Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art
type: channel
description: Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art aims to consider medieval artefacts from within, as if seen through a fenestella confessionis.
publisher: Milano University Press
language: en
publication name: Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art
issn: 2784-8663
items: L'intarsio nei marmi ravennati della tarda Antichità e dell’alto Medioevo
items: Digenis Akritas in the Byzantine Pottery
items: Evolution of the Roman pallium through the monumental art of the City of Rome (6th-14th centuries)
items: The portrait of Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969) in the Great Pigeon House Church at Çavuşin.
items: The Sarcophagi of Saints Vitale and Agricola
items: Freelance or bonded? Autonomous or corporate professionals?
items: The Presumed Double-Apse Church in the Monastery of San Venerio on the Island of Tino (La Spezia)
items: The Iconography of the Mythological Characters in the Divine Comedy Manuscripts of the XIV-XV Centuries: Functions and Iconographical Sources
items: Langobardia maior et minor: Investigations into the Relationship Between Early Medieval Sculpture and Capitals in Campania
items: Transmigrations: Material Culture and Identity Development. Some Reflections on the Production of San Vincenzo al Volturno
items: Nomina Inserere Voluerint, Non Prohibeatur. Nominal Inscriptions Inside the Altar in the North-East of the Iberic Peninsula (9th-13th Centuries)
items: New Studies on the Cave Paintings of the Selvascura Hermitage at the Sanctuary of the Crucifix in Bassiano (Latina)
items: Monasteries in Piedmont in the Early Middle Ages (8th-10th Centuries)
items: Urban Experiments: Settlements and Spaces in the Early Female Monasteries
items: Reconsidering the Monastic Settlement of Torba (Castelseprio): The Tower and its Functions
items: The Symbol of Door as Mary in Images of the Annunciation of the 14th-15th Centuries
items: Hanging Between two Worlds: the Veil of St. Just Between Byzantium and Trieste
items: Twelfth Century Sculpted Lintels in Piacenza
items: Sainte-Marie de Taüll : le programme eucharistique et angélique du bas-côté sud
items: The Pulpit and the Mosaic Pavement of San Liberatore alla Maiella
items: The Portail Royal of Chartres: Historiography and Iconography
items: The Veneration of spolia: the Madonna della Colonna in St. Peter’s in Rome
items: Byzantine Monumental Painting c. 1100. Style and Imagery
items: Iconographic interpretation of the temple as a theological symbol in images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries

L'intarsio nei marmi ravennati della tarda Antichità e dell’alto Medioevo
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description: This contribution aims to investigate the little-known aspect of the presence in Ravenna of marble materials of Byzantine workmanship or local production. Specifically, an analysis of some inlaid furnishings is proposed. Here I would like to take a closer look at the subject of working the surface of marble through the insertion of polychronous rocks or metal materials, which in Ravenna mainly took the form of enriching the proconnesio furnishings with grafts of various kinds. This technique was part of the wide range of practices implemented to add colour, typical of those years.
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creator: Paola Novara
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Paola Novara https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2025-09-11
publication date: 2025-09-11
starting page: 71
ending page: 93
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/28107

Digenis Akritas in the Byzantine Pottery
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description: This contribution aims to investigate the evolution and the characterisation of the iconography of the hero Digenis Acritas, a famous Byzantine literary figure. The hero's appearance on ceramic artefacts alone makes it possible to develop a discourse on the ultimate intentions of the artists and owners of such ceramics, by means of a cross-comprison of literary and historical sources from the mid-Byzantine period.
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creator: Giulia Ghilardi
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Giulia Ghilardi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2024-12-29
publication date: 2024-12-29
starting page: 5
ending page: 39
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/24052

