Chronological Divisions Research Articles

A.R. MENGS TRA ROMA E MADRID: LE INQUIETUDINI DEL PITTORE FILOSOFO SULL’ISTITUZIONE ACCADEMICA NELLA SECONDA METÀ DEL XVIII SECOLO

It is difficult to frame Anton Raphael Mengs in a specific stylistic movement nowadays that the chronological divisions and the consequent definitions of the art of the Enlightenment are going to be more and more controversial. Because of his eclectic and cosmopolitan activity, his ideas about Ideal Beauty spread across the countries affected by the apprehensions and hopes related to the 18th century. The bohemian painter dedicated his entire life to the study of ancient art; his marble collection of the statues from the great Italian collections interested the artists coming to the Eternal City, and he consecrates esthetic models of different epochs. Mengs never get away from these models – Ancient Greece, Raffaello Sanzio, Tiziano Vecellio, Antonio Correggio. His presence in Spain was favored by propitious circumstances: the coronation of an erudite, educate king, lover of Fine Arts, Charles III of Spain, a king so intimately close to the painter to guarantee him his protection in the difficult relation between Mengs and the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. The relation between the Institution and the Bohemian get complicated because of the different ideas about the organization of the academy and the education of the students. Because of the little original sources, several matters have not been resolved, for example the issue about the false ancient fresco of Jupiter and Ganymede, or the controversy about the Peña case, that brought to the final breakup between the artist and the consiliarios in San Fernando Institution. Mengs focused his attention in an even worse matter about the direction of the academy: concretely, which competences had to have the consiliarios and which the teachers. When Mengs asked to be accepted in the academy, he undoubtedly thought that the Institution was structured as the other great one in which he took part in Italy, San Luca National Academy in Rome. Within Mengs’ proposals to raise the level of the Academy in Madrid there was the institution of anatomy and surgery teachings, which intent was to revolutionize the concept of painters and sculptors. In spite of the difficulties that the first painter of Charles III had during his stay in San Fernando, his acting had a fundamental role in developing the Art Theory and particularly in the European artists’ training.

A.R. MENGS TRA ROMA E MADRID: LE INQUIETUDINI DEL PITTORE FILOSOFO SULL’ISTITUZIONE ACCADEMICA NELLA SECONDA METÀ DEL XVIII SECOLO.

It is difficult to frame Anton Raphael Mengs in a specific stylistic movement nowadays that the chronological divisions and the consequent definitions of the art of the Enlightenment are going to be more and more controversial. Because of his eclectic and cosmopolitan activity, his ideas about Ideal Beauty spread across the countries affected by the apprehensions and hopes related to the 18th century. The bohemian painter dedicated his entire life to the study of ancient art; his marble collection of the statues from the great Italian collections interested the artists coming to the Eternal City, and he consecrates esthetic models of different epochs. Mengs never get away from these models – Ancient Greece, Raffaello Sanzio, Tiziano Vecellio, Antonio Correggio. His presence in Spain was favored by propitious circumstances: the coronation of an erudite, educate king, lover of Fine Arts, Charles III of Spain, a king so intimately close to the painter to guarantee him his protection in the difficult relation between Mengs and the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. The relation between the Institution and the Bohemian get complicated because of the different ideas about the organization of the academy and the education of the students. Because of the little original sources, several matters have not been resolved, for example the issue about the false ancient fresco of Jupiter and Ganymede, or the controversy about the Peña case, that brought to the final breakup between the artist and the consiliarios in San Fernando Institution. Mengs focused his attention in an even worse matter about the direction of the academy: concretely, which competences had to have the consiliarios and which the teachers. When Mengs asked to be accepted in the academy, he undoubtedly thought that the Institution was structured as the other great one in which he took part in Italy, San Luca National Academy in Rome. Within Mengs’ proposals to raise the level of the Academy in Madrid there was the institution of anatomy and surgery teachings, which intent was to revolutionize the concept of painters and sculptors. In spite of the difficulties that the first painter of Charles III had during his stay in San Fernando, his acting had a fundamental role in developing the Art Theory and particularly in the European artists’ training.

Caractérisation de l’industrie lithique de la fin du Néolithique, dans le bassin de la Seine (de la deuxième moitié du IVe millénaire à la fin du IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.)

Cet article présente une synthèse sur l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent et final dans le bassin de la Seine (entre 3500 et 2100 avant notre ère). Son objectif est de distinguer l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent de celle du Néolithique final et, plus largement, de préciser la définition des groupes culturels, leur localisation et leur chronologie par l’étude du mobilier lithique en contexte domestique et sépulcral. La première étape de la caractérisation porte sur les modalités de l’approvisionnement, généralement réalisé à proximité des occupations durant le Néolithique récent et final. L'importation de matières premières suit une même tendance, sur deux aspects, le sens de circulation des pièces en silex secondaire et tertiaire mais aussi la forme sous laquelle ces produits circulent. Le Néolithique final se distingue par une diffusion d’artefacts en roche verte et en silex du Turonien supérieur de la région du Grand-Pressigny. Au Néolithique récent, la production laminaire présente certaines caractéristiques au niveau du type de percussion utilisé (indirecte et directe tendre) mais aussi de la répartition géographique de ces techniques et sur le statut des produits laminaires en contexte sépulcral. Plusieurs indices suggèrent que le ralentissement de la production laminaire domestique débute à partir du Néolithique final. Cette période se distingue aussi par une diversification de l'outillage et par l’existence d’une production d’éclats par débitage centripète sur la façade maritime. L’étude comparative de plusieurs zones du bassin de la Seine met en évidence les variabilités temporelles et spatiales et interroge la validité des faciès régionaux (Augereau et al., 2007). L''existence d'un « faciès Marne » , proposé à l’issue de synthèses sur les pratiques funéraires, le mobilier en matière dure animale et la parure, est à nouveau validée par l''industrie lithique.

