Diss.--Marburg--Philipps-Universität.

Au XVe siècle, le philosophe florentin Marsile Ficin (1433-1499) rédige un texte singulier intitulé De vita coelitus comparanda ou « comment obtenir la vie du ciel » qui deviendra le troisième et dernier livre d’un ouvrage médical de plus large envergure, le De vita libri tres, consacré à conserver et à prolonger la santé des hommes de lettres accablés sous le poids de l’étude. Ce texte est tout entier consacré au pouvoir apotropaïque et prophylactique du talisman ou « image astrologique », une notion savante qui apparaît en Occident au milieu du XIIIe siècle, et insiste tout particulièrement sur la matérialité, la forme et l’apparence de ces images. Ainsi Ficin développe-t-il un discours original par rapport à la tradition en se concentrant sur le processus de fabrication, discours qui n’est pas sans rappeler les premières théories de l’art qui apparaissent à la même époque à Florence. Ficin réhabilite la figure du mage antique dans le cadre d’une réflexion plus vaste qui met en exergue le pouvoir créateur de l’homme en tant que savant, humaniste et philosophe. Si le postulat d’une influence tardive du néoplatonisme ficinien sur la littérature artistique du XVIe siècle a donné lieu à de nombreuses études, il apparaît en revanche que les rapports que Ficin était susceptible d’entretenir avec le monde des artistes, et surtout des artistes-théoriciens du XVe siècle, demeure un terrain relativement peu exploré. Tout l’enjeu de notre travail se situe donc dans la triple interrogation que ce concours de circonstances soulève : quel rôle jouent au sein de la pensée magique de Ficin les allusions à l’art et à sa pratique qui traversent l'ensemble de son œuvre? dans quelle mesure la notion d’«image astrologique» qu’il reprend et développe s’est-elle nourrie de la nouvelle littérature artistique alors en pleine formation? et enfin, comment peut-on affirmer que certaines œuvres typiques du Quattrocento florentin relèvent d’un caractère « mixte » oscillant entre le produit de l’art à proprement parler et l’objet magique? / In fifteenth-century Florence, the philosopher Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) wrote the De vita coelitus comparanda, i.e. “how to capture life from the heavens”, which would later form the last and third book of a larger volume titled De vita libri tres. The latter exposes the means to preserve the health and extend the life of man of letters afflicted by their intense studies. The former deals with the apotropaic and prophylactic power of the talismans also called “astrological images”, following a learned concept which appeared in Western Europe in the mid-thirteenth century, and focuses on the materiality, form and appearance of these images. Ficino hence develops a new reflexion that focuses on the process of making which seems to echo new artistic theories devised during the same period in Florence. Ficino redeems the figure of the ancient magus by enhancing man’s creative power and his status as a philosopher and a humanist. The assumption of a late influence of Ficino’s neoplatonic thought on the arts in the sixteenth century has led to several studies but its genesis and its potential links with the artistic world and, especially his fellows artist-theoreticians, remained to be fully investigated. This thesis aims therefore to investigate the role of the artistic references within Ficino’s magic thought, the influence of contemporary ideas on the art practice upon his conception of “astrological image”, and the nature of specific artworks typical of fifteenth-century Florence, which seem to respond to both a magical and an artistic purpose.

