and keywords The thesis discusses the depiction of selected plant species in Roman and Early Christian art and further shortly deals with most considerable elements of vegetable ornaments and its development. The diploma work turns to symbolic meaning of the plants in connection with a religion and mythic tradition. First and second chapter pursue the depiction of herbs and trees (bushes) on mosaics, frescoes and relief-sculpture. In the third part the attention is paid to the significant elements of vegetable ornament: palmette, rosette and acanthus. Sometimes representations of plants from older period are mentioned for the sake of better explanation of their symbolic context (ancient Egypt, Greece). The thesis gathers information from writings of antique authors, in chapters dealing with Christian period from Bible and apocrypha, as well as from modern works related to the problematic. An objective of the thesis is to cover the differences in symbolic meanings of plants after an oncoming of Christianity, to determine, whether those plants were depicted onwards and in which context.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Arts, 1999.

Cette thèse propose une nouvelle approche des images des miracles du Christ, entre le IIIe et le VIe siècle, basée sur un corpus aspirant à l'exhaustivité. Les images sont dans un premier temps étudiées de manière analytique et structurale : chacun des trente-quatre miracles de Jésus fait l'objet d'une analyse détaillée en ce qui concerne le texte biblique, les représentations paléochrétiennes et les commentaires patristiques contemporains. Les images sont ensuite replacées dans leur contexte historique, social, spatial et théologique, dans une perspective sérielle et statistique, dans le but de reconsidérer leurs fonctions diversifiées. Enfin, un essai d'interprétation synthétique explore au moyen du corpus des miracles la question, très discutée dans l'historiographie, du rapport entre l'activité thaumaturgique du Christ et celle des magiciens et faiseurs de prodiges dans l'Antiquité tardive. / This thesis proposes a new approach of the images of Christ as a miracle worker, between the 3rd and the 6th century, based on a corpus which aims for exhaustivity. In a first time, images are both analyzed in an analytical and structural way : each of the thirty-four miracles of Jesus is the subject of a detailed analysis of the biblical tex t; early Christian representations and contemporary patristic commentaries. Images are then replaced in their historical, social, spatial and theological context, from a serial and statistical perspective, in order to reconsider their diversified functions. Finally, this work explores, through the corpus of miracles, the question often debated in historiography, of the relationships between the thaumaturgical activity of Christ and that of magicians and prodigies makers in Late Antiquity.

Diss.--Bonn. / Includes bibliographical references.

Texte remanié de : Diss. : Freie Universität : Berlin : 1976. / Bibliogr. p. 240-260. Notes bibliogr. Index. -

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Among the considerable manuscript production of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Bible moralisee stands out by the number of miniatures and by the conception of the manuscript itself. The composition and many iconographical themes recall stained glass windows of contemporary cathedrals, such as Chartres, Sens, Bourges, or Canterbury in England. / The manuscript of the Bible moralisee to which this study is partly dedicated, is located in the Treasury of the Toledo cathedral chapter in Spain. This study deals also with the duplicate copy which was realized soon afterwards. The interpretation and illustrations of the verses vary in number according to the books of the Bible. Though being one of the smallest biblical books, the Song of Solomon is given outstanding consideration, more than any other book in the Bible. The central theme--the espousal of the Bride and the Bridegroom, Christ and Ecclesia being its allegory--enjoyed a considerable success in medieval theology. It corresponded to the courtly love atmosphere of its time. Abundant commentary literature and the development of mariology made this book even more popular. About a quarter of the commentary illustrations are dedicated to the theme Christus-Ecclesia. Ecclesia, always crowned, holds the chalice which confirms her sacramental significance. In no other known iconographical medieval programme has Ecclesia such a position. / The question raised by the problematic around this Bible is the eventual intention being at the origin of this order which, without any doubt, emanates from French royalty. Has it been produced to enhance the prestige of royalty? Is it a pedagogical work intended for the education of the royal children? Was it meant to be a royal political gift? The Ecclesia theme in the Bible is the exaltation of, or an hommage to the Church, spiritual or temporal, by the French royalty of the thirteenth century.

This thesis examines Lorenzo Monaco's altarpiece the Man of Sorrows with the Virgin, St. John the Evangelist, with the Emblems and Episodes of the Passion, (c. 1404) under historical, religious, political, and liturgical rubrics. While comparing various depictions of the Man of Sorrows, this project places Lorenzo Monaco's unique interpretation within the context of events surrounding the painting's conception and realization. With particular attention to Lorenzo's distinctive composition, techniques and juxtaposition of imagery, this study shows that his Man of Sorrows in fact conveys a complex message about Florentine society in Late Gothic times.

Gianlorenzo Bernini's Altieri Chapel possesses an aesthetic splendour that continues to captivate modern viewers. However, despite the recent publication of Shelly Karen Perlove and Giovanni Careri's studies on this subject, its unique manner of signification continues to be elusive. In the former case, the author's dependence on a melange of seventeenth-century religious notions reduces Bernini's choice of imagery to mere theological illustration. On the other hand, Careri affirms the originality of the chapel, but his over reliance on a heuristic comparison with film montage limits his appreciation of the viewer's role in this aesthetically charged space. / The present study strikes a balance between its own contemporary subjectivity and Bernini's historicity, locating the chapel's meaning making capacity in a hermeneutic oscillation between both its constituent elements and the participatory beholder. The result is the recognition of a unique artistic statement, which avers the fundamental commonality between several post-Tridentine liturgical practices. The salvific efficacy of these tenets is asserted by an aesthetic signification of the divine presence which lies behind them. The spectator is drawn into a mimetic world, suffused with Baroque Catholic ideology, and shown that Church doctrine is backlit with the radiance of ultimate truth. Of course, seventeenth-century viewing practices cannot be recreated, just as the feeling engendered by this artistic experience is beyond the descriptive powers of this or any other text. Nevertheless, it is possible to provide a guide to the spiritual references in Bernini's microcosm, for, while secular, modern viewers may no longer see with Baroque eyes, perhaps they can appreciate what those eyes saw.