Variation in the prevalence of deciduous caries in early modern human skeletons from Japan

AbstractThe early modern Edo period in Japan denotes a chronological division between the AD 17th and 19th centuries when social structure was stratified. This study aimed to examine the occurrence of dental caries in the deciduous teeth of commoner children in Sakai City (Osaka, Japan), comparing them with those excavated in other regions, eventually clarifying variations in prevalence of deciduous caries and the causative factors contributing to such variations. Results indicated a biased distribution pattern in caries prevalence. Caries were frequently present in maxillary incisors whereas few occurrences in the mandibular counterparts were observed. Another important finding was the population‐level differences in caries prevalence—the Sakai sample displayed systematically lower frequencies of caries than warriors and commoners from Kyushu in western Japan; thus, causative factors can be hypothesized to be not only social classes but also regional differences in living conditions. These findings proved the presence of intrapopulation and interpopulation variation in deciduous caries based on children's skeletons from socially stratified societies in different geographical regions and demonstrated that deciduous caries provide bioarchaeologists with information on population diversity apparent in caries prevalence and cariogenic diets.

Les productions lithiques de l’Archipel indonésien

Proposer une synthèse sur la préhistoire d’un archipel et de ses assemblages lithiques n’est pas chose facile, d’une part à cause de l’immensité de l’espace concerné mesurant 2 millions de km2, d’autre part du fait que la notion de Paléolithique y est difficilement applicable et notamment celles de « Paléolithique supérieur » ou d’Epipaléolithique-Mésolithique établies en Eurasie occidentale. L’Indonésie et ses myriades d’îles et îlots (environ 18000) s’inscrivent dans un rectangle 5000 km sur 2000 km de part et d’autre de l’équateur ce qui en fait le plus grand archipel du monde. Cette aire géographique immense s’étirant sur un espace maritime d’environ 6 millions de km2, ne nous permet pas aujourd’hui de traiter exhaustivement l’ensemble des groupes industriels, des faciès ou des cultures préhistoriques, c’est pour cela que nous aborderons les principaux. L’Indonésie occupe une place privilégiée pour l’histoire des hommes fossiles qui la rend incontournable dans les connaissances de la variabilité des comportements des hominidés en contexte intertropical. Cette contribution a pour objectif de dresser un bilan critique et objectif des différentes méthodes de taille rencontrées depuis 1 million d’années sur les principales îles à partir d’une sélection de sites dont la stratigraphie est bien établie et bien datée.
 Rares sont les technocomplexes bien définis avant l’Holocène, période où l’insularité de cette aire géographique s’est fixée avec la remontée marine marquant progressivement le début de l’histoire des archipels insulindiens. Parmi ceux-ci nous citerons le « Toalien » à Sulawesi (faciès à pointes), le « Sampungien » (faciès à pointes) et les industries sur éclats de Song Keplek ou « Keplekien » (débitage orthogonal) dans l’Est de l’île de Java. Hormis ces trois traditions techniques qui restent individualisables sur un plan typo-technologique, il n’y a pas dans l’ensemble du matériel rencontré, de faciès différentiables associés à une dénomination d’outils spécifiques. En règle générale, les industries lithiques du Pléistocène supérieur et de l’Holocène indonésien répondent à une production basique d’éclats et d’outils sur éclats avec de multiples variantes régionales. Le mode de débitage est très largement à la pierre dure, non Levallois, rarement Discoïde, non lamino-lamellaire tel qu’on peut le rencontrer en Europe de l’Ouest ou au Proche et Moyen-Orient. Contrairement à l’Asie du Sud-Est continentale où il est encore plus difficile de discerner un Paléolithique ancien, moyen et récent du fait de la continuité d’industries toutes réalisées sur galet (Hoabinhien et autres), l’Indonésie qui devient insulaire à la marge du Pléistocène et de l’Holocène propose une hétérogénéité des assemblages lithiques sans précédent. C’est-à-dire une diversité dans les modalités de production lithique selon différentes chaînes opératoires de façonnage (galet, pointe de type de Sampung, biface...) ou de débitage (discoïde, orthogonal et laminaire).
 Le but de cet article est donc de présenter de façon synthétique les principaux ensembles lithiques de l’Archipel indonésien à partir d’une sélection d’îles sur lesquelles des assemblages lithiques ont pu être correctement documentés. Nous nous intéresserons ainsi aux îles de Sumatra, de Java, de Kalimantan (Bornéo), de Sulawesi, et à quelques autres plus orientales qui, comme Timor et Flores, ont, ces dernières années, livré des découvertes de premier plan en paléoanthropologie et en préhistoire. Par commodité, nous avons été obligés de procéder à des coupures régionales et chronologiques (Pléistocène ancien-moyen et Pléistocène supérieur final-Holocène ancien) qui permettent d’exposer au mieux cette synthèse sur des assemblages lithiques qui n’ont pas tous fait l’objet d’études technologiques approfondies au sens où nous pouvons l’entendre en Europe avec l’utilisation du concept de chaîne opératoire.

