Vinni Lucherini

THE EARLY DISCOVERY OF MEDIEVAL ART BY TRAVELLERS LOOKING FOR CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY IN SOUTHERN EUROPE
(FROM THE 17TH CENTURY TO THE BEGINNING OF THE 19TH CENTURY)

International Congress
organized by Vinni Lucherini and Stefano D’Ovidio

Naples, 20-21 November 2023

Il titolo di quest'articolo costituisce evidentemente una sorta di sfida intellettuale, dal momento che non si è tramandata, neanche in forma indiretta, alcuna fonte testuale che possa consentire di ricostruire l'entità e la natura dei libri che

The tomb of Queen Mary of Hungary (d. 1323), executed around 1325–1326 by
the Sienese sculptor Tino di Camaino for the church of Donnaregina in Naples,
is one of the most famous sepulchral monuments of medieval Europe. The imagery of the sarcophagus was conceived to give special emphasis to the fruitfulness of the queen, mother of many children, the first of whom (Carlo Martello)
inherited from her the crown of the Kingdom of Hungary, while the second
(Louis of Toulouse) was sainted in 1317 and the third (Robert of Anjou) was
consecrated king of Naples in 1309. The frontal epigraph of the funerary monument was in turn intended to emphasize Mary’s existence as the daughter of a
king (Stephen V of Hungary), wife of a king (Charles II of Anjou) and mother of
a king (Robert). In the years following the Treaty of Trianon (signed in Paris in
1920), when works of art assumed the function of privileged vectors of policies
aimed at designating and redesigning the contours of nations, the Neapolitan
tomb of the Hungarian queen became one of the cultural tools used to strengthen relations between Mussolini’s Italy and Admiral Horthy’s Hungary. The recognition of Queen Mary’s remains (which took place on 22 December 1933),
together with the consequent rearrangement of the tomb in the medieval church
of Donnaregina, recently restored to its ancient splendor by Gino Chierici, provided the opportunity to publicly stage, in carefully conceived ceremonies, the
historical premises of the political relations between the two nations. Through
the original archival documentation, the article reconstructs the diplomatic implications of the restoration of the monument and the role of eminent Hungarian cultural figures such as Albert Berzeviczy, the illustrious founding scholar of
the journal Corvina, in this process

Le livre enluminé médiéval instrument politique sous la direction de Vinni Lucherini et Cécile Voyer
Cet ouvrage réunit quatorze essais sur l'utilisation des livres enluminés médiévaux dans le cadre d'actions, de comportements et de relations politiques au sein des sociétés européennes, entendant ici par "politique" l'exercice du pouvoir à travers ses multiples manifestations. En analysant les liens entre le livre enluminé et le fait politique, les auteurs ont étudié les raisons des commanditaires et des concepteurs des manuscrits dans leurs contextes historiques et sociaux de réalisation, la vie des livres comme objets dotés d'une valeur à la fois économique et symbolique, leur utilisation comme moyen de communication ainsi que leur postérité.

IV ème table ronde internationale INSTITUTIONS, LIEUX ET RITUALITES DE LA FIN DU MOYEN ÂGE À L'EPOQUE MODERNE 22 JUIN 2021 Matinée 9.30 Guillaume Cuchet (UPEC), Nicolas Laubry (École française de Rome), Michel Lauwers (Université Côte d'Azur)

Il convegno intende focalizzare l’attenzione sull’impatto spaziale (ecclesiale e urbano) che la presenza di tombe monumentali (sante, regali, aristocratiche, vescovili) esercitò all’interno o all’esterno delle chiese nelle città europee medievali. Si tratta di capire come e quanto le tombe di vescovi, santi, principi o re abbiano contribuito a modificare materialmente e simbolicamente la topografia ecclesiale e la topografia urbana, anche attraverso la creazione di specifiche liturgie o di percorsi processionali e cerimoniali. Scopo del convegno è soprattutto verificare il ruolo dei monumenti sepolcrali nella trasformazione in senso memoriale dello spazio ecclesiale e urbano, prendendo in esame le componenti sociali, politiche, simboliche, e liturgiche che parteciparono a questo fenomeno.

Since at least the 17 th century and throughout the 18 th and early 19 th centuries, travel played an essential role in the rediscovery of medieval art. Cultured men from all over Europe visited Mediterranean countries, not only Italy and Greece, but also modern-day Croatia, Turkey, as well as the Iberian Peninsula and Southern France, to see Greek and Roman monuments, but they were often confronted with artefacts and buildings from later centuries. How did they describe medieval monuments that fell before their eyes while they were in search of C l a s s i c a l Antiquity, and sometimes were confused with ancient monuments? What kind of language did they employ to describe them? What interpretative categories did they adopt to define them? What aesthetic or historical opinions did they have on the Middle Ages in comparison with Antiquity, which was the main goal of their journey?

With the expression “southern Italy and Sicily under Angevin and Catalan–Aragonese rule,” we refer to the period when the Kingdom of Sicily (Regnum Siciliæ) came under control of the Angevin (1266–1442) and the Catalan–Aragonese kings (1442–1501). The Angevin royal house began to rule this kingdom with King Charles I of Anjou, who was chosen by popes Urban IV and Clement IV against the claims of Manfred, son of the emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. Count of Anjou and Maine, count of Provence and Forcalquier, Charles I was consecrated in Rome at St. Peter’s basilica on January 6, 1266; his son, Charles II, was consecrated on May 29, 1289 in the cathedral of Rieti; and the Charles II’s successor, his third son, Robert, was consecrated in Avignon on August 3, 1309. The tragic events that occurred under the government of Queen Joanna I (1343–1382), granddaughter of Robert, brought to the throne of Naples another branch of the Angevin dynasty, called the Anjou–Durazzo, with Kings Cha...