Evolution of the Roman pallium through the monumental art of the City of Rome (6th-14th centuries)
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description: Starting from the depictions of the monumental art of the City of Rome, the development of the Roman pallium from its origins is analyzed. With the help of written sources, such as the Liber Pontificalis and the texts of the Carolingian liturgists, a line of evolution of the form and liturgical value of this insignia is identified, progressively granted by the popes to eminent bishops. The history of the pallium has its roots in the dawn of the Church of Rome. The first news, in fact, dates back to 336, but in all likelihood the origins are older. The oldest surviving pallium belonged to Saint Caesarius of Arles (died in 542) and in the same century this liturgical insignia was already the central element of the Pope's installation ceremony. The importance assumed by the pallium is evident in the artistic depictions of Rome, at least until the appearance of the tiara. In fact, as demonstrated in the contribution, the latter becomes a symbol of temporal power, while the pallium is assigned the spiritual sphere of the Bishop of Rome. In any case, the pallium will also have an important relevance later. In fact, even if the pallium progressively becomes the insignia of metropolitan archbishops, the pope will always be depicted as the source of episcopal power. It is the Pope who grants the pallium, without it the archbishop cannot exercise his ministerium. We tried to define how the pallium evolved, refuting some hypotheses developed in the past and carefully observing its presence in the images. From them it is possible to draw numerous information not only on the shape of this sign, but also on its liturgical and spiritual value.
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creator: Francesco Tempia Maccia
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Francesco Tempia Maccia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2025-08-04
publication date: 2025-08-04
starting page: 41
ending page: 69
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/24017

The portrait of Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969) in the Great Pigeon House Church at Çavuşin.
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description: This article intends to highlight the historical significance and unique aspects of the pictorial cycle in the Great Pigeon House church at Çavuşin, Cappadocia. The church's paintings, commissioned by local leaders, celebrate the Byzantine army's victories over the Arabs and glorify Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). Central to the decoration is a large portrait of Nicephorus and his imperial entourageplaced in the prothesis apse, aiming to sanctify the emperor and emphasize his role as God's representative on earth. The ‘image network’ on the northeast wall features unprecedented iconography depicting the triumph of John I Tzimisce and General Melias on horseback, followed by the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. The relocation of the Baptism scene and parallels with figures like Constantine the Great present Nicephorus as a pious general and New Constantine, reflecting the duality of his personality. Overall, the pictorial cycle stands out as a distinctive artistic creation of 10th-century Byzantine art, set in a local context of military notables who emerge as creators of a sacred space, mediating between central power and provincial reality.
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creator: Giorgia Abbate
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Giorgia Abbate https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2024-12-03
publication date: 2024-12-03
starting page: 53
ending page: 79
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/23551

The Sarcophagi of Saints Vitale and Agricola
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description: The aim of the contribution is to re-read the events in Bologna of the 11th and 12th centuries concerning the cathedral of San Pietro and the monastery of Santo Stefano / Sancta Jerusalem, starting from the discovery of the relics found in 1141. Attention was paid to their movement from one building to another within the monastery and to the fluctuating dedication of the churches, but also to the relocation of the relics in the Cathedral of San Pietro. The sarcophagi preserved in the church of Saints Vitale and Agricola are then re-examined, tracing their production, reuses and movements over the years. The most important aspect on which attention was focused, however, was the clash between the secular clergy and the monks of Santo Stefano, a clash involving the Municipality, the Empire, the Papacy, the relics of Saints Vitale and Agricola and those of San Petronio.
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creator: Arturo Calzona
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Arturo Calzona https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 109
ending page: 165
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/23632

Freelance or bonded? Autonomous or corporate professionals?
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description: In late 13th-early 14th century Rome, the three painters Pietro Cavallini, Filippo Rusuti and Jacopo Torriti worked for about fifteen baronial families, the same ones that dominated the city. By sifting through their commissions, I tried to understand whether political relationships existed between artists and patrons, whether the former were conditioned by family and baronial alignments in Rome. The analysis of the topography of the works, both autograph and linked to the workshops of Cavallini, Rusuti and Torriti, has highlighted a peculiar modus operandi of the three masters that seems to be marked by a district subdivision of the city. A division perhaps instrumental in avoiding any kind of competition between the three workshops. Through the examination of documentary, textual and visual sources, the social and economic background in which the Roman painters operated was analysed in an attempt to understand whether they had already come together in a widespread organisation between the 13th and 14th century, well before the Guild of 1478. Starting with the testimonies of the two capomagister Giovanni da Capranica and Matteo Giovannetti regarding the two papal workshops, the Vatican and Avignonese, and from the analysis of two other great painting workshops, Cavallini's in S. Cecilia in Trastevere and Giotto's in Assisi, an attempt was made to finally frame the dynamics and articulation of medieval painting workshops.
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creator: Giulia Cesetti
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Giulia Cesetti https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2024-12-03
publication date: 2024-12-03
starting page: 81
ending page: 106
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/23126

