Classical historical and art studies in the context of the development of modern humanities are frequently synthesised with research on visual culture and social art history, forming a broad ...discourse on the study of the culture of a particular era, country, or community. This optics is taken as the basis for this study, wherein such a fundamental philosophical concept as the attitude towards death is considered from the standpoint of art history iconographic and cultural studies to identify worldviews and ideology in the development of visual narratives that cover and represent them. In this dimension, illuminated manuscripts are the research subject and object where, through the synthesis of text and image, the ability to semiotically read images and decode the symbolic content of cultural categories opens up wide interpretative possibilities for the researcher. The purpose of this study is to outline the wide variability of iconographic typologies associated with the theme of death in the late medieval European culture of the Latin West and to cover the features of the connection of visual culture with the system of worldview representations based on symbolism rooted in religion, folklore, and court aristocratic culture. The proposed study uses an interdisciplinary scientific approach and an art history approach. The research is based on the methods of stylistic and formal analysis, semiotics, and hermeneutics. The typological approach allowed identifying groups of images united by identical semantics of image interpretation, joint compositional and plot solutions designed to accessibly decode their semantics. First, the ontological and metaphysical foundations of the perception of death as a phenomenon in the philosophical and anthropological dimension in culture in general, and in western European culture in particular, are defined and characterised. In the context of the analysis of the features of the symbolic and iconographic interpretation of images of death in the visual culture of illumination of the 13th-15th centuries, groups of images are identified, united by identical semantics of interpretation of these images, joint compositional and plot solutions designed to accessibly decode their semantics, namely the imagery of the death of saints and clergy, imagery of the death of monarchs, the death of soldiers, noble chivalry, the death of fallen in battle, the death of women, imagery of suicides, as well as imagery of violent death, murder. This study covers a wide range of potential recipients in modern humanitarianism and can be useful for historians, medievalists, art historians, anthropologists, and cultural scientists.
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•Artomics combines the compositional and formal analysis of artwork groups.•The novel methodology has been applied on a medieval illuminated manuscript.•Differentiation of ...manuscript’s miniatures based on both types of parameters.•The limited pigment variety led to a strong predominance of the stylistic variables.•Artomics helps understand the cultural context of the artwork’s fabrication period.
A novel analytical approach which combines the compositional and formal characteristics describing groups of artworks and their analysis using multivariate techniques is presented, under the title of Artomics. This approach aims to identify characteristics transferred, both voluntarily and involuntarily, to the objects due to the cultural, social and economic context of the time period they were created in. These characteristics are expressed through the material and iconographical choices made by the artists or artisans involved, and may include the materials used, the creative processes or techniques applied, decorative styles and calligraphy types amongst others. The suggested methodology has been applied to the study of the Liber Feudorum Maior, a medieval illuminated cartulary, extensively decorated with miniatures painted in two distinct styles and possibly created by more than two artisans. Data from X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis is combined with the formal characteristics of the miniatures, previously parametrised using descriptive variables, in an effort to conjunctively classify the illustrations, study the possible participation of multiple artisans in the elaboration of the manuscript and observe how cultural criteria are projected on the objects. The combined analysis of the formal and compositional data revealed a classification which could be related to differences in the miniature execution. The joint classification prioritised stylistic variables over compositional ones, most likely because of the limited variety in the materials used for painting and the conventions for these representations during the Middle Ages. Nonetheless, compositional data provided interesting insights regarding execution, such as differences in the gilding techniques used.
Iron-gall ink (IGI) has been used by scribes for writing since at least the 4th century CE. Another typical use of this ink was for drawing: many Old Masters created beautiful sketches in brown-black ...hues. Despite its widespread use to draw lines, it seems like IGI was hardly used for painting as well. In fact, the number of identification on manuscripts is very low at present. This could be partially due to a lack of reliable diagnostic information. In this work we tried to better define the possibility of identifying IGI as a pigment on illuminate manuscripts, evaluating the pros and cons of three different techniques: UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry with optic fibres (FORS), Raman spectroscopy and XRF spectrometry. With concern to in situ non-invasive analysis, Raman spectroscopy has the best diagnostic power but FORS seems to provide the better compromise between selectivity and ease of application. Moreover, new analytical evidences was given on the particular use of IGI by ancient illuminators: a non-invasive and micro-invasive diagnostic survey on Western manuscripts datable in the range 6–16th centuries was carried out showing that, apart from its widespread use as an ink for writing and drawing, IGI was largely used as a pigment too. The large number of identification obtained allows us to hypothesise that this pigment was used all through medieval Europe up to at least the Renaissance, where its use is already documented in drawing.
The occurrence of IGI in miniature paintings older than 6th century or more recent than 16th century cannot be excluded, as is its use beyond Europe; further measurements could instead widen the time range and the geographic area. Nevertheless, the present study allows shedding a new light on the use of this colourant all along the period of medieval and Renaissance miniature painting art.
