Texte remanié de: Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--Hamburg, 1990. / Bibliogr. p.179-203. Table des ill.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-117).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-117).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-117).

This thesis was originally commenced with the intention of examining the various artistic representations of the Tower of Babel, then comparing them with possible sources of inspiration such as the Biblical account, Herodotus, and the original (as now revealed by archaeology). So far about two hundred and thirty illustrations have been found, mainly in the form of manuscript illuminations, frescoes, mosaics and paintings. As this piece of research would run into several large volumes, it has been decided to concentrate upon a most outstanding example, that of the painting executed in 1563 by Peter Bruegel which is usually referred to as his "Large Tower of Babel". The precedents and antecedents of this painting have been studied and special attention given to influences such as the medieval traditions of allegory in literature and symbolism in painting. Because of the use of symbolism by Bruegel in much of his painting, an attempt has been made to ascertain whether or not the religious or political motives often connected with this are present-and the conclusion reached is that to some extent they must be. There is at present very little in the way of detailed description of the painting by art historians, and so attention has been given to this, accompanied by a search for sources of Bruegel's inspiration. One result of this has been the discovery that Qiulio Clovio provided some ideas for the painting and himself collected another larger example not now in existence. The description by Vasari would suggest that the subject was something of a wonder in Rome in the 1550s, thus providing another cogent reason for Peter Bruegel's interest in it during and after the time of his visit to Italy. It is concluded that the particular form which Bruegel's tower takes is mainly the cumulative result of his own powerful imagination, the ini alginations of his contemporaries and predecessors, combined with literary detail available from Herodotus and to some extent the Biblical account. While travellers' tales of Middle Eastern towers such as Samarra abounded, it seems unlikely that much of the original tower at Babylon remained to be observed, even if it were recognized in Bruegel's time. With the influence of the archaeological facts available to us today at nil then, comparatively speaking, the thesis section of detailed research into the actual form of the original tower becomes only of interest for the sake of comparison with the artistic form - and as a corroboration of Herodotus' important account. It therefore very properly becomes an appendix. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen. / Description based on print version record.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-92).

Abstract The city is a complex space, comprised of a multitude of cultures, languages, and influences that interact, clash, and communicate, resulting in a space of dynamic violence. It is through this violent interaction of different forces that the city attains its potential as a space offering hope and opportunity. Such fragmentary and rapidly changing influences do, however, present problems for the investigation and interpretation of the city, in that conclusions seem only fleeting and provisional. For this reason, it is important to write towards a universal hope for the city; a hope that can never truly apply in practice, but nonetheless extends an inextinguishable hermeneutical possibility to all cities. In the Western, Judeo-Christian framework, the intersection of universalism, hermeneutics, and the city begins with the collapse of the Tower of Babel. Through violent rupture, humanity’s differences are revealed and thus a Fall into a schema of translation occurs, where humanity must exist side-by-side with each other in the absence of divine presence. Subsequently, cities are necessarily diverse and violent, for it is alterity that allows for cities to contain hope for something other than what is. To prevent the city from becoming totalitarian and without hope, alterity must be consciously maintained in both the physical environments of the suburb and the city-centre, and in the idea of the city: what the city could be. Achieving alterity in the suburb and city-centre requires hospitality toward the other, an openness to the other that coincides with a schema of justice. The maintenance of alterity in the idea of the city requires a messianic conception of hope that cannot be called forth, and remains perpetually as a possibility that is no possibility, violently rupturing all claims of completion in the present. With the extension of hospitality and justice, combined with the conscious maintenance of alterity, the violence inherent in the interaction of different forces in the city is put to its most positive and regenerative applications.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-92).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-92).