Bulldozed, effaced, and paved over by the buildings and winding streets of Guatemala City, the vast majority of the archaeological remains of Kaminaljuyú are now lost to us. This early site, which reached its peak during the Late Preclassic period (ca. 300BC-250AD), was once the largest and most influential site of the Maya highlands and one of the most important sites of early Mesoamerica. This dissertation, begun as an art historical salvage project, is at once documentary and analytical. It not only focuses on recording and preserving the Late Preclassic bas-relief stone sculptures of Kaminaljuyú through accurate technical drawings, but also provides cautious and detailed analyses regarding what this iconography can tell us about this ancient site. In essence, the following chapters approach, flesh out, and describe the bodies of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú---the stone bodies, the divine bodies, and the human bodies that interacted with them across the built landscape. They discuss topics like human sacrifice, the Principal Bird Deity, and the myriad supernatural forms related to water and wind at Kaminaljuyú. They consider the noisiness of performance, the sensory impact of costumed rulers, and the ways in which these kings utilized the mythical, supernatural, and divine to sustain their rule. In addition to untangling the complex iconography of these early sculptures, these chapters give voice to the significance of these stones beyond their carved surfaces. They contemplate the materiality of stone and the ways in which the kingly body and sculpted monuments were inscribed, made meaningful, and performed to establish and maintain ideological, socio-political, and economic structures. In essence, then, these chapters deal with the interwoven themes of stone and bone and flesh and blood; with the structuring of human, sculpted, and divine bodies; and with the performative role these bodies shared as transformative spaces where extraordinary things could happen. In other words, this dissertation not only addresses stone carvings as crucial points of access into the belief structures and political strategies of Kaminaljuyú, but as active participants in the social, economic, and ideological processes that shaped human history at this ancient site. / text

Near the edge of the Aztec empire, about sixty-eight miles from Mexico City-Tenochtitlan, the temple complex Malinalco (built 1501 -- ca. 1519) comprises a tiny portion of an eponymous town and has the only known monolithic temple in Mesoamerica. The Mexica tlatoani Ahuitzotl (r. 1486-1502) commissioned the complex in 1501, and his successor Moctezuma II (r. 1502-1520) renewed the work order at least once. The site remained unfinished after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521. The remarkable preservation of Structure I offers a unique view of a Mexica temple interior, and the eagle and jaguar seats carved within that temple led to the traditional interpretation of the site as a haven for eagle and jaguar warriors. In contrast, I contend that Malinalco's ceremonial center was a Mexica space for politico-religious rituals likely performed by the tlatoani or his proxies. My analysis of Malinalco's pre-Mexica history (Chapter 2) examines the mythical history of the Malinalca and their possible dual Mexica-Toltec heritage. Malinalco's now-lost mural of Toltec warriors situates the site within the larger corpus of Tula-inspired procession scenes, and links it iconographically to Tenochtitlan monuments that legitimated imperial power. Through a close analysis of early colonial texts and pictographic sources, I show that the eagle and jaguar seats in Structure I were not used by warriors, but rather were the purview of the tlatoque. An analysis of Malinalco's sacred landscape features demonstrates that the Mexica did not simply build a temple complex in the sacred space of a subject territory, but rather transformed the shape of a sacred mountain in declaration of a god-like imperial power. Finally, Malinalco's famous upright drum, often cited as proof that the site was for warriors, actually shows eagle and jaguar warriors weeping as they sing a war song, perhaps alluding to the martial sacrifices of the empire as it fought to preserve and expand its boundaries. I conclude that the Mexica designed Malinalco as a space for the performance of politico-religious regime-legitimating rituals, permanently declaring their dominance in their empire's hinterland. / text