The Presumed Double-Apse Church in the Monastery of San Venerio on the Island of Tino (La Spezia)
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description: The origin of medieval churches with two apses has long been a matter of investigation. Upon the rocky isle of Tino, emerging from the gulf of Spezia, once a monastery under the title of San Venerio did stand. Today, its area preserves ruins believed to belong to a double-apse church. Previous studies had possibly detected a single-hall church, dating back to the sixth or seventh century, to which a second nave should have been added during the ninth century. In consideration of such early dates, it was claimed that the monument was the prototype of double-apse churches across the old diocese of Luni. New excavations carried out in 2021 and 2022 by the Archaeological Superintendence of Genoa and La Spezia have led to a significant revision of the Tino’s complex. First, the architectural plan does not provide evidence of any double-apse church. Furthermore, the masonry suggests the first half of the eleventh century. Remarkably enough, in that period, some descendants of the Marquis Obertus invited a monastic community to settle on the renewed island. Therefore, the structure in question may have been a commemorative chapel (memoria), erected by the Benedictines to mark the supposed place of hermitage and death of Venerius: a respected Saint whose cult the monks wanted to be revived in the interest of themselves and their supporters.
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creator: Aurora Cagnana
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Aurora Cagnana https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2023-12-29
publication date: 2023-12-29
starting page: 5
ending page: 17
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/20529

The Iconography of the Mythological Characters in the Divine Comedy Manuscripts of the XIV-XV Centuries: Functions and Iconographical Sources
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description: The history of illustration of Dante’s Divine Comedy in the 14th-15th centuries rarely attracts the attention of researchers. Nevertheless, a careful analysis of some manuscripts would clarify the genesis process of specific iconographic schemes within the framework of a very specific task: illustrating a text replete with figures of speech and references to ancient sources that were often unknown to the iconography designer. This contribute is devoted to the iconography of mythological characters found in Dante’s text and their visual sources based on a few manuscripts of the Divine Comedy dated from mid-14th and 15th centuries, six of which are fully illustrated.
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creator: Anna Pozhidaeva
creator: Alina Miroshnik
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Anna Pozhidaeva and Alina Miroshnik https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2024-06-22
publication date: 2024-06-22
starting page: 19
ending page: 51
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/21455

Langobardia maior et minor: Investigations into the Relationship Between Early Medieval Sculpture and Capitals in Campania
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description: Langobardia maior et minor: investigations into the relationship between early medieval sculpture and capitals in Campania. Within the southern Italian city of Capua – in the 10th and 11th century ruler's residence of the Lombard principality of Benevento and capital of Langobardia minor – a group of early medieval capitals has survived, which can be divided into three closely related types. On the basis of type I, which is bound to the corinthian capital, an examination will be made regarding to what extent relationships can be verified with the architectural sculpture of the older Lombard kingdom in northern Italy, which was incorporated into the Frankish Empire by Charlemagne as early as 774. For this purpose, certain technical and stylistic characteristics can be used, which concern in particular the overlapping tips of the acanthus leaves. The thesis is that in the very specific forms of Capuan capitals a line of tradition can be traced that is also found in other contexts of early medieval art in Campania, possibly with origins in the north.
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creator: Ulf Schulte-Umberg
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Ulf Schulte-Umberg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
date: 2021-12-28
publication date: 2021-12-28
starting page: 1
ending page: 38
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/15778

Transmigrations: Material Culture and Identity Development. Some Reflections on the Production of San Vincenzo al Volturno
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description: The text analyzes the ornamental culture of the monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, through the comparison between different classes of materials. Through the analogies between the ornamental motifs, we tried to reconstruct their creative process, on a perceptual basis. The study, in fact, focuses on the relationship between the individual and the environment, exploiting the theories of Gibson, applying them to a particular context such as monasteries. The goal is to demonstrate how the continuous use of space determines the acquisition of visual information, which, stored in memory, is re-proposed during the creative process. Especially, it is the daily journey of the rooms that guarantees the memorization of the signs and, at the same time, their updating, through the change of perspective that occurs with movement. In the last part, we discuss the perceptive effects of the aniconic paintings in the crypt of Joshua.
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creator: Marianna Cuomo
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Marianna Cuomo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.it
date: 2021-12-28
publication date: 2021-12-28
starting page: 111
ending page: 141
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/16778

