Ancient Eastern World Research Articles

Saint Jerome’s Posthumous Life: Aspects of His Reception in the Twentieth Century

The paper examines three examples of Saint Jerome’s contemporary reception. First, in Sous l’invocation de Saint Jérôme, the essay by the French writer and translator Valery Larbaud (1946), Jerome’s life is imagined as the large city of Hiéronymopolis where three itineraries are possible: one that is imaginary to Stridon, Rome, and Bethlehem; one that is iconographical through the paintings of Raffaello, Correggio, and Domenichino, and one that is literary through Jerome’s works, divided into many “city districts,” where an impressive bridge, the Vulgata, connects Jerusalem to Rome. – In the eccentric novel Jérôme ou de la traduction by the French-Canadian writer Jean Marcel (1990), Hieronymus’s famous lion narrates the main episodes of the Saint’s life, especially regarding his translations. This is an existential metaphor for the passage from the ancient eastern world to early Christian Rome. – The poetic movie by the Brasilian director Júlio Bressane, São Jerônimo (1999), is not a biographical reconstruction of Jerome’s life, but rather a fresco, which consists of some moments of his life and some iconic symbols (the skull, the lion, the desert).

Presentation of the Dossier - The royalty in the ancient Eastern world: Textual and image narratives

The idea of organizing a dossier on Eastern Antiquity has haunted us for some years. As scholars of Eastern history and archeology, it is our duty to provoke debate and reflection on the ancient Near East in its various temporalities and regions. Thus emerged the thematic proposal on royalty in the ancient oriental world.

Presentation of the Dossier - The royalty in the ancient Eastern world: Textual and image narratives

The idea of organizing a dossier on Eastern Antiquity has haunted us for some years. As scholars of Eastern history and archeology, it is our duty to provoke debate and reflection on the ancient Near East in its various temporalities and regions. Thus emerged the thematic proposal on royalty in the ancient oriental world.