Teofania absidale e missione di evangelizzazione: il caso di San Giovanni a Cividino, Bergamo (XI secolo)

The wall painting of the 17th - 18th centuries in the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Kolodne Tyachiv district in Transcarpathia was examined. The church is one of the oldest monuments of wooden architecture in Ukraine and Europe. The purpose of the article is to carry out a stylistic analysis of the iconographic compositions of the preserved mural, arrange and systematize the factual material, restore the iconography of the destroyed parts of the wall painting. It was established that the iconographic subjects in the wall paintings are in the stage of severe destruction. It has been preserved, to a greater extent, in fragments, and the color palette has changed significantly over time. The stylistic analysis of the wall painting in the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kolodne is relevant in the context of preserving a valuable monument of Ukrainian monumental art. The scene "The Tree of Jesse" made in primitive folk style was examined on the western wall of the nave. Plot scenes under Jesse were revealed - "Abraham's Sacrifice" and "Cain and Abel", and in the lower part on the fence of the choirs - a cycle of plot scenes: "Creation of Adam", "Temptation", "Expulsion from Paradise". Among the paintings on the walls of the nave on the theme "Passion of the Lord", the iconographic subjects "Crucifixion", "Removal from the Cross", "Resurrection of Christ", etc. have been identified. It was determined that the influences of the Baroque style are clearly visible in the wall paintings of the nave. The iconographic program in the altar part of the church is considered, the stylistic performance of these paintings is characterized by graphicness, the use of local stains, and Renaissance features. In the upper part of the eastern wall of the altar, the use of the "Coronation of the Virgin" motif for the first time in a Western European wall painting was discovered. In the vestibule of the church there are traces of paint, which testify to the paintings of this room, which is the fact that the entire church was painted. It has been found that the wall painting in the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kolodne is characterized by a combination of different styles, along with naive painting there are decorated rocaille cartouches, winding lines, and baroque elements. In the ornaments that decorate the iconographic compositions in the church, there are geometric motifs that are popular in the Transcarpathian folk pattern: "braids", "zigzags", "rhombuses", etc. It is summarized that the stylistic development in monumental church wall painting in Transcarpathia was influenced by folk art. The transition to the Baroque style contributed to an increase in decorativeness, however, it, being transformed by church painters in a peculiar way, turned into a bright Ukrainian style.

Autor raspravlja o kršćanskim memorijama križnoga tlocrta nastalima u vremenu od kasne antike do romanike na tlu Istre i Dalmacije. Bavi se pitanjem trajanja forme i funkcije koju dobro ocrtava primjer tzv. mauzoleja Galle Placidije u Ravenni. Kompaktnu skupinu sličnih građevina čine bizantske memorije na jugu Istre, u Puli: krstionica, dvije kapele uz baziliku sv. Marije Formoze, te crkva sv. Mateja pred zidinama i Sv. Katarine na otočiću ispred Pule. Donekle su problematični oblik i vrijeme nastanka kapele sv. Andrije na otičiću ispred Rovinja. Srodne crkvice Sv. Klementa na Vrhu pred Pulom i sv. Tome nedaleko Rovinja upućuju na kontinuitet tog arhitektonskog tipa i tokom ranoga srednjeg vijeka u pulskoj regiji. Skupina sličnih građevina u Dalmaciji nema takvu kompaktnost. Krstionica u Baškoj na otoku Krku znatno je manja od crkve sv. Martina na Cresu, a jedna i druga različite su od trikonhalne nutrine u kapeli sv. Ciprijana u Gatima, te njene, vjerojatno nišama, raščlanjene vanjštine. S druge strane upravo su jednake dvije ranosrednjovjekovne kapele: sv. Vid u Zadru i sv. Križ u Ninu. One obnavljaju predloške ranokršćanskih križnih memorija. Indikativna je srodnost njihovih kupola s nekim primjerima iz bizantske arhitekture 10. i 11. stoljeća. Romanička kapela Sv. Dunata pored Kornića na otoku Krku ima neobično rješenje s oblim apsidama u poprečnoj osi prostora. Bogomolja nepoznatog titulara na Crkvini pored Kašića, nedaleko Zadra, srodna je drevnome tipu memorije s tri apside grupirane na začelnoj strani. Unatoć pojedinim razlikama ipak sve memorije i obje njihove skupine povezuje slična križna forma i funerarna funkcija te kontinuitet samog oblika i njegove namjene na tlu Istre i Dalmacije u vremenu od kasne antike do romanike. Zamjetan je također utjecaj bizantskih sredina na oblikovanje takvih memorija u kulturnom krajoliku Jadrana.