As Noites [Alf layla wa-layla] foram primeiramente traduzidas e publicadas pelo orientalista francês Antoine Galland, no início do século XVIII. Em sua tradução, Galland não somente seguiu a concepção de sua época de adaptar a obra para o gosto francês como também inseriu novas histórias em sua versão que não pertenciam ao original, de modo que suas Les mille et une nuits não se constituíram como um retrato fiel das Noites árabes. E foi este trabalho que, encontrando um sucesso triunfal desde sua publicação, divulgou as histórias das Noites por todo o Ocidente, e inspirou novas produções literárias. No século XIX, muitos autores românticos buscaram o enriquecimento de sua imaginação nas cores do maravilhoso oriental, entre eles está Charles Nodier, que registrou seu interesse por Les mille et une nuits em seus textos teóricos e literários . Nesse sentido, no âmbito de um estudo comparado, é possível perceber que seu conto intitulado \"Les quatre talismans\" compartilha de determinadas semelhanças com as seguintes histórias de Les mille et une nuits: prólogo-moldura, \"Histoire du pêcheur\", \"Histoire du roi grec et du médecin Douban\", \"Histoire de trois calenders fils de rois et de cinq dames de Bagdad\", \"Histoire du seconde calender\", \"Histoire du petit bossu\", \"Histoire que raconta le marchand chrétien\" - todas elas traduzidas por Galland do manuscrito árabe das Noites -; \"Histoire d\'Aladdin\" e \"Histoire de l\'aveugle Baba-Abdalla\" - ambas ausentes das Noites, correspondendo, portanto, a inserções do orientalista em sua versão. Comparativamente, a análise de elementos, como a técnica narrativa, os temas e os motivos das histórias, atestam não somente as apropriações de Nodier a partir de Les mille et une nuits, mas também a própria originalidade do autor, que transforma o modelo das histórias provindas das Noites e das narrativas inseridas por Galland, criando, assim, um conto peculiar. / Nights [Alf layla wa-layla] were first translated and published by the French orientalist Antoine Galland in the beginning of the XVIII century. In his translation, Galland not only followed the conception of his time to adapt the literary work to the French taste, but also inserted new stories in its version that didn\'t belong to the original, so that his Les mille et une nuits didn\'t constitute a real portrait of the Arabian Nights. And was this literary work that, finding a triumphal success since its publication, disclosed the stories of Nights to the whole West, and inspired new literary productions. In the XIX century, many Romantic writers searched the enrichment of their imagination in the colors of the oriental wonder; among them is Charles Nodier, who registered his interest for Les mille et une nuits in many of his theoretical and literary texts. In this sense, in the field of the compared literature, it is possible to notice that his tale entitled \"Les quatre talismans\" shares some similarities with the following stories of Les mille et une nuits: prologue- frame, \" Histoire du pêcheur\", \"Histoire du roi grec et du médecin Douban\", \" Histoire de trois calenders fils de rois et de cinq dames de Bagdad\", \"Histoire du seconde calender\", \"Histoire du petit bossu\" , \"Histoire que raconta le marchand chrétien\" - all of them translated by Galland from the Arabian manuscript of Nights - \"Histoire d\'Aladdin\" and \"Histoire de l\'aveugle Baba-Abdalla\"- both absent in Nights, corresponding, therefore, insertions from the orientalist in his version. Comparatively, the analyses of elements, such as narrative technique, the themes and the reasons of the stories, certify not only the appropriation of Nodier from Les mille et une nuits, but also the originality of the author itself, that transforms the model of the stories from Nights and from the narratives inserted by Galland, criating, thus, a peculiar tale.

Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-169) and indexes.

As Noites [Alf layla wa-layla] foram primeiramente traduzidas e publicadas pelo orientalista francês Antoine Galland, no início do século XVIII. Em sua tradução, Galland não somente seguiu a concepção de sua época de adaptar a obra para o gosto francês como também inseriu novas histórias em sua versão que não pertenciam ao original, de modo que suas Les mille et une nuits não se constituíram como um retrato fiel das Noites árabes. E foi este trabalho que, encontrando um sucesso triunfal desde sua publicação, divulgou as histórias das Noites por todo o Ocidente, e inspirou novas produções literárias. No século XIX, muitos autores românticos buscaram o enriquecimento de sua imaginação nas cores do maravilhoso oriental, entre eles está Charles Nodier, que registrou seu interesse por Les mille et une nuits em seus textos teóricos e literários . Nesse sentido, no âmbito de um estudo comparado, é possível perceber que seu conto intitulado \"Les quatre talismans\" compartilha de determinadas semelhanças com as seguintes histórias de Les mille et une nuits: prólogo-moldura, \"Histoire du pêcheur\", \"Histoire du roi grec et du médecin Douban\", \"Histoire de trois calenders fils de rois et de cinq dames de Bagdad\", \"Histoire du seconde calender\", \"Histoire du petit bossu\", \"Histoire que raconta le marchand chrétien\" - todas elas traduzidas por Galland do manuscrito árabe das Noites -; \"Histoire d\'Aladdin\" e \"Histoire de l\'aveugle Baba-Abdalla\" - ambas ausentes das Noites, correspondendo, portanto, a inserções do orientalista em sua versão. Comparativamente, a análise de elementos, como a técnica narrativa, os temas e os motivos das histórias, atestam não somente as apropriações de Nodier a partir de Les mille et une nuits, mas também a própria originalidade do autor, que transforma o modelo das histórias provindas das Noites e das narrativas inseridas por Galland, criando, assim, um conto peculiar. / Nights [Alf layla wa-layla] were first translated and published by the French orientalist Antoine Galland in the beginning of the XVIII century. In his translation, Galland not only followed the conception of his time to adapt the literary work to the French taste, but also inserted new stories in its version that didn\'t belong to the original, so that his Les mille et une nuits didn\'t constitute a real portrait of the Arabian Nights. And was this literary work that, finding a triumphal success since its publication, disclosed the stories of Nights to the whole West, and inspired new literary productions. In the XIX century, many Romantic writers searched the enrichment of their imagination in the colors of the oriental wonder; among them is Charles Nodier, who registered his interest for Les mille et une nuits in many of his theoretical and literary texts. In this sense, in the field of the compared literature, it is possible to notice that his tale entitled \"Les quatre talismans\" shares some similarities with the following stories of Les mille et une nuits: prologue- frame, \" Histoire du pêcheur\", \"Histoire du roi grec et du médecin Douban\", \" Histoire de trois calenders fils de rois et de cinq dames de Bagdad\", \"Histoire du seconde calender\", \"Histoire du petit bossu\" , \"Histoire que raconta le marchand chrétien\" - all of them translated by Galland from the Arabian manuscript of Nights - \"Histoire d\'Aladdin\" and \"Histoire de l\'aveugle Baba-Abdalla\"- both absent in Nights, corresponding, therefore, insertions from the orientalist in his version. Comparatively, the analyses of elements, such as narrative technique, the themes and the reasons of the stories, certify not only the appropriation of Nodier from Les mille et une nuits, but also the originality of the author itself, that transforms the model of the stories from Nights and from the narratives inserted by Galland, criating, thus, a peculiar tale.