Nomina Inserere Voluerint, Non Prohibeatur. Nominal Inscriptions Inside the Altar in the North-East of the Iberic Peninsula (9th-13th Centuries)
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description: Some manuscripts of the 11th and 12th centuries preserved in Catalonia present a specific rite when a bishop had to consecrate a church. In the altar he placed relics, three fragments of hosts, three grains of incense and small parchments on which was written the information about the consecration, the ten commandments and the beginning of the four gospels. The Catalan consecration ritual corresponded to a specific liturgical codification, the Catalan-Narbonne ordo, which is generally accepted to have been strictly followed. However, archaeological excavations carried out in pre-Romanesque and Romanesque churches in Catalonia since the 19th century have often brought to light a practice that was not codified in these texts: the modest containers of wood, stone or alabaster that contained the consecration relics had been engraved with names. This paper is dedicated to these nominal inscriptions from the consecration ritual, found inside the altars.
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creator: Marianne Blanchard
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Marianne Blanchard https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
date: 2022-12-30
publication date: 2022-12-30
starting page: 1
ending page: 43
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/18640

New Studies on the Cave Paintings of the Selvascura Hermitage at the Sanctuary of the Crucifix in Bassiano (Latina)
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description: This article aims to re-examine the frescoes in the Selvascura hermitage in Bassiano, one of the medieval pictorial contexts created in caves in Lower Lazio, both from an iconographic and stylistic point of view. In the past, the paintings aroused some attention from local connoisseurs, but they collected a barely timid interest in critical publications. The carried out research revealed the existence of a link between the iconographic choices made in the cave paintings and the Greek theological literature, especially the Heavenly Ladder of St. John Climacus, known by the Franciscan Spirituals thanks to the translations by Angelo Clareno. Therefore, it is possible to suggest a new iconological interpretation of the frescoes on the right side of the cave and to overcome the traditional approach that considered the decoration of this hermitage as a mere juxtaposition of votive panels. Furthermore, an unpublished painting inspired by one of the apologues told by Barlaam to the Indian prince Josaphat has been identified and it can be added to the small list of monumental works with this theme related to the Italian Middle Age. This paper explains also all the documents from the current archives of the Soprintendenza concerning these frescoes and their preservative history from the 70s to the 90s of the XX century. Finally, an accurate analysis of the stylistic features and the comparison with other pictorial and mosaic works from Rome and the rest of Lazio allow to date back the paintings to the period between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century and to recognize the style of unknown artists trained in the school of Cavallini, very close to the Magister Conxolus’s lesson.
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creator: Davide Angelucci
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Davide Angelucci https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
date: 2022-12-30
publication date: 2022-12-30
starting page: 45
ending page: 87
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/18645

Monasteries in Piedmont in the Early Middle Ages (8th-10th Centuries)
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description: Since the early Middle Ages, the monastic presence in Piedmont found favourable and rather diversified areas in which to settle. The historiography of recent decades has begun to fine-tune the known data, although an overall vision is still struggling to emerge, beyond in-depth studies of specific sites. Starting from this starting point, and on the strength of the new findings that archaeology and the revision of written sources have produced on various contexts, it is the aim of this paper to attempt an overall reading of early Piedmontese monasticism. The aim is not to draw an exhaustive frame, which is not possible at the moment, but rather to define lines of development and suggest some ideas for thought for future research.
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creator: Eleonora Destefanis
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Eleonora Destefanis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2022-12-30
publication date: 2022-12-30
starting page: 89
ending page: 142
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/18718

Urban Experiments: Settlements and Spaces in the Early Female Monasteries
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description: The paper deals with the development and settlement of female monasteries in the urban contexts of the early Middle Ages. Through a preliminary focus on the community founded by saint Cesarius in Arles during the 6th century, the article aims to identify some elements recognizable in this context and to investigate them in other towns. Important aspects like the liturgical organization of different oratoria, the placement of the burial church for the female community, and the role in the promotion of saints’ cult during the high Middle Ages represent an interesting possibility of comparison, in this case with the reality of Metz, specifically with Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains and Sainte-Glossinde. The last part of the paper is dedicated to a first analysis of the role and spatial organization of female monasteries in two Lombard towns: Milan and Pavia. Through a survey of the communities already existing in the 11th century and their position in the urban topography the paper opens to some remarks following the observations made for Arles and Metz, thus suggesting the necessity of an in-depth study of these north-Italian contexts.
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creator: Stella Ferrari
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Stella Ferrari https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2022-12-30
publication date: 2022-12-30
starting page: 143
ending page: 168
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/18840