It is not known exactly when Christians began commemorating Christ's bodily resurrection, today called Easter in English. Some evidence exists that they commemorated his resurrection already during the first two centuries, and that they called the commemoration Pascha , a Greek term derived from the Hebrew Pesah , meaning “Passover.” The church historian Eusebius in the 4th century states that in about ad 154 Bishop Polycarp from Asia Minor met with Bishop Anicetus of Rome regarding the dispute that existed in the church with respect to when Pascha , as they called it, was to be celebrated. But whether Pascha in the 2nd century included celebrating Christ's resurrection, or just his passion, cannot be determined definitively. However, by the 4th century the term Pascha definitely referred to both the death and resurrection of Christ. In fact, the Council of Arles in 314 and the Council of Carthage in 397 both used the term Pascha to commemorate Christ's resurrection.

The first part of this paper aims to analyze the pattern of the network of Krakow town churches in the Romanesque and Gothic periods and studies the role of these individual components of urban landscape taking into account the significance of their dedications (patrocinia) in the symbolic space of the town. The rocky (Wawel) Hill, rising among the meanders of the Vistula River, constitutes the centre of Krakow. Since the very end of the 10th century it was the seat of the bishops and the ducal residence, and later it became the main residence of the Polish kings. In the Romanesque period ten churches and chapels were built here: the cathedral complex consisted of the baptistery chapel and two basilicas, and seven other small churches and chapels according to the concept developed in the early Middle Ages following the exegesis of the apocalyptic vision of St John the Evangelist. Beneath the castle, along the main trade routes, four churches were founded in modo cruces. Some historians have suggested that the idea of a cruciform layout came from Prince Kazimir, known as the Restorer. In the second half of the 11th century the prince intended to re-create in his capital the layout of the imperial seat in Aachen, an arrangement rich in powerful association. At the end of the 12th century, three more churches dedicated to the Roman Martyrs were founded in Krakow simultaneously as an attempt to re-invent the city as a similitudo Romae in its Early Christian glory. The second part of this paper explains the distinguishing features of the cathedral church and other churches in town and argues that iconographic analysis of their architecture helps to explain their unique character and appearance. During the 14th century the cathedral church was quickly becoming one the most important in the Kingdom, the true Königskirche. The idea of Christian Kingship was an important part of their iconographic program. Also the monumental basilical churches in town can be seen as a manifestation of Kingdom and Kingship. In contrast to the importance of the monumental basilical churches, the meanings of the small hall churches concentrated more on the devotion aspects. Towards the end of the Middle Ages the city space gradually took on new symbolic meanings connected with the cathedral church as the sanctuary of St Stanislaw, Pater Patriae – the primary political patron of Poland.

The small church, which we later named “of the Priest Waʼil”, was among the first sacred Christian edifices identified among the ruins of Umm al-Rasas by explorers. On closer examination of the ruins on the south-western edge of the area beyond the walls of the castrum, we realized that the small church was part of an ecclesiastical complex comprising, to the south east, a larger church partly hidden by a modern house built by a family of the Salyata Bedouins. The main edifice, which we named the “Church of the Tabula Ansata”, from an inscription in Greek framed in a tabula incised on a stone slab of the presbytery, was built in the 6th century and has been restored in the first half of the 7th century. In the first phase, the church was paved with mosaics, which were later covered by stone slabs on an upper level in the presbytery and transferred to the nave. Traces of the original mosaic floor in the nave below the stone slabs of the upper floor and the stone elements of an arch fallen in a north south direction leads us to the hypothesis that the sacred area originally reserved for the liturgical celebration was limited to the eastern sector of the church.

