- University of St Andrews, School of Art History, Department Memberadd
- History of Art, History of Science, Visual Cultures Of Science, Natural History, Art History, Diego Velazquez, and 35 morePeter Paul Rubens, Bird of paradise, Visual Culture, History of Collecting, Art and Science, Travel Literature, Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Georges Perec, Collecting and Collections, Hispanic Studies, Iberian Science, Baroque Science, Baroque Art and Literature, Visual Studies, Digital Humanities, Francisco Hernandez, Exotica, Cultura del Barroco, Early Modern Visual Culture, Still-life painting, Historia de la ciencia moderna, Philosophy of Science, Early modern Spain, History of Natural History, Early Modern History, Spanish Renaissance and Baroque Art, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Science and Technology, Literatura española del Siglo de Oro, Early Modern Europe, History of Medicine, Siglo de Oro, Baroque art and architecture, Pintura, and Historia del Arteedit
- I'm a researcher at the Department of History of Science, Institute of History, CSIC, and honorary lecturer at the Sc... moreI'm a researcher at the Department of History of Science, Institute of History, CSIC, and honorary lecturer at the School of Art History, University of St Andrews. I work on the intersections of science and art in the early modern period, with a particular focus on the Hispanic context. My research interests include the contribution of images and image-makers to the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge; the development of knowledge-making practices in contexts and processes like the exploration and conquest of the Americas, scientific expeditions and the cultures of collecting; and the appropriation and reinterpretation of scientific themes in the cultural discourse of the period.
Research interests:
Velázquez and the art of painting in seventeenth-century Spain // Ingenuity in the early modern Hispanic world // Visual culture of early modern (Iberian) science // Francisco Hernández, Juan Eusebio Nieremberg & the Tesoro Messicano / The woodcut artist Christoffel Jegher // Still-life and vanitas painting // Visual representations of the bird of paradise // Technologies of visualisation (past & present)edit
Focusing on the figure of Diego Velázquez, this article examines the significance of the notion of ingenio in early modern Spanish writings about painting. First, it considers its relevance to discussions about natural talent, including... more
Focusing on the figure of Diego Velázquez, this article examines the significance of the notion of ingenio in early modern Spanish writings about painting. First, it considers its relevance to discussions about natural talent, including the links with treatises like Examen de ingenios. Second, it shows how the adoption of ingenio as a motif in two biographies of the young Velázquez contributed to the crafting of a contrived narrative on the artist, privileging his giftedness and independence. Third, it considers other articulations of this rhetoric of ingenio in relation to Velázquez’s art, particularly regarding matters of practice and skill.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History of Science, Natural History, History of Art, Animals in Culture, Early modern Spain, and 14 moreHistory of Collecting, Barroco, Historia de la Ciencia, Bird of paradise, Still-life painting, Iberian Science, Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Juan De Espina, Visual Culture of Early Modern Science, Baroque arts and culture, Juan van der Hamen, Juan de Valdés Leal, Francisco Hernández, and Passion flower
This paper explores the interconnections between early modern natural history and European visual culture by focusing on the representation of a single motif, the bird of paradise, in one of Peter Paul Rubens's most celebrated paintings:... more
This paper explores the interconnections between early modern natural history and European visual culture by focusing on the representation of a single motif, the bird of paradise, in one of Peter Paul Rubens's most celebrated paintings: the Adoration of the Magi (1609; 1628–29), now in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Portrayed as an aigrette in the Black Magus's headwear, the bird of paradise is interpreted as a symbol of exoticism and geographical diversity, in a painting of unmistakable Counter-Reformist facture, produced in a context of tense religious and political disputes and conflicting commercial interests. By considering the representation of this motif in the Prado Adoration as well as in other works by Rubens and his contemporaries, this paper studies the contribution of artists and paintings to the dissemination of natural knowledge, and examines early modern visual culture as part of a wider context shaped by religiosity, political interests, the cult of the exotic and global trade.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
TDR - Tesis Doctorales en Red - 10 años 2001 · 2011. Búsqueda avanzada. Restringir a TDR. ...
Research Interests:
José Ramón Marcaida, “El ave del paraíso. Historia natural y alegoría”, in María Tausiet (ed), Alegorías. Imagen y discurso en la Edad Moderna (Madrid: CSIC, 2014), pp. 93-108.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The aim of this paper is to explore the complexities surrounding the preservation and transmission of natural and medical knowledge in seventeenth-century Spain, through the analysis of several features, both textual and visual, in the... more
The aim of this paper is to explore the complexities surrounding the preservation and transmission of natural and medical knowledge in seventeenth-century Spain, through the analysis of several features, both textual and visual, in the work of Juan Eusebio Nieremberg (1595-1658).
