Review of Klára Mezihoráková, Architektura středověkých klášterů dominikánek v Čechách a na Moravě. "Umění/Art": 1-2/2018. (original) (raw)
© Alice Isabella Sullivan 2017 3 DEDICATION To my family. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project is the result of years of study and training with support from numerous individuals, institutions, and organizations. My interest in the rich Moldavian corpus of ecclesiastical monuments began in a seminar on "Medieval Image Theory" in fall 2011 at the University of Michigan. I am incredibly grateful to Elizabeth Sears for leading this course and for initially encouraging me to delve into the Moldavian material. The project then developed under the tutelage of my doktorvater, Achim Timmermann, who from the outset was supportive of my interests in pursuing research on the artistic production of Eastern Europe, and the little-studied regions of the Carpathian Mountains. His feedback and insights over the years have helped me shape my project and bring it to completion, and have also taught me how to be a careful and thorough scholar. I would also like to acknowledge the rest of my committee members-Elizabeth Sears, Paroma Chatterjee, and John V.A. Fine-who offered enthusiasm, key advice, and invaluable suggestions at various stages in this process. Their assistance has enabled me to think carefully and critically about the works I study, and push my project in exciting new directions.
Late Gothic, Renaissance and Manneristic Figural Sepulchral Monuments in Moravia and Czech Silesia
Acta Historiae Artium, 2019
The overview study summarises in an updated context the findings of a long-term research into sepulchral sculpture in Moravia and Czech Silesia, which dealt primarily with whole-figure sepulchral monuments, ranging from examples dependent on fading Central European late Gothic tradition, through examples gradually influenced by early Renaissance italianising elements up to such forms that were marked by Italian and Nordic Mannerism. Based on a comprehensive regional and broader Central European style-critical comparison, applying the criteria of contemporary artistic influences, individual creative approach, craftsmanship routine and other indicia important for a work to be done, the study presents the efforts to incorporate works into circles given by a specific author or workshops, or to highlight the provenience ties of solitary works. The study shows that despite the enormous loss of sepulchral monuments that have occurred in the past, Moravia and Czech Silesia excel in its nume...
ART AND DEVOTION IN THE FEMALE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES OF LATE MEDIEVAL ČESKÝ KRUMLOV
Medieval and Early Modern Art in Central Europe, 2019
The Rosenberg Family founded in Český Krumlov (South Bohemia) a triple monastic complex. The double monastery of sacrosante dei genitricis perpetueque virginis Mariae was founded in 1350 right below the family castle and across the Vltava River from the town centre. The monastic church was completed in about 1358, and the community of nuns entered the new monastery in 1361, arriving from the Poor Clare nunnery in Opava, Silesia. The quasi-monastic female community was founded “by the walls of the Franciscan monastery” in 1375 by Anne of Rosenberg and, as is obvious from the architectural plan of the monastery, the existence of a third religious community was planned by the Rosenberg founders from the very beginning representing in the Central Europe an unique architectonic and spiritual complex also reflected by its artistic decoration.
Artistic Patronage in Central Europe: From Private Foundations to State Art/Kunstpatronage in Mitteleuropa zwischen Privatstiftung und Staatskunst, 2021
W artykule przedstawiono analizę wybranych przykładów patronatu artystycznego kanoników jednej z najstarszych i najważniejszych kapituł w diecezji krakowskiej. Pierwsza część opracowania poświęcona jest omówieniu piętnastowiecznej przebudowy kolegiaty w Skalbmierzu. W oparciu o analizę architektury i źródeł pisanych postawiono tezę o szybkim przebiegu prac (od 1443 do 1460), zrealizowanych według jednolitej koncepcji. Zgodnie z nią intencjonalnie wyeksponowano romańskie fragmenty poprzedniej budowli w połączeniu z najbardziej prestiżowym w Małopolsce modelem kościoła – bazyliką w tzw. systemie krakowskim z długim chórem. Powstał w ten sposób gmach spektakularny, emanujący zarówno odwołaniami do chlubnej przeszłości, jak i nowoczesnym, prestiżowym modusem stylowym. Jako osobę odpowie- dzialną za jego koncepcję i realizację wskazano Jakuba z Sienna. Następnie omówiono patronat kapituły skalbmierskiej nad dostosowaniem wyposażenia kolegiaty do wymogów liturgii potrydenckiej. Najwcześniej, bo już w końcu wieku XVI rozpoczęto wymianę szat liturgicznych na nawiązujące krojem do tych sprowadzanych z Rzymu. Z kolei w pierwszej połowie XVII wieku zmieniono wyposażenie prezbiterium sprawiając nowe stalle, ołtarz główny oraz meble w zakrystii. Powyższe działania pokazano na tle podobnych procesów zachodzących w katedrze krakowskiej, będących dla skalbmierskiej kapituły najważniejszym wzorem ideowym i artystycznym.