Wleń jako miejsce centralne

Wleń jako miejsce centralne

Late Quaternary Paleoclimatic Change in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea, Korea

Paleoclimatic changes in the late Quaternary sediments deposited in the East Sea were analyzed by studying diatoms. A total of 95 species belonging to 47 genera were identified from the Core02GHP-02 of the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea, Korea. In the Core 02GHP-02, U-Oki (169–181 cm; 9.3 ka), AT (464–465.5 cm; 22 ka) and U–Ym (556–559 cm; 33 ka) tephra layers were recognized. The chronological divisions of 02GHP-02 may be correlated with the climatic changes from the glacial interval (730–620 cm; MIS3), to interstadial (620–500 cm; MIS3), to the last glacial maximum (500–390 cm; MIS 2), to the deglaciation (390–290 cm; MIS 2), to the late glacial (290–190 cm; MIS 1), and to the Holocene (190–10 cm; MIS 1). It is speculated that diatoms were rarely found during the glacial interval when the 02GHP-02 core was deposited; during the interstadial (MIS 3) and deglaciation, a mixture of warm-water and cold-water species were found. In particular, Fragilariopsis doliolus seems to have appeared in the East Sea after 8 kaBP. In the lower layers of the Holocene deposits, cold-water species such as Neodenticula seminae were frequently found, while in the upper layers, warm-water species such as Hemidiscus cuneiformis were found in relatively large abundance. Therefore, the findings indicate that the climate became warmer during the transition from the lower layer to the upper layer of the Holocene deposits.

The Viking outgroup in early medieval English chronicles

AbstractThis paper relates diachronic change in discourse strategies of the Viking-age historical writing to political changes of the period and to communities of practice that produce these histories and chronicles. It examines the labels and stereotypes applied to the Vikings and establishes their sources and evolution by applying a fourfold chronological division of historical sources from around 800 to 1200 (based on the political developments within Anglo-Saxon history and on the manuscript history of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle). The data for the study come from both Old English and Anglo-Latin chronicles. The results are interpreted in terms of critical discourse analysis. It is demonstrated that the chroniclers employ strategies of dissimilation exploiting the notion of illegitimacy and criminality of the Viking outgroup. These strategies change over time, depending on the political situation (raiding vs. settlement vs. reconquest period) and communities of practice involved in the maintenance and dissemination of a particular political discourse.

Medieval Christianity: A New History by Kevin Madigan

Reviewed by: Medieval Christianity: A New History by Kevin Madigan Tanya Stabler Miller Medieval Christianity: A New History. By Kevin Madigan. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2015. Pp. xxiv, 487. $40.00. ISBN 978-0-300-1587-24. Over the last fifty years or so, the study of medieval Christianity has broadened considerably beyond strictly institutional or theological approaches to include studies of parochial religion, mysticism, and heresy. In recent years scholars have endeavored to uncover the beliefs and religious practices of the ordinary laity and the extent to which clerical elites and laypeople were part of a shared religious culture. Contemporary concerns, too, have raised new questions and inspired interest in religious dissidents, interfaith relationships, and the role of women in medieval Christianity, resulting in a stream of publications on communities and groups that are rarely, if ever, considered in more traditional histories. Given the explosion of scholarly interest in medieval religion and the recognition of its importance for understanding medieval history in general, Kevin Madigan’s book, Medieval Christianity: A New History fulfills an evident need for a new synthesis. Noting that the last major synthesis was Richard Southern’s Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (Harmonsworth, UK,1970), Madigan’s stated goal is to provide a new survey for undergraduate students with little to no knowledge of the topic or time period. Defining “medieval Christianity” broadly, the author presents a narrative history of Western Christendom that integrates the research of the last several decades, particularly studies on mysticism, lay religion, and parish life. In all of these objectives, Madigan succeeds admirably. Well written and broadly accessible, this book would indeed serve as a useful textbook in courses on the history of Christianity. The chapters are well organized, highly focused, and provide broad coverage of major historical developments while addressing historiographical debates in a fluid, engaging manner with plenty of clear, illustrative examples. As Madigan suggests in the introduction, these debates—presented throughout the book with a light, engaging touch—could serve as research topics in undergraduate courses. Madigan helpfully provides bibliographical information for each chapter in the notes section at the end of the book as well as a glossary of relevant terms. Following the customary chronological divisions of the Middle Ages (early, high, and late), Madigan begins with a succinct overview of “Pivotal Moments in Early Christianity,” effectively sketching the importance of creeds, councils, and clergy in “the emergence of normative Christianity” (p. 11). Part 2 focuses on cultures of conversion in the early Middle Ages while introducing central themes in the history of medieval Christianity such as the relationship between imperial power and the papacy. Two chapters on Jews and Muslims, respectively, round out part 2, laying out the context for increasingly tense and often tragic interfaith relations in the later Middle Ages. [End Page 588] Part 3 on the High Middle Ages begins with the reform movement of the eleventh-century church, presenting a comprehensive narrative covering monastic culture, heresy, the rise of the mendicant orders, scholasticism, religious education, popular religion, papal monarchy, and Jewish/Christian relations. Throughout, Madigan engages with the influential and much-critiqued “two-tiered model” of medieval religious history, using vivid examples to show that medieval society was hardly composed of “two distinct cultures” (p. 91)—that is, educated, Christianized clerics on the one hand and superstitious, folkloric laypeople on the other. Rather, medieval culture was characterized by “dynamic interaction” (p. 94) between clergy and laity. Part 4, “Later Medieval Christianity,” addresses the calamities of the fourteenth century, the decline of papal power, and the rise of religious reformers. Here, Madigan’s efforts to integrate new research on women and mysticism is perhaps most evident. In a sweeping discussion of influential mystical writers from Hildegard of Bingen to Catherine of Siena, Madigan illustrates the important role played by women in shaping late-medieval spirituality as visionaries and writers. Overall, this is an excellent textbook that is wholeheartedly recommended for undergraduate courses on medieval Christianity. Tanya Stabler Miller Loyola University Chicago Copyright © 2016 The Catholic University of America Press

