Alessandro Diana e Caterina Fioravanti (eds.), Per Omnia Litora. Interazion artistiche, politiche e commerciali lungo le rotte del Mediterraneo tra XIV e XV secolo. Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore, 9-10 giugno 2017 (Pisa: Edizioni della Scuola Normale, 2022), 2022
This paper looks at the Western perception of Constantinople's cityscape in the half-century prec... more This paper looks at the Western perception of Constantinople's cityscape in the half-century preceding the definitive collapse of the Byzantine Empire, with a special focus on two Spanish travelers, Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo and Pero Tafur. Their detailed accounts of how they experienced the urban space of the declining city allow us to isolate at least two possible modes of engagement with the Late Byzantine capital, one tied to the rising phenomenon of antiquarianism, the other leaning on legendary elements and novelistic tropes. These diverging, yet far-from-incompatible perspectives will outlast the period of political crisis described by the two authors and arguably influenced the amateurs and scholars who gave impulse to the "Byzantine revival" in the late 19th and early 20th century, whose impact is felt to this day.
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Questo è il primo studio comprensivo in lingua italiana sull’argomento: raccoglie le biografie, una bibliografia di riferimento e un’antologia di opere rappresentative di oltre sessanta artisti compresi tra l’ultimo decennio del Quattrocento e la fine del secolo successivo, da Schongauer ai Piccoli Maestri di Norimberga, da Cranach a Altdorfer, passando per figure meno note e confronti con l’Italia, la Francia, la Svizzera e le Fiandre. Completa il testo una selezione di saggi che approfondiscono il mondo dell’incisione tedesca nelle sue molteplici sfaccettature storiche, tecniche e di espressione visiva.
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The entirety of our sources agrees on the fact that “the Foreigner” - such is the meaning of the Greek name which was chosen for Maria of Antioch - was exceptionally beautiful. Choniatas, who certainly cannot be counted among the supporters of the “Latin” Empress, goes so far as stating that «her beauty was incomparable». However, I’m going to argue that not only it is possible to compare Xene to some of the empresses who immediately preceded her, but also that she can be fitted into a clearly defined typology: the alien bride. In fact, I am convinced that Maria’s image was attacked so savagely by Andronikos precisely because she was identified as a poignant symbol of Western and, more generally, foreign cultural influence. With the help of both literary and visual evidence - one of Xene’s portraits, a miniature, managed to survive - I shall then look back at Maria’s equally charming predecessors in order to understand what she represented and why, in 1183, her beauty was suddenly perceived to be dangerous.
believed to have taken no part in the development of heraldry, a foreign custom introduced to the Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade and only sporadically adopted by local elites. To counter this narrative, I will focus on one striking example: the depiction of two warrior saints in the church of Saint Panteleimon, Nerezi, whose frescoes were commissioned by Alexios Angelos Komnenos in 1164. They bear distinctively heraldic animals on their almond-shaped shields, which very closely resemble coeval French coats of arms. I argue that the implications of this artistic choice are twofold. Firstly, they reinforce the political message conveyed by Nerezi’s program as a whole, declaring the patron’s allegiance to his relative, the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who is evoked through the representation of his patron saint, St Theodore Tiro, and the lion rampant on his shield. More importantly,
they allow us to observe up close a shift in the mentality of the Komnenian aristocracy, with its increased focus on values such as ἀνδρεία (manly courage) and εὐγένεια (noble descent), helping us to understand the aspirations and values that Alexios shared with his peers.
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conveyed by Nerezi’s program as a whole, declaring the patron’s allegiance to his relative, the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who is evoked through the juxtaposition of the lion and the griffin, figures that were traditionally associated with imperial power, and the saints who acted as the emperor’s personal protectors. More importantly, they allow us to observe up close a shift in the mentality of the Komnenian aristocracy, with its increased focus on values such as martial prowess— to be shown either in battle or on the tournament field—and noble descent. Thus, they provide us with an additional lens to understand the aesthetic preferences and shared aspirations of the high nobility at a pivotal moment in the (re)definition of
aristocratic identity in Byzantium.
Papers
Questo è il primo studio comprensivo in lingua italiana sull’argomento: raccoglie le biografie, una bibliografia di riferimento e un’antologia di opere rappresentative di oltre sessanta artisti compresi tra l’ultimo decennio del Quattrocento e la fine del secolo successivo, da Schongauer ai Piccoli Maestri di Norimberga, da Cranach a Altdorfer, passando per figure meno note e confronti con l’Italia, la Francia, la Svizzera e le Fiandre. Completa il testo una selezione di saggi che approfondiscono il mondo dell’incisione tedesca nelle sue molteplici sfaccettature storiche, tecniche e di espressione visiva.
The entirety of our sources agrees on the fact that “the Foreigner” - such is the meaning of the Greek name which was chosen for Maria of Antioch - was exceptionally beautiful. Choniatas, who certainly cannot be counted among the supporters of the “Latin” Empress, goes so far as stating that «her beauty was incomparable». However, I’m going to argue that not only it is possible to compare Xene to some of the empresses who immediately preceded her, but also that she can be fitted into a clearly defined typology: the alien bride. In fact, I am convinced that Maria’s image was attacked so savagely by Andronikos precisely because she was identified as a poignant symbol of Western and, more generally, foreign cultural influence. With the help of both literary and visual evidence - one of Xene’s portraits, a miniature, managed to survive - I shall then look back at Maria’s equally charming predecessors in order to understand what she represented and why, in 1183, her beauty was suddenly perceived to be dangerous.
believed to have taken no part in the development of heraldry, a foreign custom introduced to the Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade and only sporadically adopted by local elites. To counter this narrative, I will focus on one striking example: the depiction of two warrior saints in the church of Saint Panteleimon, Nerezi, whose frescoes were commissioned by Alexios Angelos Komnenos in 1164. They bear distinctively heraldic animals on their almond-shaped shields, which very closely resemble coeval French coats of arms. I argue that the implications of this artistic choice are twofold. Firstly, they reinforce the political message conveyed by Nerezi’s program as a whole, declaring the patron’s allegiance to his relative, the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who is evoked through the representation of his patron saint, St Theodore Tiro, and the lion rampant on his shield. More importantly,
they allow us to observe up close a shift in the mentality of the Komnenian aristocracy, with its increased focus on values such as ἀνδρεία (manly courage) and εὐγένεια (noble descent), helping us to understand the aspirations and values that Alexios shared with his peers.
conveyed by Nerezi’s program as a whole, declaring the patron’s allegiance to his relative, the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who is evoked through the juxtaposition of the lion and the griffin, figures that were traditionally associated with imperial power, and the saints who acted as the emperor’s personal protectors. More importantly, they allow us to observe up close a shift in the mentality of the Komnenian aristocracy, with its increased focus on values such as martial prowess— to be shown either in battle or on the tournament field—and noble descent. Thus, they provide us with an additional lens to understand the aesthetic preferences and shared aspirations of the high nobility at a pivotal moment in the (re)definition of
aristocratic identity in Byzantium.