Article
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Between Nature and Grace: Christian Corporeality in “The Book of Contemplation in God” (1271-1274) by Ramon Llull (1232-1315)
Ricardo da COSTA; Gabriel Tebaldi MEIRA
Original title: Entre a Natureza e a Graça: a corporeidade cristã no “Livro da Contemplação em Deus” (1271-1274) de Ramon Llull (1232-1315)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This article investigates the conception of Christian corporeality in Ramon Llull’s (1232-1315) “The Book of Contemplation in God” (1271-1274), examining how the author integrates the classical philosophical tradition – especially Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus – with Christian Theology and medieval Scholasticism. Drawing on the doctrine of human powers and the physical-spiritual structure of man, Llull presents the body as a reflection of the divine order, an instrument of the soul, and a means of moral asceticism. The study analyses the relationship between nature and grace in Llull’s thought, demonstrating that the body, far from being a mere receptacle of the soul, constitutes a space of revelation and communion with God. Through the harmonization of the four elements, the five senses, and the vegetative, sensitive, imaginative, rational, and motor powers, Llull proposes an integrated vision of human existence, in which bodily and spiritual life converge toward the contemplation and praise of the Creator.
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Esse, Intelligere et Vivere in the thought of Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
Matteo RASCHIETTI
Original title: Esse, Intelligere et Vivere no pensamento de Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This article examines the central role of the concepts esse, intelligere, and vivere in Meister Eckhart’s thought. Starting from his ontology of esse, which identifies God as being itself and the foundation of all things, the study explores how Eckhart articulates this perspective with the primacy of intelligere, understood as the divine intellect and the very ground of being. The analysis highlights his departure from Thomistic metaphysics and from the Exodus tradition, by affirming that God is not primarily ens but intellect and knowledge. Finally, the article addresses the notion of vivere as fullness of life, manifested in the union of the soul with the eternal Logos. Thus, it becomes evident that, for Eckhart, the human spiritual journey consists in transcending the realm of created being to partake in divine life, where intellect and the inner word become the place of God’s birth within the soul.
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The legal-theological architecture of papal power in John of Paris (c.1270-1306)
Alexandre PIEREZAN
Original title: A arquitetura jurídico-teológica do poder papal em João Quidort (c. 1270-1306)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This study analyzes the juridical-theological architecture of papal power in Johannes Quidort (c. 1270-1306), particularly in his work De Regia Potestate et Papali. Set within the conflict between Boniface VIII and Philip the Fair, Quidort defends the distinction between temporal and spiritual powers, maintaining that both derive from the same principle but operate within autonomous spheres. His reflection, grounded in Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, and the Corpus iuris civilis, seeks to limit papal authority over kingdoms, reaffirming royal sovereignty as a legitimate and juridical power oriented toward the common good. By appealing to the ius gentium, he proposes restraints on the arbitrariness of both prince and Church, anticipating modern debates on sovereignty and international law. His work stands as a landmark in understanding the medieval hierocratic model, rooted in local and juridical traditions.
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The confluence of temporalities: Dante Alighieri’s “Commedia” (1321) and the Old Man of Crete
Daniel Lula COSTA
Original title: A confluência das temporalidades: a “Commedia” (1321) de Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) e o Velho de Creta
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
The objective of this article is to understand the temporalities emanating from Dante Alighieri’s “Commedia” and to illustrate this with a brief study of the Old Man of Crete, a hybrid being described in Canto XIV of the first part of the work, called Inferno. Dante, both a writer and a character in this work, journeys through the medieval afterlife as a living being, discovering its mysteries and deciphering its messages. Thus, I seek to understand mythical time and how it relates to an idea of cyclical time and the manifestation of a linear and teleological time elucidated by the strengthening of Christianity in the 14th century. I then relate these ideas to the presence of Dantean hybrid beings, paying special attention to the poetic creation of the Old Man of Crete, understanding him as a holder of a hybridity of temporalities. The study proposed here draws on Gumbrecht concepts of the presence of the past, Auerbach concepts of figuration, and Costa concepts of hybrid beings.
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The spectral woman. The being of misogyny in the work “Virgeu de Consoloçon” (15th century)
Bruna Plath FURTADO
Original title: A mulher espectral. O ser da misoginia na obra “Virgeu de Consoloçon” (séc. XV)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
Using as corpus the Portuguese work “Virgeu de Consolaçon” – an anonymous manuscript produced in the early fifteenth century – this study examines the emergence of a spectral mode of femininity. Drawing on the theoretical and methodological framework of discourse analysis, our aim is to understand how the objectification of women is configured in the discourse of the “Virgeu de Consolaçon”. When, as a form of aleturgy, the truth revealed in the text takes the sin of lust as its theme, it gives rise to a figure to be feared, one from which the monk must fully withdraw to escape the designs of this sin. It is through the way this figure is instituted in the “Virgeu de Consolaçon”, a figure to which medieval misogyny assigns a linguistic-enunciative form, and which ascetic-monastic discourse portrays as dangerous, that we refer to it as the spectral woman.