(Re)viewing Creative, Critical and Commercial Practices in Contemporary Spanish Cinema ed. by Duncan Wheeler, Fernando Canet (review)

Reviewed by: (Re)viewing Creative, Critical and Commercial Practices in Contemporary Spanish Cinema ed. by Duncan Wheeler, Fernando Canet Dennis West Wheeler, Duncan, and Fernando Canet, eds. (Re)viewing Creative, Critical and Commercial Practices in Contemporary Spanish Cinema. Bristol: Intellect, 2014. Pp. 486. ISBN 978-1-78320-406-9. In December 2011, the Movies: Contemporary Spanish Cinema International Conference took place in New York City with the backing of the Department of Audiovisual Communication, Documentation and History of Art of the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Subsequently, participants were invited to contribute chapters exploring the principal themes and debates of the conference for inclusion in this collection which seeks, according to the editors, “to provide a self-reflective and interventionist form of academic criticism which combines aesthetic appraisal with a (re)consideration of the creative, commercial and critical imperatives that inform and underpin the viewing and reviewing of contemporary Spanish films” (4). The authors of the thirty chapters that compose (Re)viewing Creative, Critical and Commercial Practices in Contemporary Spanish Cinema are both well-known figures, such as Alberto Elena, as well as emerging scholars and practitioners; and most hail from Spanish and Anglo-American critical circles. The national cinema of Spain has traditionally been studied in relation to chronological divisions which reflect major sociohistorical events; and editors Wheeler and Canet appropriately follow this tendency in designating contemporary Spanish cinema as that produced from 1992—the year of the Expo in Seville, the Barcelona Olympics, and other emblematic events—until the present. This wide-ranging and well organized volume opens windows onto virtually all sectors of contemporary Spanish cinema by featuring traditional critical approaches, such as genre criticism or the textual analysis of individual films, as well as studies of industrial/commercial practices including production, distribution, exhibition, and promotion. Certain traditional critical notions, such as auteurship and stardom, are fruitfully redefined in relation to Spanish [End Page 617] cinema’s current situation in a transnational age. The tone of these pieces tends towards dialogue and debate; and, taken together, they argue persuasively for the inclusion of Spanish cinema, the third most important in Europe, amongst the forefront of global canons. As the following sampling suggests, this collection excels at presenting readable, well researched, up-to-date, and stimulating studies of diverse and timely topics explored via a wide spectrum of critical methodologies. Enfant terrible Pedro Almodóvar is productively studied as an auteur in a dialectical relationship with the United States, such as the influence of American culture (e.g., underground, camp, classic melodrama) on his aesthetic approaches as well as his impact on the US public and critics. Miguel Martí’s Sexykiller: Morirás por ella is examined in terms of genre criticism and revealed to be a self-reflexive, hybrid distortion of the horror film. A close and provocative feminist reading of Isabel Coixet’s cinematic adaptation of Philip Roth’s The Dying Animal draws on Laura Mulvey’s influential theory of the gaze to argue convincingly that Coixet and transnational actress Penélope Cruz’s authorial imprints provide a deconstruction of the specularization of the female body. In the last two decades, Spain has progressed rapidly in terms of the social acceptance of homosexuality; and selected fiction features, such as Cachorro and Fuera de carta, are examined in relation to their rejection of gay stereotypes and their exploration of the new ethos of gay culture. The thought of philosopher Alain Badiou (Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil) informs a compelling study of the controversial politics of memory, memorialization, and victimhood (i.e., victims of the Franco dictatorship) in contemporary documentaries such as Rejas en la memoria. Most books on Spanish cinema limit themselves to the terrain of film criticism or film history or else given commercial/industrial issues; this volume is unusual in that it includes studies of commercial practices and even sets up literal dialogues amongst critics and producers in an effort to remind us that cinema is both art and industry/commerce. Indeed, one of the most informative and stimulating chapters is the wide-ranging round table in which the influential producer and advocate for art cinema Luis Miñarro dialogues with critic Fernando...

