Art History (Late Medieval Italian Painting)

The majority of the paintings surviving from the thirteenth century, on wood, on walls and as illuminations for manuscripts, were commissioned for churches, monasteries, other religious establishments and also for private dwellings. Strong links with the Eastern Christian world made Byzantine artistic compositions and conventions for depicting sacred subjects, particularly in icon painting and mosaic work, significant influences on thirteenth-century Italian painting. Byzantine art and artists entered Tuscany through the port of Pisa after the fall of Constantinople during a period of population growth and prosperity in Italy when monasticism, religious piety and the building of new churches flourished. Italian-born painters, trained initially by Byzantine artists, succeeded in making the Byzantine prototypes predominate in thirteenth-century Italy and, along with other influences, determined the direction of painting in Siena.

During the last two centuries before the Renaissance of the arts in Italy in the 15th century, different waves of classical trends marked the artistic creation of both Byzantine and western worlds. Between 1220 and 1260 in particular, a parallel development of the revival of ancient forms is noted in both of the above-mentioned traditions. Various artistic expressions later developed independently.
The various artistic tendencies of the period under discussion are well known by the critics but usually Byzantine and Western cultures are studied separately. In the present paper, it is interesting to expose some aspects of the revivals of ancient art in both worlds, namely Byzantine and Latin, during the 13th and 14th centuries. In this way, it will, firstly, be possible to establish a more appropriate method for examining the origin of this extensive wave of ancient revival that took place during the 13th century. Secondly, it is useful to note how this Proto-Renaissance gave way under the weight of more conservative Byzantine forms in 14th century Byzantine painting and, thirdly, it is instructive to show an interpretation of how, in the West, namely in Italy, the classical forms developed unimpeded from 1260 onwards so that they eventually continued into the great Renaissance.
For this purpose, I shall first briefly expose the historical and political situation of the Byzantine Empire vis-à-vis the European world during the period under consideration. I shall then touch upon the artistic phenomena, pointing out the most characteristic cases.

Negli ultimi trent’anni si è venuta raccogliendo sul Maestro di Offida un’abbondante letteratura giustificata dalle continue aggiunte a un catalogo ormai ingente. Il contributo intende fare il punto sulla lezione di questo pittore che, muovendo dal Maestro del Polittico di Ascoli, partecipa all’irraggiamento delle sperimentazioni della basilica inferiore di San Francesco ad Assisi operando nei territori a cavallo del Tronto. Contestualmente si rivede la posizione del trittico di Tursi all’interno del suo corpus e si riesamina la tradizione relativa al pittore Luca d’Atri, additato come possibile nome per il Maestro di Offida.

Comparative study on the iconography of the Annunciation in Byzantine and Western European art, based on my second doctoral thesis (1994, Doctorat de l’Université, Paris I Sorbonne-Panthéon). For this monograph I received the Maria Theohari Prize (Έπαθλο Μαρία Θεοχάρη) for the best publication on Byzantine art in 2008.

This paper briefly discusses the rise and consequent development and diffusion of the quadrilobe in the Paduan context. The quadrilobe is an ornamental motif strictly connected to the fourteenth-century fresco painting and nowadays it is used as a symbol to promote the serial site of  ‘Padua Urbs picta’, a site consisting of the fourteenth-century fresco cycles inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Исследования последних лет нацелены на установление факторов, активней всего влиявших на иконографическую программу в апсидах римских базилик, а также на новое, более глубокое понимание семантики изображенных сюжетов. Автор статьи рассматривает мозаичные композиции, стремясь продемонстрировать характерные аспекты (литургический, стилистический и политический) визуальных папских стратегий, которые в разные исторические периоды отражались в зашифрованных «посланиях» понтификов. В связи с литургикой изучаются как иконографические модели, так и надписи внутри композиции (литургические тексты, цитаты из священного Писания). В стилистическом аспекте предполагается рассмотреть задействованный римскими художниками живописный инструментарий и выявить их обращение к наcледию прошлого. Одним из проявлений такого обращения стало, в частности, широкое заимствование палеохристианских моделей и схем в связи с последствиями провозглашенной Григорием VII реформы Церкви и с отражением в искусстве концепции Ecclesia primitiva. Политический аспект визуальной коммуникации предполагает обоснование, в первую очередь, различных мотивов иконографического выбора того или иного образа Римской Церкви, появляющегося в апсиде, установление зависимости декоративной программы от исторической (политической) ситуации.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the pious Christian was constantly preoccupied with both the death of the earthly body and the subsequent survival of the soul. The fear of dying suddenly without repenting and confessing engendered images of death and the afterlife. Speakers in this session are encouraged to investigate late medieval representations of death as both an earthly and otherworldly matter. We welcome papers that explore the flourishing of these imageries especially in rural and marginal areas, which were extremely receptive to cultural exchanges, but which have not received proper scholarly investigation yet.

“Li Monaci” is now the name of a winery in the heel of the Italian boot, but this former fortified farmstead has a subterranean chapel that may once have served a group of monks (monaci). While most of the paintings in the rectangular chapel have disappeared, those on the east wall are well preserved and include saints and Christian narrative scenes, all with bilingual (Latin and Greek) inscriptions, as well as a long dedicatory text in Greek that names the patron and artists and provides the date 1314/15. The ceiling is adorned with frescoed flowers, stars, a large cross, and a unique embracing couple that evokes courtly imagery and the Song of Songs. Li Monaci thus reveals the interweaving of Byzantinizing and "Western" pictorial and textual cultures. The calendrical interpretation proposed here, focusing on Easter and springtime, touches on Henry Maguire’s interest in texts and images, the efficacy of images, and the natural world

Two Italian prayer books from the 15th century as an example of the new identification of medieval manuscripts in the Toruń collection.