Tārā is arguably the most popular goddess of the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon. She is well known in her Green, White, and Twenty-one forms. However, the numerous red aspects of the divinity have long been overlooked in both popular and academic literature on the goddess. This thesis aims to redress this balance. This thesis presents the various manifestations of Red Tārā in the form of a survey of the literary and practice lineages of this goddess throughout Tibetan Buddhist history. The intention of the thesis is to examine individual forms of Red Tārā, excluding Kurukullā (who has received previous scholarly attention), in order to prove the hypothesis that not all Red Tārās are Kurukullā. The research has identified a preliminary historical order of Red Tārā lineages from the eleventh century works on Pītheśvarī and the Sa-skya-pa Red Tārās, through to the nineteenth and twentieth century forms of the goddess authored by the dGe-lugs-pas and A-paṃ gter-ston in the A-mdo region of Tibet. The red forms of Tārā are more 'worldly' than her Green or White incarnations, and the soteriological component of her worship is not always clear. Accordingly this allows a glimpse into the subjugating/ magnetising ritual process. The thesis comprises three sections. Section One provides a general introduction to Tārā and Kurukullā, followed by a survey of the literature pertaining to Red Tārā identified in the course of this research. Section Two takes four lineages of Red Tārā literature as its focus. Each chapter refers to an individual lineage: Pītheśvarī, Sa-skya-pa, the Twenty-one Tārās, and A-paṃ gter-ton's gter-ma cycle. Section Three deals with modern-day practice of the goddess in the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation and the Flaming Jewel Sangha. The thesis relies on translation of primary sources from the Tibetan language, participant observation, and New Religious Studies methodology, and covers a wide range of areas including subjugation rituals, iconography, body-maṇḍala rituals, the adoption of Buddhism in the West, and New Religious Movements. It adds to current knowledge in a variety of fields including ritual, goddess studies, the Tibetan pantheon and its iconography, and Buddhism in the West.

Architektūros ikonografija – vienas svarbiausių architektūros istorijos šaltinių, atskleidžiantis miestų ir atskirų pastatų kaitą, atveriantis urbanizacijos dar nepakeistas miestų panoramas ir pristatantis nebeegzistuojančius statinius. Kiek grafikos ir tapybos technikomis sukurtuose architektūriniuose peizažuose ir pastatų „portretuose“ tiesos ir kiek pačių kūrėjų išmonės? Ar išties piešti ir tapyti atvaizdai gali būti patikimi istorijos šaltiniai? Į šiuos klausimus ir stengiamasi atsakyti analizuojant XIX a. II p.-XX a. I p. Lietuvos architektūros vaizdus. Pirmuosiuose disertacijos skyriuose chronologiškai pateikiama vedutos raida Vakarų Europoje ir Lietuvoje, išskiriami svarbiausi kūrėjai ir esminiai architektūrinio peizažo saitai su mūsų šalies daile; apžvelgiamas vedutos atsiradimas ir išpopuliarėjimas Lietuvoje, ieškoma ideologinių ir istorinių tokios kūrybos atramų. Darbe pateikiamos išsamios dokumentiškų ir imaginacinių ikonografinių vaizdų formaliosios, lyginamosios ir semantinės analizės. Pasitelkus šiuos įrankius stengiamasi nustatyti grafikos ir tapybos darbuose užfiksuotų vaizdų dokumentiškumą – detalumą ir atitikimą realiam architektūros vaizdui. Analizei naudojamas tyrimai natūroje, senosios fotografijos ir rašytiniai šaltiniai. Į imaginacines rekonstrukcijas žvelgiama kaip į retrospektyvines idealiojo miesto paieškas (siejama su idiliniu peizažu) ir meninius rekonstrukcinius pasiūlymus. Abiem atvejais vertinama atkurto/sukurto vaizdo galimumas, ieškoma... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Architecture iconography is one of the most important sources of the architecture history. It shows changing of the towns and buildings, opens cities panoramas still unchanged by urbanization and presents no longer existing constructions. What percent of truth and what percent of artist imagination is in these townscapes and portraits of the buildings? In the text it is attempted to answer these questions by analyzing Lithuania architecture views of the second part of the XIXth century- the first part of the XXth century. Evolution of veduta in West Europe and Lithuania is presented in the first part of the dissertation. The most important creators of veduta and the essential bonds of the European townscapes and Lithuanian art are excluded. The birth of veduta and its popularity in Lithuania are reviewed. It is attempted to search for ideological and historical basement of this creation also. Comprehensive formal, comparative and semantic analysis of the documental and imaginative iconography ere given. It is trying to establish the documentary value, correspondence to real architectural view, of the views by requesting these instruments. Field investigation, old photography, and written sources were used for analysis. Imaginative architecture views are treating like retrospective searches of ideal city (and are linked with ideal landscape) or like artistic reconstruction suggestions. The possibilities and probabilities of these retrospective views are valuating, analogues... [to full text]