Quaternary perspectives on the diversity of land snail assemblages from northwestern Europe

The land snail assemblages in NW Europe exhibit marked gradients in diversity related to both latitude and longitude. These gradients, in turn, are linked to regional differences in temperature and moisture, although other non-climatic factors may be involved. Such diversity patterns have been described for the modern land snail faunas of NW Europe, especially those that inhabit forest. Here we provide an historical perspective on the development and composition of comparable land snail assemblages from various interglacials from the Middle and Late Pleistocene, and from the Holocene. We review the land snail assemblages from tufa sequences, which provide the best faunal records for each of the temperate periods. Data from 32 Quaternary sites in 7 NW European countries are considered. Assemblages from ‘forest optima’ of Pleistocene interglacial periods are richer in species compared with those from the Holocene. Correspondence analysis (CA) of data from 25 Quaternary sites in the regions where both Pleistocene and Holocene sites occur (i.e. southern England, northern France and Germany) resulted in a geographical separation of the assemblages into a western and eastern group. CA on each geographical group resulted in chronological divisions separating Pleistocene sites from the Holocene sequences. This separation results from the occurrence of numerous Central and Eastern European species in the Pleistocene faunas, whereas Holocene assemblages are characterized by species with mostly Western and Northern European modern ranges. This difference appears to reflect climatic influences, rather than resulting from anthropogenic effects. CA of 19 Holocene tufas produced geographical clusters clearly related to their position on a west-east gradient, presumably linked to some effect of ‘continentality’. During the mid Holocene, the diversity of forest snails from tufas in southern England exceeded the totals from the richest calcareous woodland sites in the region today. Further work is needed to establish whether this pattern holds for other regions of NW Europe.

A VICTORIAN INVENTION? THOMAS THORNYCROFT'S ‘BOADICEA GROUP’ AND THE IDEA OF HISTORICAL CULTURE IN BRITAIN

ABSTRACTThis article examines the figure of Boudica (or Boadicea), with a specific focus on Thomas Thornycroft's Westminster Bridge statue, and on the work of the seventeenth-century antiquary, Edmund Bolton. By synthesizing historiography which investigates the idea of ‘historical culture’ in the modern and early modern periods, this article attempts to bridge chronological and generic divisions which exist in the study of the history of history. It argues that to fully understand the genealogy of popular historical ideas like Boudica, it is imperative that historians of such subjects take alongue-duréeapproach that situates individual artists and writers, and the historical-cultural works they produce, within their broader political, cultural, and social contexts while simultaneously viewing these works as part of a long, discursive process by which the past is successively reinterpreted. As a consequence, this article eschews an analysis of Boudica which labels her an ‘imperial icon’ for Victorian Britons, and argues that the relationship between contemporary context and the re-imagined past is not as straightforward as it might initially appear.

Sabotaż w Polsce 1944/1945–1956

The article presents the subject of resistance of the sabotage nature which was not so much known in Poland. Apart from the information about the range of the sabotage phenomenon, the Polish legislation on repression matter for these types of acts and the structure being involved in combating that phenomenon has been discussed. The article is a monograph on the development of that interesting issue. Its chronological frames include the years 1944/1945–1956 and are in accordance with the widely accepted chronological division in the latest history. The year 1956 was a turning point in a policy of the Polish authorities. Assuming power by Gomułka, liberalization of social life, stopping the Stalinist tyranny and practices and reorganization of security services caused that the sabotage during these times was perceived in a lenient way. It was limited, although other forms of resistance were more intensive, for example anonymous letters, leaflets or strikes. The basis of the preliminary sources of that article are materials prepared by the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of the Interior, deposited in the Institute of National Remembrance Archive in Warsaw.

A.R. MENGS TRA ROMA E MADRID: LE INQUIETUDINI DEL PITTORE FILOSOFO SULL’ISTITUZIONE ACCADEMICA NELLA SECONDA METÀ DEL XVIII SECOLO