Two small 15th century codices (signature Rps 85/I and Rps 8/I) which are kept in the collection of the University of Mikołaj Kopernik in Toruń are the subject of this analysis. They are probably connected to Fryderyk Bonaventure Brederlow, one of the owners, who bequeathed them to the Royal Library in the second half of the 19th century. Rps 85/I is a luxury prayer book, bound in leather, written on lamb vellum; it was probably the property of a lay person in the Middle Ages. It is decorated with filigree decoration, gouache initials using gold leaf, and a single miniature covering one entire page, depicting the Annunciation; the edges of the pages have been covered with gold. It is usually described as being of Dutch origin in much of the literature. Rps 8/I which is slightly larger and more modestly decorated was written on thin parchment of goat leather. It contains a Breviarium the characteristics of which indicate a monastic usage (Franciscan or Bernardine). It is decorated with numerous gouache initials, as well as filigree decorations with gold drops. The text is written in rotunda script. Until recently these codices have received only limited scholarly attention. Recently they underwent comparative analysis and a new identification, during work on the Catalogue of the Toruń Collection, which was published in 2016.
Careful analysis of the decorations of prayer book 85, allows us to reject the Dutch origin, as it seems more likely that the codex is connected to illumination workshops active in the second half of the 15th century in Florence. Despite the northern editing of the scene of Annunciation, to which the figure of the angel does not fit, the rich decorations of the margins on pages 12v-13r have many Italian characteristics (for example the form of the cartouche decoration of the coat of arms bearing the name Albert Montucci, putta Samson). This is also the case for the decorations of other parts of the text (the gouache initials with floral motifs, and the cacographic decorations with a musical staff motif). The Italian origin of the codex is further supported by the analysis of the binding by Wagner and the identification of the content (including the liturgical calendar) by Czyżak. Rps 8 also seems to be of an Italian origin, perhaps even from the same artistic circles, as the calendar lists saints who are venerated in Florence. Its decorations – marginal fleurons found on 7v and 7v, “musical staff”-styled filigree, and types of floral initials suggests Italian make. The busts of God the Father (7r) and king David (7v) find analogous representation in Florentine painting.
The breviary 8/I seems to be somewhat newer than prayer book 85/I (the calendar lacks the celebration of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which means it can be dated before 1472), and it was definitely decorated by a different hand.  Breviary 8/I is much more typical – it is characteristic of Italian illumination traditions in the 15th century. The codices could have found their way into Brederlow’s possession through his marriage to Caroline von Branconi. The new identification of both codices which has been suggested here gives us new information about the medieval manuscripts in the NCU in Toruń Library collection, as well as of the number of  items of western-European origin which can be found in the collection. It also serves as a good lesson on the methods and scope of codicological research: a lesson on the caution and acumen needed when formulating a detailed theory.

The idiosyncratic nature of Quattrocento Ferrarese painting has by no means gone unnoticed, the cause for much intrigue coming simply from the school's diversion from many of the traditionally conceived aesthetics of 15th-century Italy. The preeminent artist of this singular movement, Cosmè Tura, flourished under the aegis of the Este Court, letting rich allegory pervade his work. Some attempts have been made toward ‘decrypting’ the symbolic flora and fauna, but this paper will offer a more profound theological analysis - refining and correcting some established suppositions - of the fruit and vegetable iconology so particular to his complex Christian scenes. This is crucial not only to comprehending Ferrarese humanism, but also to bridging the gap between the northern Italian visual arts and the Netherlandish Renaissance.

Call for IAS-Organized Session Proposals [https://:www.italianartsociety.org]
American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS) 2022 [https://aais.wildapricot.org/]
13 May - 15 May 2022 (online)
29 May to 1 June 2022 (in Bologna)

The Italian Art Society (IAS) seeks proposals for IAS-organized sessions at the annual meeting of the American Association of Italian Studies (AAIS).

In keeping with the mission of the AAIS, sessions that approach Italian Studies through interdisciplinary lenses and represent a range of interests and time periods are particularly welcome. Topics that are broadly conceived to also include architecture, cinema, mass media, etc., are of special interest. In recognition of the format, we welcome sessions that bridge the online and in person modalities. Further, linking to the Association’s efforts to adopt a greater pro-active position regarding racial injustice, we particularly welcome interventions that address questions of antiracism and decoloniality. Note that 2022 marks the birth centennial of Pier Paolo Pasolini and we are especially interested in proposals engaging with his work and legacy in light of recent disciplinary trends and methodologies.

IAS members interested in putting together a session should submit the following items:
• session title
• abstract (100 words max.), to be forwarded to the AAIS in the event of selection
• short list of potential or confirmed speakers
• longer text (up to one page) contextualizing the proposal; this includes explaining the relevance/importance of the session and the related expertise of the organizer(s) and speakers
• brief CV (1–3 pp)
Send materials by 22 November 2021 to https://www.italianartsociety.org/conferences-lectures/aais/
Direct any questions to programs@italianartsociety.org. 

Additional conference-specific guidelines, including AAIS membership requirements, are available at https://aais.wildapricot.org/AAIS-Conference-2022
https://aais.wildapricot.org/2022_Conference_Guidelines

22 November 2021 Submit Session Proposals to IAS
15 December 2021 Submit Approved Session Proposals to AAIS
15 February 2022 Complete Sessions due to AAIS