Architecture iconography is one of the most important sources of the architecture history. It shows changing of the towns and buildings, opens cities panoramas still unchanged by urbanization and presents no longer existing constructions. What percent of truth and what percent of artist imagination is in these townscapes and portraits of the buildings? In the text it is attempted to answer these questions by analyzing Lithuania architecture views of the second part of the XIXth century- the first part of the XXth century. Evolution of veduta in West Europe and Lithuania is presented in the first part of the dissertation. The most important creators of veduta and the essential bonds of the European townscapes and Lithuanian art are excluded. The birth of veduta and its popularity in Lithuania are reviewed. It is attempted to search for ideological and historical basement of this creation also. Comprehensive formal, comparative and semantic analysis of the documental and imaginative iconography ere given. It is trying to establish the documentary value, correspondence to real architectural view, of the views by requesting these instruments. Field investigation, old photography, and written sources were used for analysis. Imaginative architecture views are treating like retrospective searches of ideal city (and are linked with ideal landscape) or like artistic reconstruction suggestions. The possibilities and probabilities of these retrospective views are valuating, analogues... [to full text] / Architektūros ikonografija – vienas svarbiausių architektūros istorijos šaltinių, atskleidžiantis miestų ir atskirų pastatų kaitą, atveriantis urbanizacijos dar nepakeistas miestų panoramas ir pristatantis nebeegzistuojančius statinius. Kiek grafikos ir tapybos technikomis sukurtuose architektūriniuose peizažuose ir pastatų „portretuose“ tiesos ir kiek pačių kūrėjų išmonės? Ar išties piešti ir tapyti atvaizdai gali būti patikimi istorijos šaltiniai? Į šiuos klausimus ir stengiamasi atsakyti analizuojant XIX a. II p.-XX a. I p. Lietuvos architektūros vaizdus. Pirmuosiuose disertacijos skyriuose chronologiškai pateikiama vedutos raida Vakarų Europoje ir Lietuvoje, išskiriami svarbiausi kūrėjai ir esminiai architektūrinio peizažo saitai su mūsų šalies daile; apžvelgiamas vedutos atsiradimas ir išpopuliarėjimas Lietuvoje, ieškoma ideologinių ir istorinių tokios kūrybos atramų. Darbe pateikiamos išsamios dokumentiškų ir imaginacinių ikonografinių vaizdų formaliosios, lyginamosios ir semantinės analizės. Pasitelkus šiuos įrankius stengiamasi nustatyti grafikos ir tapybos darbuose užfiksuotų vaizdų dokumentiškumą – detalumą ir atitikimą realiam architektūros vaizdui. Analizei naudojamas tyrimai natūroje, senosios fotografijos ir rašytiniai šaltiniai. Į imaginacines rekonstrukcijas žvelgiama kaip į retrospektyvines idealiojo miesto paieškas (siejama su idiliniu peizažu) ir meninius rekonstrukcinius pasiūlymus. Abiem atvejais vertinama atkurto/sukurto vaizdo galimumas, ieškoma... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal / Pour respecter les droits d'auteur, la version électronique de cette thèse ou ce mémoire a été dépouillée, le cas échéant, de ses documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale de la thèse ou du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