It is difficult to frame Anton Raphael Mengs in a specific stylistic movement nowadays that the chronological divisions and the consequent definitions of the art of the Enlightenment are going to be more and more controversial. Because of his eclectic and cosmopolitan activity, his ideas about Ideal Beauty spread across the countries affected by the apprehensions and hopes related to the 18th century. The bohemian painter dedicated his entire life to the study of ancient art; his marble collection of the statues from the great Italian collections interested the artists coming to the Eternal City, and he consecrates esthetic models of different epochs. Mengs never get away from these models – Ancient Greece, Raffaello Sanzio, Tiziano Vecellio, Antonio Correggio. His presence in Spain was favored by propitious circumstances: the coronation of an erudite, educate king, lover of Fine Arts, Charles III of Spain, a king so intimately close to the painter to guarantee him his protection in the difficult relation between Mengs and the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. The relation between the Institution and the Bohemian get complicated because of the different ideas about the organization of the academy and the education of the students. Because of the little original sources, several matters have not been resolved, for example the issue about the false ancient fresco of Jupiter and Ganymede, or the controversy about the Peñacase, that brought to the final breakup between the artist and the consiliarios in San Fernando Institution. Mengs focused his attention in an even worse matter about the direction of the academy: concretely, which competences had to have the consiliarios and which the teachers. When Mengs asked to be accepted in the academy, he undoubtedly thought that the Institution was structured as the other great one in which he took part in Italy, San Luca National Academy in Rome. Within Mengs’ proposals to raise the level of the Academy in Madrid there was the institution of anatomy and surgery teachings, which intent was to revolutionize the concept of painters and sculptors. In spite of the difficulties that the first painter of Charles III had during his stay in San Fernando, his acting had a fundamental role in developing the Art Theory and particularly in the European artists’ training.

A New Classification System for Aortic Dissection

All medical classifications group patients into categories that can be used to predict outcome, and therefore can select patients who may benefit from a specific treatment regimen. The paradox of aortic dissection is that there are a multitude of factors that affect outcome, some of which are only just being defined with new imaging techniques and other methodologies. It has been recognised for some time that the established anatomical classifications of aortic dissection (DeBakey and Stanford) together with the chronological division between acute and chronic dissection (at 14 days) are outdated. The management of aortic dissection changed significantly with the advent of endovascular treatment, and a meta-analysis shows that these techniques have a much lower mortality than open surgery in treating patients with complicated acute type B aortic dissection. 1 The premise of endovascular repair is that by covering the primary entry tear, the flow in the false lumen will be reduced so encouraging thrombosis, and the intra-luminal pressure will fall thereby decreasing the risk of aortic expansion and improving end-organ ischaemia. The DISSECT classification is an attempt to modernise the classification of aortic dissection to make it relevant to clinicians of all disciplines treating patients with a combination of medical therapy together with open surgical and endovascular techniques. One of the difficulties in trying to select criteria for any new classification, acknowledged in the paper, is that our understanding of dissection is in its infancy. 2 Almost all clinical decisions are currently based on static images from computed tomography because it is fast, readily available and has excellent spatial resolution. Features evaluated include the size of the false lumen, the total aortic diameter, the amount of false lumen thrombus, and the presence of aortic rupture and end-organ ischaemia. However, there is increasing evidence that functional imaging, particularly using four-dimensional magnetic resonance and ultrasound, gives a much richer data set which can be used to measure haemodynamic information within the false lumen. 3,4 High resolution imaging has also shown that each patient presenting with aortic dissection has a unique set of findings, particularly in terms of the size and location of the primary and secondary entry tears. This information is important for the success of endovascular repair and may help to reduce the high reintervention rate suffered by patients with aortic dissection. 5 At first sight the DISSECT classification is complex and unwieldy;however, all the majorelementsthat need tobe taken intoaccountinpatientswithdissectionareincluded.Someare morecontentiousthanothers,withthedivisionoftheduration ofdissectionintothreecategoriesbeingthemostcontroversial (as recognised by the authors). There is widespread dissatisfaction with the current division into acute and chronic based on14days.The introduction ofa sub-acute phase lastingfrom 14daystothreemonthsisalsofairlyarbitrary.Theabilityofthe aorta to remodel is one of the most important factors in the successofendovascularrepair.Theduration ofthisplasticityis likely to be patient-specific and movement of the dissection flap can be detected in some patients well after the threemonth limit of the proposed sub-acute phase. A classification based on the rigidity of the dissection flap may be shown in future to be more relevant than any set time limit. Endovascular techniques will, in future, be applied to dissections with the entry tear in the ascending aorta, and will include complex devices incorporating aortic valve components and branches for the coronary arteries. Patient-specific treatment based on accurate individual risk stratification from functional imaging may well provide the best way forward. A classification system such as DISSECT will undoubtedly continue to have an important role but will need to be continually updated as new information becomes available from high-quality clinical trials.

Haitian History: New Perspectives by Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall (review)

