- Architectural History, Science for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, History of Architecture and Town Planning, International relations during the middle ages, Islamic Studies, Carolingian Studies, and 23 moreMediterranean Studies, Comparative History, Late Antiquity, Byzantine Studies, International Relations, Islam, Multiculturalism, Cultural Landscapes, Intercultural dialogue, Byzantium, Early Christian Archaeology, Storia Della Città e Del Territorio, History of Commerce, Holy Roman Empire, Cadastral Systems, Early Christian Architecture, Ambrose of Milan, Late Antiquity and Byzantium (History and Art), History of Caliphates, Palace, Carolingian art and architecture, Caliphate, and Holy Roman Empire (History)edit
This paper aims to analyze the role played by the Imperial Palace in the Design of Urban and Territorial Background of the Capital Cities of Dynastic Empires of the Mediterranean Area (8th-9th century A.D.). The study takes in account... more
This paper aims to analyze the role played by the Imperial Palace in the Design of Urban and Territorial Background of the Capital Cities of Dynastic Empires of the Mediterranean Area (8th-9th century A.D.). The study takes in account Byzantine, Islamic and Western, both Historiographical (Theophanes, Theophanes Continuatus, Tabari's History, Carolingian Annals) and related to Etiquette and Cermonies (De Cerimoniis). The Palace as Seat of the Imperial Throne was not merely the Center, but became the Rule and the Ideal Model by which the City, its Territory and the Empire beyond were organized, in a very practical and clear way. First Conclusions show that - despite the differences among the various cultures and political programmes - the various Mediterranean Courts represented Imperial Majesty in similar ways, through an easily recognizable symbolic lexicon.
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The definition of landscape adopted in the European Landscape Convention implies the pursuing of awareness raising and public involvement as a primary instrument for planning and policy implementation. As in the Italian case-study,... more
The definition of landscape adopted in the European Landscape Convention implies the pursuing of awareness raising and public involvement as a primary instrument for planning and policy implementation. As in the Italian case-study, national institutions prove slow in applying such principles, and coordinating them with traditional urban planning. The main problem consists in understanding the positive role of landscape, as a dynamic synthesis of cultural and ecological features. In many cases, policy-makers and professional actors still consider the theme of landscape conservation and biodiversity protection as limitative entities. Acts and policies related to Protected Areas worldwide can represent a precious background of experiences for the implementation of an operative procedure of territorial management, which will consider landscape and biodiversity as relevant as economic features. Other effective suggestions come from the outcome document of Rio+20, the latest international convention on sustainable development. Integrating landscape and biodiversity in current national laws may prove inadequate. A successful application of the most recent tools of planning, based on holistic approaches and including public-participated processes, will be achieved only through a radical reflection about traditional policy-making, which is still linked to the division of the matter in obsolete compartments.
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Research Interests: International Relations, Communication, Multiculturalism, Theology, History of Caliphates, and 12 moreIslam, Byzantium, Intercultural dialogue, Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire (History), Palaces and City Archaeology, Late Antiquity and Byzantium (History and Art), Palace, Carolingian art and architecture, Byzantine palaces, Caliphate, and The Great Palace
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The paper aims to hypothesize the ideological and architectural design, which brought to the constitution of the Early Christian Cathedral of Turin. The investigation focuses on the northern church (the Saviour's church in early medieval... more
The paper aims to hypothesize the ideological and architectural design, which brought to the constitution of the Early Christian Cathedral of Turin. The investigation focuses on the northern church (the Saviour's church in early medieval definition), on its however arguable liturgical meaning and on its modular plan, on the base of the metric results of the archaeological excavations, led by the archaeological Superintendence at the end of the XX century.
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The paper aims to analyze and interpret the presence and use of symbols of power in the middle-eastern ceremonies and architecture of reception during the 10th century AD as transcultural expression of imperial power. Court and court... more
The paper aims to analyze and interpret the presence and use of symbols of power in the middle-eastern ceremonies and architecture of reception during the 10th century AD as transcultural expression of imperial power.
Court and court culture can be considered as international transcultural contexts: their meaning and attribution of senses can be understood and fulfilled in a merely crosscultural perspective. Court ceremonial and the relative apparatus were NOT extraordinary emanations of single, limited cultures. They are containers of a universal message of suzerainty; they are the language by which two or more courts were able to understand each other, through the eyes, the voices and the behaviour of their respective members.
The recurrence of schemes, ideas and cultural exchanges is evident in the compared analysis of the sources related to palace ceremonial and etiquette (Rusum dar al-Khilafa; De Cerimoniis), as well as in the reports of historical facts and court-episodes (Histories and Chronicles, such as Ta'bari's Tarikh, and Theophanes' Chronographia; Books of geography, such as Ya'qubi's Kitab al-Buldan).