Satirical literature in Ukraine during the 17th–18th centuries was a part of the so-called “folk humor culture”, which was not officially recognized. It included the works of itinerant deacons. In reality, these were educated individuals who traveled the country for various reasons, earning their livelihood along the way. Their spoken works left a significant mark on Ukrainian culture in the 18th century and were filled with criticism of the flaws in the contemporary society. Through satire and humor, burlesque and travesty poetry of the deacons aimed to affirm human dignity and ridicule societal norms with the goal of improving them. Their critique was particularly directed at priests and the contemporary social elite, who were supposed to set a moral example for ordinary people. The main objective of the itinerant deacons was to instill high moral virtues in people. Christmas and Easter were the most favorable times for them. In their verses, the birth and resurrection of Christ were perceived as popular celebrations where ordinary people feasted and rejoiced alongside the saints. Such perception elevated the common person and instilled a sense of dignity in them.

Examining the Late Medieval Village from the Case at Ambroyi, Armenia

The subject of the article is the analysis of 17th century meditations about the Resurrection of Christ included in the manuscript collection of the Norbertine Sisters in Zwierzyniec. The reflection covers the traditions about the triumph of the glorified Lord, the women’s visit to the Lord’s Tomb, the announcement of the Resurrection to the women, Christ offering fish to his disciples, Christ’s meeting with Mary Magdalene and the disciples on their way to Emaus. The mode of presentation of these themes emphasizes a number of dogmas and truths of faith, mostly about the Resurrection of Christ and his divine nature. It is demonstrated in the article that the Norbertine texts were based not only on Gospels, but also on apocryphal sources and emblematic representations. The deliberations clarify that the author probably intended not only to report the course of events, but first of all to give a testimony of faith, to assert the real resurrection of the crucified Christ. An insight into the issue of the Resurrection of Christ in the light of biblical tradition and Old Polish literature is also offered.

The object of this paper is to outline the history of the village of Brodnia to the early 17th century. The village, now situated in the commune of Pęczniew, in the Sieradz province, was in the past (to the time of partitions) in the district and province of Sieradz. As a royal property it belonged to the Sieradz district (starostwo) and later to the so-called tenure of Szadek. The origins of Brodnia are not known though they may go back to the 11th century of even to earlier times. It was a prince’s village. Between 1288 and 1298 it was given by Władysław Łokietek (the Short) to Stoigniew, castellan of Ruda, yet in 1298 the King exchanged it for another of this properties. In the early 14th century a farm was founded there and about the middle of that century a tower was built on the mound within the farm. It served as a centre of farm administration and also as a residence of the king during his visits to Brodnia. In the times of Władysław Jagiełło courts in curia were held there around the Palm Sunday. Written sources mention 18 visits of this King to Brodnia, linked with his habit of touring the country. This practice was abandoned by later kings; only one of them, Casimir Jagiellończyk, was once at Brodnia in 1450. The royal visits to Brodnia doubtless contributed to its economic development. When the royal tours of the country were discontinued, the tower on mound ceased to perform its function and was abandoned in the mid-15th century and destroyed by fire in the middle of the next century. In the 14th century Brodnia was probably founded under the German law. The foundation documents is not known. That Brodnia must have been in the possession of that law is attested by mentions of the 16th-17th centuries referring to the village administrators (scultetus) or to fields that belonged to them. About the middle of the 16th century their office was abolished at Brodnia and the endowed lands (2 lanei) were incorporated into the farm land. Farming was the basic occupation of the inhabitants of Brodnia who, however, pursued other occupations such ad crafts, fishing and bee-keeping as well. As testified by the inspection of crown lands in 1564-1565, their lot was not too hard. Though they paid money rent and rent in kind (cereals, hens, cheese, eggs, butter, etc.), their villein service was not an arduous one. Yet the inspection of 1628-1632 shows that by the end of the 16th and in the early 17th century the villein service became dominant. At that time feudal opression grew in intensity. Since Brodnia was a fairly well developed village, it brought profit to kings. For this reason, certain suras bequeathed by our monarchs to the magnates were drawn on the village profits; the village was also given as pledge for money lent. It should yet be mentioned that a small church, affiliated to the parish church at the village of Glinno, was built there probably in the 14th century. It was under the care of a curate first mentioned in 1417.