The Routledge Handbook of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1300 is the first of its kind to provide a point of reference for the history of the whole of Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages. While historians have recognized the importance of integrating the eastern part of the European continent into surveys of the Middle Ages, few have actually paid attention to the region, its specific features, problems of chronology and historiography. This vast region represents more than two-thirds of the European continent, but its history in general-and its medieval history in particular-is poorly known. This book covers the history of the whole region, from the Balkans to the Carpathian Basin, and the Bohemian Forest to the Finnish Bay. It provides an overview of the current state of research and a route map for navigating an abundant historiography available in more than ten different languages. Chapters cover topics as diverse as religion, architecture, art, state formation, migration, law, trade and the experiences of women and children. This book is an essential reference for scholars and students of medieval history, as well as those interested in the history of Central and Eastern Europe.
The artistic connections of the Romanesque wall paintings in Kostolany pod Tribecom (Slovakia)
The wall paintings of the nave of a small rural church in Kostolany pod Tribecom does not just represent one of the earliest well-preserved fresco cycles from the Hungarian kingdom, but maintain a special iconography. While many studies have examined the date of the frescoes no detailed analysis concerns their iconography which is without proper analogies in its period and place. The aim of my presentation is to observe the artistic connections of these wall paintings following mainly late antique and Carolingian models. I will focus on three images: the Annunciation with the maiden of the Virgin Mary, the Visitation with two servants managing the curtains, and the Magi on the road who are depicted as eastern travellers wearing Persian clothes. All of these images were already unfashionable after the first millenium. How did these image types arrive at this church and through what possible mediating material? Observing these obscure, archaic pictures can shed light on the methods of artistic exchange between the Mediterranean world and east-central Europe.
Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana, 2021
This article presents a study of how women (specifically nuns and abbesses) in medieval Livonia expressed authority. Given the significant increase in accessible academic work on the crusading movement in the eastern Baltic, scholarly considerations of the visual culture of this region, and reconsiderations of the roles played by women in the medieval world in general, this article turns from the central regions of the study of Medieval Europe to the periphery. It begins by providing a historical overview of the sources, commenting on the sparsity of specific representations of women in the narrative texts for the Livonian crusades produced in the 13th century. Following this overview, it analyses the representations of women in the vast amount of charter evidence available for the study of Livonia. The first part of the article looks at the ways these institutions were patronized as a result of their intercessory authority. Looking at donations from the 13th to the 15th century, this article also comments on the ways in which private citizens, church officials, and members of the Teutonic Order viewed these intercessory powers. The second part also considers the economic authority gained by these institutions, particularly in the form of land donations. Finally, this article addresses the ways in which women of authority styled themselves in the written documents and depicted their power in the form of visual media, particularly on seals but also in the form of architecture.
The recently restored altars in the Parish Church of St. Nicolaus in Domaniža as well as other unrestored parts provide a notion of the nature of authentic, almost uniquely well-preserved, complex furnishings of the early baroque sacral space in Hungary. In the heritage fund of historic Hungary, the wooden retables standing close to the wall with fixed or closable wings represent the most demanding complex realisations of the early baroque period. In spite of that, they are described without any continuity to earlier production centres or distinctive workshop circles as a phenomenon created in the spiritual relation to the intellectual milieu supported by a narrow class of the domestic aristocracy. Commonly according to the preferences of the ordering parties, the predominantly anonymous creators of the pain ting compositions of the integrated panel paintings and of the richly carved ornamental motifs' decorations of the architecturally markedly segmented wholes were frequently inspired by graphic templates. Behind the individual life paths of the Hungarian ordering parties, one can clearly see an effort to meet the expectations resulting from slowly advancing social conventions. While enforcing their interests, the elites who represented different social roles were choosing the strategies of prestige promotion and propaganda from topical celebration to long-term memory created through individual image of stereotypical notions which led to a homogenous manifestation of self-promotion. Besides spontaneous and conscious adoption of models of Hungarian power and spiritual elite, they consciously strived to formally interpret this process and adapt it into the notions of their own and social mission.