Haitian History: New Perspectives. By Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall. New York: Routledge, 2012. 352 pp. $37.95 hardcover.When historians teach historiography, they sometimes present it as a relatively tidy process, shaped by institutional and personal lineages, theoretical movements, and the rise and fall of certain methodologies. In fact, of course, the writing of history is a fragmented and messy process. This is perhaps nowhere more true than in the writing of Haitian history, transected as it is not only by ideological divisions but also by barriers between publication languages and venues, institutional locations, and even discursive universes. Any good account of historiographical change is also a historical account, for identifying the web of forces that lead to the emergence, stabilization, and reproduction of particular approaches and paradigms is itself a complex task of intellectual, social, and cultural history.Where is the history of Haiti being written today? The French scholarly establishment lags notoriously behind in this regard, despite the fact that the French Archives are literally bursting with material about the colonial and revolutionary history of Haiti. The writing of history within Haiti continues, of course, in relation to an extremely rich and complex tradition going back to the early nineteenth century, though the absence of a doctoral program in History has limited the expansion of the field. In terms of the sheer volume of pages, however, it is scholars based in the United States, and US presses, that have-especially since 2004-been the most productive in this area.Why is it that, for the past decades, there has been an explosion of scholarship on Haiti within North America? The presence of a large Haitian diaspora is of course one key reason, and out of this diaspora have emerged many of this generation's most important voices in the field. Within the discipline of history itself, the crossroads of Atlantic, African-American, and Caribbean history has been a particularly exciting area for recent research and debate. For those interested in the history of the institution of slavery and especially in the culture and resistance of the enslaved, Haiti is of course incontournable. Or, at least, it should be. And we are finally getting to the point where its importance is broadly acknowledged within the scholarly community, though there are still plenty of battles to be fought in this regard.But the interests of US scholars, and the chronological divisions in the field, have also meant that the longue duree national history of Haiti has in a way been neglected. The scholarly landscape around Haitian history is one in which the revolutionary period has received tremendous attention, the colonial period a bit less, and other periods-most notably Haiti's nineteenth century but also much of its twentieth-startlingly little, at least on the part of historians. In this sense it is notable that two of the critical exceptions to this trend, Michel-Rolph Trouillot's Haiti: State Against Nation and Patrick Bellegarde-Smith's Haiti: The Breached Citadel, were written by anthropologists rather than historians.All of this makes the new collection by Alyssa Sepinwall, Haitian History: New Perspectives, a particularly useful and valuable contribution. It is part of a Routledge series called Rewriting Histories, whose goal is to present both classic and recent texts of historical writing relating to a particular topic. One other book in the series, Origins of the Black Atlantic (which I coedited with Julius Scott) includes some material on Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean. Here, however, Sepinwall provides an excellent selection of works that take us from the colonial period to contemporary Haiti.The contributors, and many of the pieces, will be familiar to Haitianist scholars as critical contributions to the field. The book opens with a classic piece by Michel-Rolph Trouillot in which he first articulated his thesis about the unthinkable nature of the Haitian Revolution, and is followed by contributions by Carolyn Fick, David Geggus, and John Thornton. …

Neolithic LBK Intrasite Settlement Patterns: A Case Study from Bylany (Czech Republic)

This paper could also be a contribution to a new concept for understanding space and time in Neolithic settlements. We abandoned the methodological concept of construction complexes of houses and used individual archaeological features as the basic analytical unit. The analysis of quantitative correlations of decorative style conducted on this basis produced five style groups; four of these belonged to a LBK style, and it was these that were spatially distinct at the Bylany settlement. The discovered spatial patterns of style correspond in general to the existing chronology of the site. This means that chronological horizons understood both as intervals on the time axis and as geographic units are not dependent on “construction complexes” or even on individual houses. The value of this study does not lie in a more detailed chronological division of the Neolithic settlement at Bylany, but in a confirmation of the robustness of its existing form; the study also draws attention to a possible problem in the concept of construction complexes.

One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire , and: Monotheism between Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity (review)

One God. the Roman Empire. Edited by Stephen Mitchell and Peter Van Nuffelen. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 2010. Pp. 239- $99-00. ISBN 978-0-521-19416-7.) between Pagans and Christians Late Antiquity. Edited by Stephen Mitchell and Peter Van Nuffelen. [Interdisciplinary Studies Ancient Culture and Religion, 12.] (Leuven: Peeters. 2010. Pp. vi, 225. euro48,00 paperback. ISBN 978-9-042-92242-6.) These two collections of essays are the product of conference entitled Pagan the Roman Empire (1-4 c. AD) that was held at Exeter University July 2006 and represented highlight of triennial research program on the intellectual background to mono theism. The program was conceived as response to the volume Late edited by Michael Frede and the reviewer. The two books differ conception and format. One God an elegantly produced hardcover, containing six basically conceptual essays by recognized authorities the field of religious studies, as well as the contributions of the two editors. on the other hand, paperback volume, apparently less carefully edited, which takes the form more of series of case studies, as the editors themselves note (p. 8). While accepting pagan as heuristic tool, both books give emphasis to the social and political context of religious praxis and the preeminence of cult and over ideology, although the editors point to chronological division between the two. Regarding the Constantinian revolution as watershed, they assign to One God papers dealing with the era before the recognition of Christianity as religio licita and to those relating to the period 350-450. It may also be noted that One God concentrates on the Greek East, whereas draws to an equal extent on Latin sources. The papers One God reflect the fundamental distinctions among (a) soft (inclusive) and hard (exclusive) Judeo-Christian monotheism, (b) numerical and qualitative oneness, and (c) monotheistic thought and polytheistic cult. In well-structured methodological article, Pagan as Religious Phenomenon (pp. 16-33), Peter Van Nuffelen discusses the history and usefulness of such coinages as henotheism, monotheism, and monolatry, together with the neologism megatheism, the context of the study of Greco-Roman religion. All these terms, he argues, point to the changed way of conceiving and worshiping the godhead the Roman Empire as from the first century, change brought about by the interaction between various religious trends under the growing influence of philosophical discourse. Change equally the central issue the analysis of Roman from the first to the fourth century by John North, Pagan Ritual and Monotheism (pp. 34-52), although his emphasis on social and sociological factors (listed on pp. 42 and 51); not only does North minimize the role of philosophy the process of mutation, but he dismisses altogether the idea that the tendency toward monotheism a necessary condition for the religious transformations we are seeking to analyse (p. 51). Frede (The Case for Greek and Graeco-Roman Antiquity, pp. 53-81) and Stephen Mitchell (Further Thoughts on the Cult of Theos Hypsistos, pp. 167-208) remain faithful to the positions adopted their respective essays Monotheism. Emphasizing continuity and intellectuality, Frede brings evidence from Antisthenes, Chrysippus, and Galen to prove that philosophy at the heart of ancient religion, which is not just matter of cult and ritual (p. 81). By adducing new epigraphic evidence, Mitchell restates his thesis that the cult of Theos Hypsistos was in essence and spirit, if not the narrowest definition, form of monotheistic religion (p. 198). With reference to St. Augustine's reception of the Platonic theology, Alfons Furst (Monotheism between Cult and Politics: The Themes of the Ancient Debate between and Christian Monotheism, pp. …

