Books by Michele Bacci
Images in Premodern Societies. A Dialogue about the State of the Field on the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of «Iconographica», 2023
Editors’ Note, by M. Bacci, F. Crivello and V. Šcepanovic. IMAGES IN PREMODERN SOCIETIES. H. L. K... more Editors’ Note, by M. Bacci, F. Crivello and V. Šcepanovic. IMAGES IN PREMODERN SOCIETIES. H. L. Kessler, Above Iconography - H. Belting (†), Dante’s Encounter with Living “Shadows”. COMPENDIUM OF QUESTIONNAIRES. Luisa Elena Alcalá - Barbara Baert - Charles Barber - Claire Bosc-Tiessé - Manuel Antonio Castiñeiras González - Floriana Conte - Philippe Cordez - Vincent Debiais - Ralph Dekoninck - Anne Derbes - Jas Elsner - Pablo Escalante Gonzalbo - Ivan Foletti - Beate Fricke - Thomas Kaffenberger - Yoshie Kojima - Aden Kumler - Oya Pancaroglu - Pamela Patton - Sarit Shalev-Eyni - Jean-Michel Spieser - Narcisse Santores Tchandeu - Maria Vassilaki - Annemarie Weyl Carr - Wu Hong. PHOTOCREDITS
Situated between the mountain ranges of the Caucasus, the country of Georgia was constantly expos... more Situated between the mountain ranges of the Caucasus, the country of Georgia was constantly exposed to contacts with both nearby cultures and such far-away realities as the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Europe. Constant political changes, including relations to and occupations by the neighboring empires of Byzantium and the Seljuks, make the region a prime example for the investigation of the dynamics of artistic exchange during the medieval period. This volume reapproaches the impressive material legacy from the medieval period in
Georgia with a variety of new methodological approaches. The ten articles in this volume discuss, among others, general questions of cultural interaction, analyze the relation of liturgy and artistic objects, reexamine famous monuments and present a wide range
of unpublished material.
First issue of the new series: CONVIVIA publihed by Convivium & Viella
Editorial board: Hans Bel... more First issue of the new series: CONVIVIA publihed by Convivium & Viella
Editorial board: Hans Belting, Klára Benešovská, Ivan Foletti (dir.), Herbert Kessler, Serena Romano, Elisabetta Scirocco
Each book of the serie, will be created by a different young artist designer - the first issue was conceived by Anna Kelblová
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The present work is the first monographic book published in English, since 1910, on the history of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. In comparison to other Holy Land monuments, the latter underwent relatively minor alterations in the course of time: spared from the destructions that affected other holy sites, such as the Holy Sepulchre, the basilica at Bethlehem stands out for its still well preserved architecture, dating from the late 6th century, and its exuberant mosaic décors completed in 1169, in the period of Crusader rule in Palestine. This book offers a general description of the vicissitudes of the holy site since its very beginnings in Late Antiquity until the present times, with a special focus on the ways in which the complex relationship between the underground holy site, the Nativity cave housing the very spot of Christ’s birthplace and the manger, and the sumptuously decorated upper church came to be variously negotiated in the course of time by means of different forms of mise-en- scène. The book is accompanied by a rich apparatus of colour illustrations, plans, and a bibliographic annex.
"It is common to think of Jesus of Nazareth's main physical characteristics as including long, wa... more "It is common to think of Jesus of Nazareth's main physical characteristics as including long, wavy, blondish hair and a short beard. Yet the Holy Scriptures are silent about Christ's features, and his representations are hardly consistent in early Christian and medieval arts. The wearing of long hair, moreover, is explicitly condemned by St Paul as shameful and effeminate: therefore it is surprising that, notwithstanding the Apostle's authoritative judgement, the long-haired archetype came to be accepted, as late as the ninth century, as the standard iconography of the Son of God. In The Many Faces of Christ Michele Bacci examines the complex historical and cultural dynamics underlying the making and final successful establishment of Christ's image between late antiquity and the early Renaissance. Unlike earlier studies, the process is described against the background of ancient and biblical conceptions of beauty and the physical look as indicators of moral, ascetic or messianic qualities. It takes into account a broad spectrum of both iconographic and textual sources, and also looks at analogous processes in the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Taoist traditions. This book will be of interest not only to specialists of late antique, Byzantine and medieval studies, but to anybody interested in the historical figure of Jesus and its shifting, controversial conceptions over the course of history.
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Projects by Michele Bacci
Holy Networks
The present project aims to provide a methodological reassessment of and a new interpretive frame... more The present project aims to provide a methodological reassessment of and a new interpretive frame to the materiality of Palestinian loca sancta belonging to the different Jewish, Christian, and Islamic denominations in the Holy Land, their interaction with the surrounding environment, their interconnectedness in the frame of topographic networks meant to be experienced through physical movement, and more generally, the construction of sanctity through and in things and its sensory apprehension.