Reconsidering the Monastic Settlement of Torba (Castelseprio): The Tower and its Functions
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description: This article reconsiders some aspects of the early medieval monastic settlement of Torba, starting from an established historiography and the very recent publication of new archaeological data. Focusing on the Monastery tower, which had been part of the late antique curtain wall of Castelseprio, the research has led to a new interpretation of the construction phases and functions. The contribution thus offers new hypotheses for interdisciplinary evaluation, particularly about the possibility that the monastic choir might have been installed in a space not consecrated. The mural paintings of both the tower and the church of Santa Maria remain to be reconsidered in detail, as well as the relationship with the monastic building leaning against the curtain wall. The results should later be compared with the updated research on female monastic settlements in the early medieval West.
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creator: Fabio Scirea
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Fabio Scirea https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2022-12-30
publication date: 2022-12-30
starting page: 169
ending page: 202
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/19447

The Symbol of Door as Mary in Images of the Annunciation of the 14th-15th Centuries
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description: The current article addresses the topic of the symbolic identification of the Virgin Mary as a door according to a double possibility, namely, as an open door and as a shut door. This implies designating Mary simultaneously as ianua coeli and as porta clausa. These two possibilities suggest very different, though complementary, doctrinal meanings. Through the textual analysis of various quotes from the Church Fathers and theologians and medieval liturgical hymns referring to one or other of these two metaphorical expressions, the Author will determine the doctrinal meanings inherent in each one. In the second instance, the iconographic analysis of seven images of the Annunciation from the 14th and 15th centuries that include some door in special conditions will allow us to validate the hypothesis that the intellectual authors of these seven paintings introduced that door into them as a visual metaphor capable of illustrating both textual metaphors of porta clausa and ianua coeli.
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creator: José María Salvador-González
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 José María Salvador-González https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.it
date: 2021-12-28
publication date: 2021-12-28
starting page: 93
ending page: 110
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/16687

Hanging Between two Worlds: the Veil of St. Just Between Byzantium and Trieste
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description: This article aims to a preliminary reassessment of the silk veil preserved in the Treasury of Trieste cathedral. The cloth is unparalleled in Byzantine as well in western medieval art, in that it is painted with tempera on both sides. It depicts a youthful martyr in a court costume, and bears an inscription that identifies the saint as St. Just. Since its alleged recovery from a reliquary in the early nineteenth century, the cloth has been often addressed by the scholars, who ascribed it either to a Byzantine or to a local master and dated it between the eleventh and the fourteenth century. Despite being referred to in several more general studies, it has been rarely considered individually. In this paper I address the many questions that the Trieste veil raises, including problems of chronology, provenance, function, and iconography. After careful observation and based on both primary sources and visual evidence, I argue that it was produced in Byzantium, possibly at an early date, to serve as a liturgical implement; later, it was brought to the West, where the saint was given a new identity and the cloth was reused as a banner after being painted on the reverse.
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creator: Livia Bevilacqua
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Livia Bevilacqua https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.it
date: 2021-12-28
publication date: 2021-12-28
starting page: 39
ending page: 65
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/16360

Twelfth Century Sculpted Lintels in Piacenza
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description: The paper is dedicated to the stylistic and iconographic analysis of some sculpted lintels decorating the portals of the churches of Piacenza, one of the most lively places in the northern Italian artistic scene of the 12th century. The legacy of the works created for the city's cathedral by Nicholaus’ workshop is echoed in the reliefs of the churches of San Matteo, Sant’Ilario and the previously unseen portal of Santo Stefano. Through the study of the surviving historical evidence, the comparison with works from the same period and context and a renewed focus on iconographic content, the aim of the paper is to demonstrate the symbolic significance of the representations on the architraves. Particular attention is paid to the unusual iconography of the ‘Incredulity of Saint Thomas’ on the portal of the church of Sant’Ilario. The attempt to reread the inscriptions and the framing of this work in the socio-cultural context of Piacenza in the late 12th century allows us to formulate new hypotheses on the connection between iconographic choices, instances of spiritual renewal of society and liturgical rituals, underlying the creation of sculptures that significantly decorate the doors of access to sacred places, ways of salvation for the faithful penitents.
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creator: Jessica Ferrari
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Jessica Ferrari https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.it
date: 2021-12-28
publication date: 2021-12-28
starting page: 67
ending page: 92
doi: 10.54103/fenestella/16463