The following study traces the production and history of the talismanic scroll as a medium through a Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk historical periods. My dissertation understands the protocol of manufacturing and utilizing talismanic scrolls. The dissertation is a study of the Qur'an, prayers and illustrations of these talismanic works. I begin by investigating a theory of the occult the medieval primary sources of the Neo-platonic tenth century Ikhwān al-Safa and al-Bunī (d.1225). I establish that talismans are generally categorized as science (`ilm). Next, a dynastic spotlight of talismanic scrolls creates a chronological framework for the dissertation. The Fatimid talismanic scrolls and the Ayyubid pilgrimage scrolls are both block-printed and are placed within the larger conceptual framework of pilgrimage and devotion. The two unpublished Mamluk scrolls from Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah are long beautiful handwritten scrolls that provide a perspective on how the occult is part of the daily life of the practitioner in the medieval Islamic culture. Through an in depth analysis of the written word and images, I establish that textually and visually there is a template for the creation of these sophisticated scrolls. Lastly, I discuss the efficacy of these scrolls, I use theories of linguistic anthropology and return to the Islamic primary sources to establish that there is a language of the occult and there are people that practiced the occult. The word of God and the Qur'ān empower the scrolls I studied. As for the people who practiced the occult, I turn to the tenth century Ibn al-Nadim and Ibn al-Khaldun (d.1406), the people of the occult are understood. Yet, keeping in mind, that there is always a tension with the theologians that condoned practices of Islamic magic. / History of Art and Architecture

The tradition of placing objects and symbols within, under, on, and around buildings for supernatural protection and good luck, as an act of formal or informal consecration, or as an element of other magico-religious or mundane ritual, has been documented throughout the world. This thesis examines the material culture of magic and folk ritual in the eastern United States, focusing on objects deliberately concealed within and around standing structures. While a wide range of objects and symbols are considered, in-depth analysis focuses on three artifact types: witch bottles, concealed footwear, and concealed cats. This thesis examines the European origins of ritual concealments, their transmission to North America, and their continuation into the modern era. It also explores how culturally derived cognitive frameworks, including cosmology, religion, ideology, and worldview, as well as the concepts of family and household, may have influenced or encouraged the use of ritual concealments among certain groups. / Cultural-historical background -- Witch bottles and other bottle charms -- Concealed footwear and associated deposits -- Concealed cats -- Other concealments -- Discussion and conclusions -- Recommendations for practical applications and future research. / Department of Anthropology

Islamic ritual bowls are one of the most overlooked phenomena of Islamic metalwork. Their design is comprised of a mixture of textual, geometric and mystical patterns and symbols. The main goal of this thesis is to examine, describe and interpret these elements to the highest extent possible. This work is based on the collection of National Museum - Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures that is the owner of a collection of fourteen bowls whose origin is ranging from 13th to 20th century. Thirteen of them are being examined in this thesis.