Mainly known for his religious writings, such as the extensively edited and translated On the difference between the temporal and eternal (Madrid, 1640), and regarded as one of the most eloquent exponents of Spanish Counter-Reformist thought, Nieremberg was also the first professor of natural history at the Reales Estudios of the Jesuit Colegio Imperial of Madrid, and the author of several books on natural knowledge, the most important being his Historia naturae, maxime peregrinae (Antwerp, 1635).
This paper focuses on Nieremberg’s treatment of a particularly relevant source for his lectures and treatises on natural history: the materials gathered by the Spanish physician Francisco Hernández during his expedition to New Spain in the 1570s. Comprising several volumes of texts as well as thousands of illustrations, these materials remained mostly unpublished, except for a few editing efforts, including the well-known edition, the so-called Mexican Treasury (Rome, 1651), by the Accademia dei Lincei.
As it will be argued, Nieremberg’s work not only offers a suggestive chance to enlarge and enrich the history of the reception and dissemination of these texts and illustrations; it also provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the appreciation of natural and medical knowledge in Spain during the first half of the seventeenth century.
Mainly known for his religious writings, such as the extensively edited and translated On the difference between the temporal and eternal (Madrid, 1640), and regarded as one of the most eloquent exponents of Spanish Counter-Reformist thought, Nieremberg was also the first professor of natural history at the Reales Estudios of the Jesuit Colegio Imperial of Madrid, and the author of several books on natural knowledge, the most important being his Historia naturae, maxime peregrinae (Antwerp, 1635).
This paper focuses on Nieremberg’s treatment of a particularly relevant source for his lectures and treatises on natural history: the materials gathered by the Spanish physician Francisco Hernández during his expedition to New Spain in the 1570s. Comprising several volumes of texts as well as thousands of illustrations, these materials remained mostly unpublished, except for a few editing efforts, including the well-known edition, the so-called Mexican Treasury (Rome, 1651), by the Accademia dei Lincei.
As it will be argued, Nieremberg’s work not only offers a suggestive chance to enlarge and enrich the history of the reception and dissemination of these texts and illustrations; it also provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the appreciation of natural and medical knowledge in Spain during the first half of the seventeenth century.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
By examining several works by the renowned Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, this paper studies the bird of paradise as a motif in seventeenth-century European painting. Its aim is not only to explore the contribution of artists and... more
By examining several works by the renowned Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, this paper studies the bird of paradise as a motif in seventeenth-century European painting. Its aim is not only to explore the contribution of artists and paintings to the dissemination of natural knowledge in early modern Europe but also to analyse early modern visual culture as part of a rich social and cultural context shaped by religiosity and political power as well as collecting and global trade.
Seventeenth-century Spanish still-life painting is commonly associated with contemporary religious doctrines about the caducity of existence and the vanity of earthly glories. And yet, when looking at the way things are depicted in these... more
Seventeenth-century Spanish still-life painting is commonly associated with contemporary religious doctrines about the caducity of existence and the vanity of earthly glories. And yet, when looking at the way things are depicted in these works, one perceives another sense of “vanity” being conveyed: a celebration of technical skill and artistic talent devoted to illusionism and visual trickery. This ability to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality would be much appreciated by Spanish Baroque culture –from poets and playwrights to intellectuals and patrons. This paper studies the representation of things in this context of fanciful creativity and intense cultural exchange.
Research Interests:
By focusing on several images produced in the first half of the seventeenth-century, this paper examines the representation of the passion flower and the bird of paradise as natural objects invested with allegorical meanings and symbolic... more
By focusing on several images produced in the first half of the seventeenth-century, this paper examines the representation of the passion flower and the bird of paradise as natural objects invested with allegorical meanings and symbolic value, but also as coveted goods, subject to processes of commodification, circulation and display. In particular, it looks into the religious symbolism associated with these objects: in the case of the passion flower, the connection between the plant features and the Passion of Christ, from which its name derives; in the case of the bird of paradise, its association with God and heaven (manucodiata, “bird of God”), as well as with numerous Christian virtues. The aim is to explore the diversity of levels at which these depictions could operate -from natural history treatises and books of emblems to still life paintings and devotional works- in order to highlight both their versatility and the range of interests they could respond to, notwithstanding their association with either an allegorical, emblematic, mode of representation or a more naturalistic, closer to the object, approach.
By examining examples from both the West and the East Indies, this paper will explore the world-encompassing dimensions of natural knowledge produced and exchanged within the Hispanic territories in the early modern period. It will cover... more
By examining examples from both the West and the East Indies, this paper will explore the world-encompassing dimensions of natural knowledge produced and exchanged within the Hispanic territories in the early modern period. It will cover various aspects of this long-distance knowledge-making enterprise: the accumulation and management of textual and visual sources, the role of merchants and sailors as information-transmitting agents, and the problem of preservation during voyages. In particular, it will focus on the works of Juan Eusebio Nieremberg (1595-1658) and his edition of the materials gathered by Francisco Hernández (c. 1515-1587) during the expedition to New Spain (1571-1577).