The small church, a listed monument in Porto’s Historical Centre, a World Heritage Site, located in Rua D. Hugo, at the back of the Porto Episcopal Palace, next to the Verdades Stairway, was in a poignant state of degradation and ruin for decades.The chapel, owned by the municipality and ceded to the Porto diocese in 1954, had long been closed to worship and the last documented restoration work dates back to 1968.In 2017, after a process of recovery and rehabilitation, it reopened to the public as a Pilgrim Reception Centre, as part of the inter­municipal project Valorização dos Caminhos de Santiago. Caminho Português da Costa (Valorisation of the St. James Ways. Portuguese Coastal Way), which applied to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Norte 2020 funding line.This article aims to briefly highlight the significance and importance of this small temple located in the historic centre of Porto, which is owned by the municipality, analysing and documenting the conservation and restoration work that supported its structural and artistic rehabilitation, turning the space into a Welcome Centre for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. At the same time, the aim is to contextualise the work of the altarpiece within the artistic production of carving in Porto in the 17th and 18th centuries, contributing to the knowledge of the artists and artistic practices of that period.

The personality of Catholicos Nerses III the Builder (641–661) is characterized by Armenian chronicles variously. As an active conductor of the Byzantine policy and Orthodoxy in Arme-nia, Nerses tried in all possible ways to strengthen the political and ecclesiastical ties of Ar-menians and Romans, and this resulted in the treaty of 652. Both, Armenians-Monophisites and Armenians-Chalcedonians fought for the welfare and development of the Armenian state. The difference was only in the details of the political vision of the latter during the 7th century. The Armenian-Byzantine alliance became evident already in the 9th century, when Armenia established new relations with Byzantium, as well as in the 10th–11th and 13th centuries, when the Orthodox community and culture reached their heyday in Armenia. Nerses III was the initiator and patron of a number of wonderful church buildings, which largely determined the architectural and artistic image of the epoch. Catholicos Nerses re-built the cathedral in Dvin, erected the churches in Khor Virap, the Holy Zion in Garni, the Holy Sign near the mountain Varaga, as well as the churches in Bagavan and Vagharshakert (Valarshakert). The most outstanding building of Catholicos Nerses is Zvartnots, or the church of the Vigilant Power, which had its replicas in the architecture of Armenia and South Caucasus. Nerses paid much attention to the Christianization of Armenia. All his buildings were some-how connected with this historical event. Moreover, he implemented the program of hieroto-pia – the transferring of the topography of the Holy Land to Armenia: Zvartnots repeated the form of the Holy Sepulcher, the cathedral in Dvin reproduced the composition of the Ba-silica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the small church in Khor Virap interpreted one of the Palestine Shrines. Nerses III repeated his grandiose idea in his birthplace, in Tayk, erected the churches in Ishkhan, Banak and Oltu (Ukhteats). The historical portrait of Catholicos Nerses III perfectly reflected his era, very bright and unprecedented in the context of the history of medieval Armenia.

This article is dedicated to research on the two large early Christian basilicas revealed during the last two decades on the territory of the former city of Nekresi, in Kvareli municipality, Kakheti, Georgia. Using comparative archaeological, architectural and technical analysis, the author has concluded that these basilicas were canonically designed Church buildings. As a result they must have been built by the clerical and civil rulers of the Iberian Kingdom in the second half of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century. It must be mentioned that even today, the majority of Georgian historians still accept the rather strange supposition elaborated by an older generation of art historians in the 1920s. According to this supposition more than a century after the recognition of Christianity as state religion, the Iberian authorities, unlike the rest of the early Christian world, built exceptionally small churches without any canonical design. Therefore, the author of this article attests to the contrary that his evidence suggests that soon after proclaiming Christianity as state religion in Georgia (in 326 AD), during the 4th century and obviously throughout the 5th century, large Churches designed in compliance with the canonical requirements of Roman and early Byzantine Christian liturgy were constructed.