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Medieval violence reflected in “Valencian Annals” (XV-XVIII centuries)
Francisco José CONEJERO I PASCUAL
Original title: Violència medieval reflectida en els “Annals valencians” (segles XV-XVIII)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This study examines episodes of violence recorded in the “Valencian Annals”, contributing to the historiography of the Kingdom of Valencia. The chronicle, authored anonymously, primarily reflects local events but also includes references of broader, even universal, scope. Among these accounts, various forms of violence emerge. By analysing four specific cases, the research highlights how violence was not only present but also institutionalized within medieval Valencian society.
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The dark illuminated night of Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Waldir BARRETO
Original title: A tenebrosa noite iluminada de São João da Cruz (1542-1591)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
Shortly before his arrest in Toledo, Juan de Yepes y Álvarez drew a small, crucified Christ while working in Ávila, where he was already known as Fray Juan de la Cruz, supposedly from the memory of an epiphanic vision. To this day, it is considered his only known creative legacy produced according to Fine Arts standards. Except for another lost drawing, merely illustrative and not very technical, whose allographic reproduction was incorporated into editions of his writings, after his imprisonment Juan dedicated himself exclusively to poetry and prose. The gaps in an oral and mysterious history, the exceptionality of collateral existence, but above all, the expressive power of high plastic quality of this single surviving autograph drawing, although preserved as a relic, has frequented the memory and specialized literature on art over the years, from historians and critics to artists such as Salvador Dalí and Bill Viola.
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Onomastic and textual keys to “Criticón”, from Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658). A rereading of the work based on the “Manual Oracle” and “Art of Prudence”
Jesús Fernando CÁSEDA TERESA
Original title: Claves onomásticas y textuales del “Criticón” de Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658). Una relectura de la obra a partir del “Oráculo manual” y “Arte de prudencia”
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This work studies three aspects of the “Criticón” that have been little analyzed but are fundamental for understanding the work. Firstly, the onomastics of its main characters, whose origin will provide many clues for its interpretation. Secondly, its tripartite compositional structure, which includes the “space of symbolization” and geography of the work and the study of time. And finally, the interpretation of the allegorical concepts based on the “Oráculo manual”, dictionary and “navigating needle” so as not to get lost in the Gratianesque universe, which provides the keys to understanding the meaning of terms such as “fame”, “criticism”, “truth” or “immortality” in the complex philosophical framework.
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“Las Meninas” (1656) by Velázquez: from iconography to symbols. Different interpretations of a timeless work
Bárbara DANTAS
Original title: “Las Meninas” (1656) de Velázquez: da iconografia aos símbolos. Diferentes interpretações de uma obra atemporal
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
In the History of Art, there are iconic paintings, which make their creator a figure shrouded in an air of genius. This was the case with “Las Meninas”, painted by Velázquez, a work published in 1656. This article aims to show some ways of interpreting the forms, colours, technique, and symbols present in the painting by the Spanish artist who served King Philip IV as First Court Painter. Over the centuries, “Las Meninas” has maintained an aura of mystery, as well as seemingly endless studies. Velázquez’s masterpiece already attracted the attention of other painters, such as Palomino and Goya, in the 18th and 19th centuries. At the end of the 19th century, the impressionists used it as the basis for their new artistic approach. And in the 20th century, the greatest names in art of the time, Picasso and Salvador Dalí, focused on the 17th-century work and created their own versions of “Las Meninas”.
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Canary Islands in Andean brushes: insular fantasies in the pictorial cycle of Saint Didacus of Alcalá, 1705-1715 (Colonial Museum of Santiago, Chile)
Antonio MARRERO ALBERTO
Original title: Canarias en pinceles andinos: fantasías insulares en el ciclo pictórico de San Diego de Alcalá, 1705-1715 (Museo Colonial de Santiago de Chile)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This research examines seven paintings from the Dieguine cycle preserved at the Colonial Museum of Santiago de Chile, attributed to the circle of the Nolasco and Lucas García (1705–1715). It focuses on the representation of the saint’s stay on the island of Fuerteventura, constructing a visual imaginary of the Canary Islands from the perspective of Andean viceregal workshops. Through iconographic and iconological analysis, the study reveals idealized landscapes, fictitious architectures, symbolic elements, and aboriginal figures reinterpreted according to European and American models. Rather than seeking ethnographic or geographic accuracy, these images contribute to the creation of an “insular fantasy” that redefines the Canary Islands as a strategic enclave between Europe and the Americas.