Iron-gall ink (IGI) has been used by scribes for writing since at least the 4th century CE. Despite its widespread use to draw lines, IGI has been hardly identified in paintings as well, perhaps due to a lack of reliable diagnostic information. In situ non-invasive techniques (Raman spectroscopy, FORS, XRF) have been used in this work to show that IGI was used for painting on manuscripts in the range 6-16th century. Display omitted
•Iron-gall ink (IGI) has been used by scribes for writing since at least the 4th century CE.•IGI was hardly used for painting as well, perhaps due to a lack of diagnostic information.•Non-invasive techniques have been used to identify it on manuscripts in the range 6-16th centuries.
El conjunto de manuscritos de las Siete Partidas producidas en la Edad Media testimonia el impacto, importancia y relevancia de esta obra jurídica en Castilla y otros reinos peninsulares. Esa ...importancia propició el encargo de códices iluminados por parte de personajes destacados, con imágenes que ilustrasen las distintas leyes o conceptos jurídicos y que, al mismo tiempo, sirviesen como modo de ornato y dignificación de estos manuscritos. En el presente estudio el autor analiza la presencia de la iconografía religiosa en los códices de las Siete Partidas clasificando las temáticas iconográficas religiosas más notorias, así como posibles paralelos en otras obras jurídicas iluminadas bajomedievales.
In this work, we report the results of the in situ application of micro‐Raman spectroscopy to the analysis of two historic painted objects: a 15th‐century illuminated manuscript and a late ...16th‐century portrait miniature. Both objects were unexpectedly found to contain calomel (Hg2Cl2), intentionally used as a white pigment. Calomel was a widespread and popular medicine until it fell out of use at the end of the 19th century due to its toxicity, and a material called ‘mercury white’ is referred to in 16th‐century technical literature on painting. However, although calomel has been recognised in the past as a degradation product of cinnabar in both wall and easel paintings, its deliberate use as a pigment on cultural heritage objects has only been documented recently in white areas painted on 17th‐century South American objects. The present study describes the first ever verified use of calomel as a white pigment on European works of art, both of which predate its documented use in South America.
The present study describes the first ever verified use of calomel as a white pigment on European works of art. Results of the in situ application of micro‐Raman spectroscopy to the analysis of two historic painted objects, a 15th‐century illuminated manuscript and a late 16th‐century portrait miniature, are presented. Both objects were unexpectedly found to contain calomel (Hg2Cl2), intentionally used as a white pigment.
Macro X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF) is gradually becoming an established technique for the non-invasive analytical investigation of painted surfaces. This paper discusses some of the benefits ...and limitations of employing MA-XRF for the study of manuscript illuminations. Art historical research on this type of artefacts that is based on scientific measurements is often limited by the fact that usually no sampling can take place. Hence there is a need for non-invasive analytical tools that make it possible to conduct systematic investigations. As a representative example of this type of objects, a 15th century Italian manuscript fragment from the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (UK) is investigated. The aims of the study were to gain insight into the materials and techniques employed by Renaissance illuminators and to help answer specific questions regarding the fragment’s authorship and geographic origin. The complementarity and advantages of MA-XRF mapping versus site-specific analyses are discussed. For this purpose, MA-XRF data are evaluated and compared with the results of other analytical techniques. The interpretation of the elemental maps is discussed along with the challenges faced during the analysis.
•Macro XRF scanning is used to examine a 15th c. Italian manuscript fragment•MA-XRF data are compared with other single-point analytical techniques•The interpretation of the elemental maps is discussed with the challenges faced•We identify two unusual pigments: an arsenic sulphide glass and a manganese oxide•The use of manganese oxide helps place the fragment within a specific artistic milieu
Esta contribución tiene como objetivo fundamental presentar tres manuscritos iluminados de las Metamorfosis de Ovidio, dos conservados en la Biblioteca Nacional de España (BNE) y uno en Dresde, en ...Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB). Las iluminaciones de los tres códices presentan una falta de correspondencia aparente con el contenido mitológico del texto y hasta la fecha no se han tenido en cuenta en los estudios sobre las Metamorfosis iluminadas. Su análisis permite poner en relación entre sí de manera clara los tres manuscritos, así como profundizar en el panorama de la miniatura del poema ovidiano durante los últimos siglos de la Edad Media.
In situ analysis: Near infrared imaging spectroscopy (1000–2500 nm) is used to map the use of a fat‐containing paint binder, likely egg yolk, in situ on a work of art for the first time. The ...identification of the use of egg tempera on a 15th century illuminated manuscript leaf (Praying Prophet by Lorenzo Monaco) sheds light on the relationship between painters and illuminators and can inform preservation decisions.
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