The medieval cell doctrine was a series of speculative psychological models derived from ancient Greco-Roman ideas in which cognitive faculties were assigned to “cells,” typically but not exclusively corresponding to the cerebral ventricles. During Late Antiquity and continuing during the Early Middle Ages, Christian philosophers reinterpreted Aristotle’s De Anima, along with later modifications by Herophilos and Galen, in a manner consistent with Christian doctrine. The resulting medieval cell doctrine was formulated by the fathers of the early Christian Church in the 4th and 5th centuries. Illustrations of the medieval cell doctrine were included in manuscripts since at least the 11th century. Printed images of the doctrine appeared in medical, philosophical, and religious works beginning with “graphic incunabula” at the end of the 15th century. Some of these early psychological models assigned various cognitive faculties to different nonoverlapping “cells” within the brain, while others specifically promoted or implied a linear sequence of events. By the 16th century, printed images of the doctrine were usually linear three-cell versions, with few exceptions having four or five cells. These psychological models were based on philosophical speculations rather than clinicopathologic evidence or experimentation. Despite increasingly realistic representations of the cerebral ventricles from the end of the 15th century until the middle of the 16th century, and direct challenges by Massa and Vesalius in the early 16th century and Willis in the 17th century, the doctrine saw its most elaborate formulations in the late 16th and early 17th centuries with illustrations by the Paracelsian physicians Bacci and Fludd. In addition, Descartes reinvigorated the ventricular localization of cerebral faculties in the 17th century beginning with his La Dioptrique (1637) and later with the Latin and French editions of his posthumously published Treatise of Man (1662-1667). Overthrow of the doctrine had to await the development of alternative models of brain function in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The village of Vithkuq is distributed in an uneven, highland territory in south-east Albania, near the city of Korca. The villagers, who were part of the greek-orthodox religion, during a well economically developed time in the 17th and 18th century, they enriched Vithkuqi with circa 14 churches and a monastery. Today, in this monastery, are found only 2 churches in damaged conditions. The small mortal church of Saint Cosmas and Damian and the main church, which holds the same name as the monastery, Saint Peter and Paul. Both of these churches are decorated with miraculous murals from the famous Albanian painters, the brothers Kostandin and Athanas Zografi. Konstandin and Athanas Zografi are the painters with the widest activity during the 18th century and are known for their works in and outside the country. Their mural paintings can be really observed from 1744 until 1783, so for 24 years. The amount of work, and the fact that they were required to paint in the Mount Athos, were only the most talented painters of Epirius could work, shows the quality and their professional evaluation. The style of their work can be studied in the churches of Vithkuq. The features and elements of this style will be the theme of this work. Keywords: Mural painting, Post-Byzantine, Iconography, Vithkuq, Orthodox Art.

The Monastery of St. Paraskevy is located above the village Brajcino, on the east shore of Lake Prespa in the Republic of Macedonia. In accordance with the incomplete donor?s inscription this one aisle church with a pitched roof was built and decorated at the same time. Reparations came around 1800, when rebuilding was done on the longitudinal walls and the narthex (without fresco decoration). The fresco paintings from the 15th century are preserved on the west facade, and on the east and west wall of the naos. The decorative program in the interior was common for the small type monastery churches without narthex. From the old edifice, on the corner of the outside southwest wall visible are remains of figures, a monk and a man in laymen?s attire facing eastward. The iconographic program of the west facade is interesting for the scenes which encompass the patrons niche: a reduced Last Judgment (Royal Deesis, Hell and Paradise, where the monk Pahomios above the gate is depicted in prayer) and the equestrian figures of St. George and St. Mena. A parallel for the rare iconography of St. Mena with the tamed beasts is found in an unpublished icon, which most probably was painted in the last quarter of the 15th century, and is kept presently on the iconostasis of the church of Panagia tou Apostolaki in Kastoria. In accordance with all the considered characteristics by means of comparative analysis, we assume that the anonymous master could be an individual who belonged to the painting workshops which are credited for painting the church of St. Nicholas of the nun Eupraxia in Kastoria. We suppose the painter worked in Brajcino soon after the year 1486 and before 1493, when the decoration of the church in Kremikovci was completed, in which he most likely took part as a member of another large workshop. Regarding the question about the origins of the style of the 'master from the 1480?s', the paper articulates an opinion that they should be traced not only in the long painting traditions of Kastoria and Ohrid, but also in the collaboration of the masters and the spread of their works in these two important centers of the Ohrid Archbishopric.