Sainte-Marie de Taüll : le programme eucharistique et angélique du bas-côté sud
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description: Santa Maria of Taüll : The Eucharistic and Angelic Painted Programme of the South Aisle The paintings on the south aisle of Santa Maria of Taüll located in the second bay, just after the bell tower, concentrate several themes related to the Eucharist : the appearing of Gabriel to Zechariah, the Divine Lamb, a nimbed figure dressed in liturgical garments and two fish flanking a cross. The first theme is particularly significant since it includes two clues that clarify the thinking of the designer : a chalice stands on the altar and it is the archangel who holds the censer and not the father of John the Baptist. As in several other Catalan churches, it is therefore the censing of the Oblates that refers to the sacrifice of the Mass. We can therefore assume that an altar was erected near these images and that it was dedicated to the angels, because the paintings above the appearing of Gabriel represent warrior angels and that this scene is adjacent to the bell tower. As in many elevated places of worship dedicated to Saint Michael or to the angels, two themes have therefore been connected with these winged beings. There are consequently high probabilities that the singular iconographic program of Taüll was intended to accompany the cult of the angels celebrated in the nave, in the tower or in both places.
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creator: Marcello Angheben
rights: Copyright (c) 2020 Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art
date: 2020-12-31
publication date: 2020-12-31
starting page: 115
ending page: 144
doi: 10.13130/fenestella/14496

The Pulpit and the Mosaic Pavement of San Liberatore alla Maiella
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description: The Pulpit and the Floor of San Liberatore alla Maiella This paper has been inspired by the study of the Abruzzi liturgical furnishings and, in particular, by a fundamental work of Otto Lehmann-Brockhaus presented in 1944: Die Kanzeln der Abruzzen im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert. Our aim is to focus on the abbey church of San Liberatore alla Maiella, the once powerful and widely known Benedictine order, pivot of political control of Montecassino in Abruzzo. Its founding is unknown, but dates back to a time before the year 990, when the abbey was destroyed by an earthquake. We will pay particular attention to the reconstruction of the architectural development of the church – transformed into a cemetery from the municipality of Serramonacesca in the 19th century – and its medieval pulpit and floor, in particular on their conservation history and their decoration. Our focus, here, is to argue – on the basis of a full analysis of the available sources on the history and restorations of the abbey – that the pulpit is the result of an assemblage carried out between the years 1970 and 1971, and that the floor was made in two distinct interventions, carried out between the 11th and 13th centuries.
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creator: Eleonora Tosti
rights: Copyright (c) 2020 Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art
date: 2020-12-17
publication date: 2020-12-17
starting page: 43
ending page: 77
doi: 10.13130/fenestella/14343

The Portail Royal of Chartres: Historiography and Iconography
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description: Concerning the Portail Royal of Chartres: Historiography and Iconography This article aims to survey the historiography on the three sculpted tympanums of the Portail Royal of Chartres Cathedral, which represents an essential context of the early Gothic. From the contribution of Hénault (1876) to the fine-tuning of Christe (2013), Angheben (2017) and Berné (2018), the studies have encountered many difficulties, especially concerning the central and left tympanums. Scholars faced a debate full of articulations and clarifications, from Emile Mâle (1948) to Adolf Katzenellenbogen (1959), from Willibald Sauerländer (1972 and 1984) to Margot Fassler (1993 and 2010), from Anne Prache (1993 and 2000) to Eliane Vergnolle (2008), from Roland Halfen (2001) to Till Evers (2011 and 2012), from Yves Christe (2013) to Marcello Angheben (2017). The attempts to recognise in the left tympanum a subject other than the Ascension (Van der Meule 1981, Fassler 1993) were unsuccessful, and Fassler herself then changed her position. More singular, until recently, is the substantial misunderstanding of the iconography of the central tympanum, which in no way can assume eschatological connotations. It is instead a present vision of Christ's majesty, and the Apostles with books and rotuli do not appear as assessors of the Last Judgement, but rather as entrusted with the mission of evangelisation: they represent the earthly Church that must complete the mission in this world (Mk 16, Mt 24). An Author's contribution on this tympanum is being published.
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creator: Paolo Piva
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2020-10-09
publication date: 2020-10-09
starting page: 1
ending page: 21
doi: 10.13130/fenestella/12727