The project "From Venice to the Holy Land. Mise-en-scène and Forms of Perception of Holy Sites al... more The project "From Venice to the Holy Land. Mise-en-scène and Forms of Perception of Holy Sites along the Sea Routes to Palestine (1300-1550)", supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, took place between 2014 and 2018. It aimed to investigate the ways in which, since 1300, the port-towns located along the Venetian sea-routes to the Holy Land were invested with new cultic meanings and variously associated with the idea of "site-bound" holiness connected with Jerusalem and the Holy Land. All information about such holy sites were collected within a searchable database. The latter will be soon published in the website of Fribourg University. Herewith a description is provided
Papers by Michele Bacci
Natural Materials of the Holy Land and the Visual Translation of Place, 500–1500
Seminari e convegni, 2020
For many centuries the Pisan Camposanto was visited and celebrated as the most striking marvel am... more For many centuries the Pisan Camposanto was visited and celebrated as the most striking marvel among the attractions of the Piazza dei Miracoli. If its role in art history has often been emphasized, less attention has been paid to its perception as a place invested with exceptional qualities, associated with its burial function and specific evocation of Holy Land sanctity. This book offers new perspectives as to the history and identity of a unique and distinctive monument of the Italian Middle Ages. Papers of the International Conference, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, September 1-2, 201
The Armenian Church of Famagusta and the Complexity of Cypriot Heritage, 2017
This chapter is devoted to a general description of the painted program of the Armenian church an... more This chapter is devoted to a general description of the painted program of the Armenian church and to a new appreciation of its cultural and historical meaning. A special emphasis is laid on those murals which have been rediscovered thanks to the recent restoration campaign, namely the images of Saint Theodore on horseback, Saints Paraskeve and Helena, the vita-icon of Saint John the Baptist, and the Dormition of the Virgin. Each mural is analyzed in its specific iconographical and stylistic features and interpreted in light of its association with Armenian tradition and Famagusta’s specific context of cross-cultural interactions, with a special focus on the authorship of the painted program in its different phases, the connections with Palaiologan arts, the relationship with other painted programs in Famagusta, the worship for both Armenian and Cypriot saints, and the involvement of some images in devotional practices associated with individual or corporate religious life.
The following text emerges from a roundtable held at the Center for Early Medieval Studies of the... more The following text emerges from a roundtable held at the Center for Early Medieval Studies of the Department of Art History at the Masaryk University, Brno and entitled “Medieval Art Today, Why?”. It should be seen as an answer to a burning desire for scholarly intellectual debates going beyond the usual formats. Furthermore, we wanted to promote a reflection touching at least three different layers: a historiographical and epistemological reflection, a methodological perspective, and a political engagement. At the same time, through the debate, our desire was to show to our students the relevance of medieval art history today.
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Books by Michele Bacci
Georgia with a variety of new methodological approaches. The ten articles in this volume discuss, among others, general questions of cultural interaction, analyze the relation of liturgy and artistic objects, reexamine famous monuments and present a wide range
of unpublished material.
Editorial board: Hans Belting, Klára Benešovská, Ivan Foletti (dir.), Herbert Kessler, Serena Romano, Elisabetta Scirocco
Each book of the serie, will be created by a different young artist designer - the first issue was conceived by Anna Kelblová
---
The present work is the first monographic book published in English, since 1910, on the history of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. In comparison to other Holy Land monuments, the latter underwent relatively minor alterations in the course of time: spared from the destructions that affected other holy sites, such as the Holy Sepulchre, the basilica at Bethlehem stands out for its still well preserved architecture, dating from the late 6th century, and its exuberant mosaic décors completed in 1169, in the period of Crusader rule in Palestine. This book offers a general description of the vicissitudes of the holy site since its very beginnings in Late Antiquity until the present times, with a special focus on the ways in which the complex relationship between the underground holy site, the Nativity cave housing the very spot of Christ’s birthplace and the manger, and the sumptuously decorated upper church came to be variously negotiated in the course of time by means of different forms of mise-en- scène. The book is accompanied by a rich apparatus of colour illustrations, plans, and a bibliographic annex.
"
Projects by Michele Bacci
Papers by Michele Bacci
Georgia with a variety of new methodological approaches. The ten articles in this volume discuss, among others, general questions of cultural interaction, analyze the relation of liturgy and artistic objects, reexamine famous monuments and present a wide range
of unpublished material.
Editorial board: Hans Belting, Klára Benešovská, Ivan Foletti (dir.), Herbert Kessler, Serena Romano, Elisabetta Scirocco
Each book of the serie, will be created by a different young artist designer - the first issue was conceived by Anna Kelblová
---
The present work is the first monographic book published in English, since 1910, on the history of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. In comparison to other Holy Land monuments, the latter underwent relatively minor alterations in the course of time: spared from the destructions that affected other holy sites, such as the Holy Sepulchre, the basilica at Bethlehem stands out for its still well preserved architecture, dating from the late 6th century, and its exuberant mosaic décors completed in 1169, in the period of Crusader rule in Palestine. This book offers a general description of the vicissitudes of the holy site since its very beginnings in Late Antiquity until the present times, with a special focus on the ways in which the complex relationship between the underground holy site, the Nativity cave housing the very spot of Christ’s birthplace and the manger, and the sumptuously decorated upper church came to be variously negotiated in the course of time by means of different forms of mise-en- scène. The book is accompanied by a rich apparatus of colour illustrations, plans, and a bibliographic annex.
"
Gli studi compresi nel volume prendono in esame la statuaria devozionale e funeraria, civica e monumentale, al crocevia tra storia
delle tecniche, storia dell’immaginario e storia del corpo, senza rinunciare a esaminare gli aspetti ludici, magici e spettacolari della statuaria in ambienti e contesti in apparenza eccentrici e liminali.
Nella civiltà ellenistico-mediterranea i miti, i rituali e le riflessioni
intorno alle statue, e in particolare ai simulacri divini, hanno fornito
un contribuito decisivo alla definizione del campo teologico-politico.
L’età tardoantica, da cui prende le mosse il volume, segna l’apice
e la svolta cruciale di un’esperienza su cui s’innestano gli equilibri e
i compromessi del successivo millennio cristiano, che da Bisanzio
avrebbe nutrito nell’Occidente latino l’immaginario, il pensiero e le
pratiche rituali intorno ai simulacri fino al pieno Rinascimento.