In Renaissance culture there was an iconographic and literary language of trees, related to the motif of the tree of life, an ancient symbol of immortality associated with paradise. The properties of trees were used to express a range of ideas, including the death and resurrection of Christ, the fall and regeneration of political regimes, and virtue and vice within the individual soul. The juxtaposition of the tree of knowledge with the tree of life, as motifs of sterility and fertility, expressed aspects of the human condition and constructions of spiritual history and destiny. This thesis explores the language of trees in visual art and a range of English Renaissance texts from the late-sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century: two plays by Shakespeare, two country-house poems, and a prose treatise on growing fruit-trees. Each of the writers drew on arboreal metaphors and motifs in unique and innovative ways. However there are numerous parallels and connections between the texts, and with contemporary and antecedent visual art, to justify considering these works together. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Titus Andronicus (1594) Lavinia, when she has her hands cut off, is metaphorically described as a tree with lopped branches and linked with the stricken political entity of Rome. Shakespeare evokes the tree of virtue, the classical myth of Daphne, and the arboreal language of virtue and vice. In the late tragicomedy Cymbeline (1610), the king is symbolized in a dream vision as a tree, with its cut branches representing the princes who are initially stolen but then reunited with the king. The tree represents the family tree as well as the political state, two interlinked concepts in the play and in contemporary iconography and ideology. Since Cymbeline’s reign heralded the Nativity, the prophecy of the lopped and regenerated tree invokes the idea of Christ as the tree of life and the fruit of the tree of Jesse. In both plays, Shakespeare’s tree imagery comments on the exercise of political power and the resultant health of the state. Shakespeare’s contemporary Aemilia Lanyer wrote “The Description of Cooke-ham” (1611), part of a published volume of poetry entitled Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum. In the poem she imagines a prominent tree on the estate as the tree of life. An abstract metaphor is envisaged as part of the physical landscape. The motif transforms the estate to sacred terrain, enabling her to claim access to a space she is otherwise excluded from by class and gender. Lanyer links the sap from the tree of life with her writing, seeking to legitimize her claim as a female poet. Such strategies are part of her bid for patronage from the Countess of Cumberland, her primary dedicatee. In another country-house poem, Andrew Marvell’s “Upon Appleton House, to my Lord Fairfax” (1651), the poet creates a forest of the mind in which he explores different aspects of the language of trees. The speaker imagines himself encircled by vines and crucified by thorns, in imitation of Christ as the tree of life, while a fallen oak tree suggests the regicide. He takes on various roles including that of the enigmatic Green Man. I place Marvell’s imagery in the context of the Civil War and the relationship with his employer Lord Fairfax. Marvell’s exploration of arboreal motifs also subjects Christian tree of life imagery to the challenge of its pagan antecedents and reflects anxieties over the natural processes that threaten metaphors of regeneration. Lastly, in Ralph Austen’s A Treatise of Fruit-trees and Spiritual Use of an Orchard (1653), the author blends advice on horticultural practices in growing fruit-trees with religious metaphors. For Austen, gardening is both a physical and a metaphysical pursuit. His readers are expected to plant fruit-trees in orchards that evoke the idea of Christ as the tree of life and related ideas. His use of the motif is part of his advocacy of agricultural and social reform, motivations that were part of those in the circle surrounding Samuel Hartlib. Austen’s text is situated at the end of the English Renaissance and at the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution, when emblematic and symbolic frameworks for interpreting the natural world were subject to new pressures derived from empirical and rationalistic outlooks. What becomes apparent from these works is that tree metaphors were literalized, just as they had been in visual art, and given a new naturalism as they were projected onto landscapes. Symbolic trees merged with botanical trees in imagined landscapes, creating hybrid terrains that were both descriptive and mythical. Recognition of the language of trees in Renaissance culture opens up new readings of both canonical and lesser-known texts and highlights the porous disciplinary border between literature and art. Our historical readings are richer for understanding the potent language of trees. Overall the thesis highlights the importance and cultural preoccupation with trees in European visual and literary traditions.

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