This paper analyses the role of the Virgin Mary in the largest Christological cycle in Slovakia (the medieval Upper Hungary). The All Saint´s Church is well-known thanks to complex interior medieval wall paintings that are dated to the period from 1420 to 1430. Decoration of the presbytery walls contains examples of Marian iconography. On the vault of the presbytery are painted eschatological scenes-Last Judgement (Deesis) and the Coronation of Virgin Mary. In the Christological cycle The Virgin Mary occupies an important position primarily in the scenes depicting the childhood and passion of the Christ. In decoration of the vault the Virgin Mary is represented as Mediatrix and Ecclesia, but in the narrative scenes from the life of Jesus Christ she participates actively in a work of salvation. In the nave, on the northern wall, there is a figurative triptych containing the picture of Virgin of Loving Mercy. This layer is dated to the end of the 14 th century. In this mural there is an unusually illustrated woman hanging on the lace of the Virgin Mary. This woman is trying to save herself from an attacking devil, which is depicted in the bottom left corner. This picture is a visual form of the prayer Sub tuum praesidium, which is the oldest preserved extant hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Theotokos.
Art and Architecture in Medieval East Central Europe - The Late Middle Ages
Oxford Handbook of Medieval Central Europe Nada Zečević (ed.), Daniel Ziemann (ed.), 2022
This chapter presents a cross-cultural analysis of the non-verbal language of medieval East Central Europe's art. It provides entangled examples of artistic patronage across diverse genres, as well as how visual strategies, technical achievements, and stylistic developments were a ected by historical change. East Central Europe has been often discussed as a historical region, but its common narrative as an art historical region has not yet been established. In fact, the region is simply missing from the map of European art in studies of the Romanesque period. This may have resulted, at least in part, from the fragmentary nature of the evidence, language barriers, and political di erences, but recently a number of projects have attempted to harmonize research e orts across the area, especially for the Carolingian period. The chapter then looks at the ourishing of Romanesque art and architecture, as well as the Gothic style and royal residences, castles, and courts.
Umění/Art, 2017
The study presents a detailed analysis of the late medieval murals in the so-called ‘green chamber’ of Žirovnice Castle. The paintings from the early 1490s are exceptional for their artistic quality and they are generally considered a significant example of ‘green chambers’, secular halls decorated by a green colour and floral ornament. Compared to the earlier literature the study focuses on the interrelations between the scenes depicted in the ‘green chamber’: the Judgement of Paris, Judith beheading Holofernes, the exemplum An Old Woman Is Worse than the Devil as well as an image which was previously described as the Judgement of Solomon (perhaps rather a parable about legitimate and illegitimate progeny). They are connected by the historically popular concept of a critique of the power of women (Weibermacht). In Žirovnice, this concept was connected to the allegory of the transcience of love and the ephemeral nature of the world overall. The ostensible genre depictions of the hunt and tournament, also present in the ‘green chamber’ of Žirovnice’, can be interpreted in this sense as well. This is demonstrated by numerous details subverting the meaning of these images. The theme of the transience of earthly pleasures probably stands behind another unique part of the murals, a view of Žirovnice itself. This is concluded on the basis of a comparison with a contemporary drawing by Albrecht Dürer and a later print by Erhard Schoen. The study then compares Žirovnice to other similar murals in Bohemia and addresses the question of the art-historical phenomenon of ‘green chambers’ as various secular murals are called following the Czech art historian Josef Krása. Although Krása’s concept may be refuted nowadays, the thematic coherence he noted in various late medieval murals in secular interiors cannot be denied. The study also mentions many examples of this type in Italy, Germany and Austria.
Hortus artium medievalium, 2014
The architecture of the military orders in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia, in Medieval Slavonia, is a highly complex phenomenon. In many cases (except the churches in Gora and Našice), the attribution of the churches to the building activity of the military orders is based solely on the assumed connection between the estates mentioned in the literary sources and the actual churches built on their vaguely bordered territory. That makes the Templar or Hospitaller provenance of such buildings highly dubious. The knightly orders constitute a significant factor in the definition of the feudal landscape during the 13 th and at the beginning of the 14 th century, but in most cases, much more caution, as well as further research is needed before the final attribution of the medieval architecture existing in that area to the military orders.