The Veneration of spolia: the Madonna della Colonna in St. Peter’s in Rome
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description: In the context of the history of planning, designing and constructing new St. Peter’s the concepts of renewal and continuity can be insightful. Renewal was the essence of the plans of Pope Julius II (1503-1513) of around 1505, since the wording in documents points to renewal instead of replacing the old church completely: words like reparare et exornare, rehedificare and instaurare were used. When in the early 17th century pope Paul V decided to tear down the remainder of the old basilica, the chapter feared that many of the monuments, altars and tombs in the old basilica would disappear, which would diminish the visibility of the continuity of the basilica and its chapter. One of those objects was the so-called Madonna della Colonna, a fresco of the Virgin and Child painted on the third column on the left in the old basilica. This miracle-working image became increasingly popular in the last quarter of the 16th century was officially recognized when in 1578 an altar was installed to direct the cult. This underlines the situation where the remaining eastern part of Old St. Peter’s still functioned as the important basilica, while to the west the new building was gradually being constructed. Both the history of planning and designing the renewal of St. Peter’s and the continuous functioning of the remaining eastern part of the early Christian basilica shows that both renewal and continuity were crucial here. One of the elements judged necessary to ensure continuity was the Madonna della Colonna, which was thus transferred to a new altar in new St. Peter’s.
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creator: Lex Bosman
rights: Copyright (c) 2020 Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art
date: 2020-12-31
publication date: 2020-12-31
starting page: 145
ending page: 163
doi: 10.13130/fenestella/14355

Byzantine Monumental Painting c. 1100. Style and Imagery
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description: The article aims to briefly observe stylistic features of most of the ensembles and single works of Byzantine monumental painting created c.1100, completing information brought forward in previous publications with data, which only recently have become widely known to the scientific community. At the turn of the eleventh century the most important role belonged to a classical artistic tradition associated with Constantinopolitan artists, who sometimes – to judge from the quality of the monuments – came to work in the provinces (Kiev, Cyprus). It is represented in a series of illuminated manuscripts but only in a few ensembles of mosaics and frescoes. On the base of the “ascetic” style of 1030s-1040s a few groups of monuments took shape, which not always differ greatly from each other in style but seem to develop one or another of its features (spiritual strength and vigour of images, uniform rendering of figures, linear stylization, transformation of substance with light etc.). The expressive trend was probably at the beginning of its formation to reach the height by the end of the twelfth century. In whole, the art of the period c. 1100 is characterized by more individual and gentle treatment of images and their growing psychological insight.
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creator: Irina Oretskaia
rights: Copyright (c) 2020 Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
date: 2020-12-19
publication date: 2020-12-19
starting page: 79
ending page: 113
doi: 10.13130/fenestella/14352

Iconographic interpretation of the temple as a theological symbol in images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries
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description: This article seeks to highlight the important symbolic Christian meanings hidden in some textual metaphors of the Old Testament, such as “templum Dei”, “house of Wisdom”, “aula regia”, “Sancta Sanctorum”, “tabernacle”, “altar”, “ark” and other similar expressions related to worship spaces. To make our approach clearer, we will proceed according to two complementary analyses: first of all, we will analyse some exegesis offered on these metaphorical terms by certain Fathers and theologians of the Eastern and Western Churches; second, we will analyse some pictorial images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries that include a temple or chapel in the scene. From this double analysis, of texts and images, it will be possible to conclude that the temple painted in those images constitutes a visual metaphor that illustrates the Christological and Mariological meanings brought to light by the Fathers and theologians when interpreting the aforementioned Old Testament textual metaphors.
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creator: José María SALVADOR-GONZÁLEZ
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2020-10-09
publication date: 2020-10-09
starting page: 23
ending page: 41
doi: 10.13130/fenestella/12672