion of political propaganda of Middle Age. Ambrogio, under allegorical, political, theological and philosophical pressure, put together a whole political ideology result of agreement between citizens.