The paper will focus on a literary case-study of rare importance: the report of the 917 A.D. Byzantine embassy at the court of caliph al-Muqtadir in Baghdad, presented in various editions throughout the ages. The narration – presented through its main episodes – will guide the analysis towards the identification of the main features, which determined the role and the meaning of the Spaces of the Reception. The confrontation with the Byzantine and the Carolingian courts is useful to highlight the crosscultural aspects of the theme.
The path is traced for a new proposal of a typologic study of the Palace: not relying on a sterile comparison of architectural forms and plan schemes, but analyzing its substantial role as both space and emanation of a model of transcultural representation of power.
Court and court culture can be considered as international transcultural contexts: their meaning and attribution of senses can be understood and fulfilled in a merely crosscultural perspective. Court ceremonial and the relative apparatus were NOT extraordinary emanations of single, limited cultures. They are containers of a universal message of suzerainty; they are the language by which two or more courts were able to understand each other, through the eyes, the voices and the behaviour of their respective members.
The recurrence of schemes, ideas and cultural exchanges is evident in the compared analysis of the sources related to palace ceremonial and etiquette (Rusum dar al-Khilafa; De Cerimoniis), as well as in the reports of historical facts and court-episodes (Histories and Chronicles, such as Ta'bari's Tarikh, and Theophanes' Chronographia; Books of geography, such as Ya'qubi's Kitab al-Buldan).
The paper will focus on a literary case-study of rare importance: the report of the 917 A.D. Byzantine embassy at the court of caliph al-Muqtadir in Baghdad, presented in various editions throughout the ages. The narration – presented through its main episodes – will guide the analysis towards the identification of the main features, which determined the role and the meaning of the Spaces of the Reception. The confrontation with the Byzantine and the Carolingian courts is useful to highlight the crosscultural aspects of the theme.
The path is traced for a new proposal of a typologic study of the Palace: not relying on a sterile comparison of architectural forms and plan schemes, but analyzing its substantial role as both space and emanation of a model of transcultural representation of power.
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The paper aims at interpreting the analogies among Caliphal and Byzantine ceremonies of reception during the 10th century as a cross-cultural expression of the Universal dimension of the ‘Empire’. The compared analysis of Treaties on... more
The paper aims at interpreting the analogies among Caliphal and Byzantine ceremonies of reception during the 10th century as a cross-cultural expression of the Universal dimension of the ‘Empire’.
The compared analysis of Treaties on Palace Liturgy and Accounts of Receptions shows that the Ceremony was globally conceived on the base of a common framework. The further interpolation with Commentaries (Traditions) of the Quran points at the symbology of the archetypal figure of King Solomon as the ideologic background of related liturgical and architectural schemes. The comparison among the Accounts of Reception at the Byzantine Court (De Cerimoniis; Liutprandus’ Antapodosis) and at the Caliphal courts of Baghdad and Madinat al-Zahra’ aims to highlight the homogeneus features, deriving from the Biblical and Quranic tradition of the Wise King.
The compared analysis of Treaties on Palace Liturgy and Accounts of Receptions shows that the Ceremony was globally conceived on the base of a common framework. The further interpolation with Commentaries (Traditions) of the Quran points at the symbology of the archetypal figure of King Solomon as the ideologic background of related liturgical and architectural schemes. The comparison among the Accounts of Reception at the Byzantine Court (De Cerimoniis; Liutprandus’ Antapodosis) and at the Caliphal courts of Baghdad and Madinat al-Zahra’ aims to highlight the homogeneus features, deriving from the Biblical and Quranic tradition of the Wise King.
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The Imperial Courts of the Middle Ages were complex frameworks of international exchange. Cross-cultural interactions determined the formation of relational, diplomatic and liturgical scenarios, that can be understood by considering their... more
The Imperial Courts of the Middle Ages were complex frameworks of international exchange. Cross-cultural interactions determined the formation of relational, diplomatic and liturgical scenarios, that can be understood by considering their global dimension. Investigation on related themes overcomes traditional borders among disciplines, as different kinds of comparative approaches are proposed in the session. The interaction among Courts of Imperial Rank led to the adoption of common paradigms of Power Display (e.g. the 'Throne of Solomon'); meanwhile, the contact with the 'Empire' brought regional Courts to find their own international role in the Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern Area, according to different models and circumstances.
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The conference aimed to discuss the main architectural features of the Northern Church of the Early Christian Cathedral of Turin, as can be reconstructed on the base of data provided by archaeological excavations.