A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci, 1552-1610 (review)

Reviewed by: A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci, 1552-1610 Jeremy Clarke S.J. A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci, 1552-1610. By R. Po-Chia Hsia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. 386 pp. $57.50 (cloth). Matteo Ricci, the famous Jesuit subject of this excellent work by Penn State Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of History Ronnie Po-chia Hsia, died in 1610. The present work has thus rightly and cleverly sought to connect with the four-hundredth anniversary of that event, which was commemorated from Ricci's birthplace, Macerata, through to his final resting place in Beijing. An Italian Catholic priest and missionary, Ricci first entered China in 1583 and worked in the fields of mathematics, cartography, music, horology, and theology, among many others. Since Ricci's death each new significant anniversary has seen a further round of commemorative conferences, books, and articles. Such occasions have not just been connected to the celebration of his arrival in a certain city or town but also have reflected anew upon the work that was done by Ricci and his Chinese mentors in these places. At each anniversary, not only has the reflection about Ricci's life and work deepened, but at the same time there has also been marked development in the historiography of this period of East-West cultural exchange. In his epilogue, Hsia outlines the publications since the time of the tercentenary of Ricci's death, one hundred years ago. This is one of the strengths of Hsia's new book, as the comprehensive summation of these works shows how the research moved—and continues to move—from publishing "monuments to the memory of Ricci" to entering the field of critical scholarship. Hsia's work lies clearly within the ambit of such scholarship, drawing as it does on extensive multilingual primary sources from archives and libraries throughout the world as well as covering the vast domain of secondary literature on this topic. Another great contribution of the present work, especially for a nonspecialist audience, is the fact that the sources also include materials originally written in Chinese. For too long, as Hsia and others note, authors have written about Chinese Christianity without considering or including the voice of Chinese actors themselves. Hsia judiciously corrects this imbalance and in so doing not only expands the present field of scholarship but also enables those readers without Chinese language literacy to engage with these resources. It may seem strange to review Hsia's work by first praising the end of his book but, with T. S. Eliot, given the extent to which Ricci's life journey has been mapped and explored, "the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first [End Page 181] time." Even attempting to write about Ricci now is to engage in an active and at times vigorous conversation with scholars across time and across continents. Hsia's conclusion thus not only represents a terminus ad quem of these previous conversations, but will now also be the point of departure for future academic musings. The epilogue stands as both a testament to endeavors already completed and to the work that Hsia himself has done in advancing this field. It is thus an excellent and important summary of the exploration by Hsia (and others before him) into the life of the first Jesuit in the Forbidden City. So, what path does Hsia take toward his goal and what are some of the highlights of this new journey? Hsia does stick to a relatively well-used schema. He employs chronological divisions, dealing with everything from Ricci's early years in Macerata, to his academic studies at the Jesuit-run Roman College and later in a Jesuit college in India, to the various periods of the twenty-seven years he spent in China. For the nonspecialist this will immediately be useful. He also advances the narrative geographically toward the imperial city—the familiar ascent to Beijing motif. Thus, as the book develops, one is drawn ever further into Ricci's life and into his travels ever deeper into the heart of Chinese culture. This is a...

Temporality and Emergences in Education

Abstract It is striking to note to what extent the time issue in education is commonly understood in terms of chronology. It is an institutional and linear time that is divided and then fitted back together like a Russian doll in an analytical approach. The conception of time is reversible and possesses the same characteristics as space. It is a paradox that this institutional rationalization of time by reversible chronological divisions barely conceals the whole concrete and living reality of human time, which is a continuous process of change that philosophers generally call duration. On the contrary, far from the above reduction, its specificity lies in its irreversibility. This article intends to present both the results of empirical research on cooperative pedagogy and its current theorization. The emergence of complexity in time is visible in the primacy given to processes in the educational relationship. The way the multiple scales of complexity are superposed is reflected in the cooperative organization of work, for a new educational temporality which results in an increase in joyful emergences.