The St. Clare Altarpiece is the earliest extant double transformation altar with both reliquary busts and a tabernacle from the fourteenth century. Created in Cologne it is a work of rich stylistic and iconographic complexities. Parts of the altar's paintings may be seen as the culmination of a style prevalent during the second quarter of the fourteenth century in Cologne while other parts may be seen as the gestation of the early fifteenth century "Soft Style." The altarpiece was examined near the end of its present restoration and previous hypotheses concerning the style, iconography, original location, and donors are re-evaluated and more adequate re-interpretations suggested. / Nineteenth and twentieth century restorations and fifteenth century overpainting have resulted in confusion concerning the altar's style and have led in the past to contradictory evaluations. As a result, the present chronology of most fourteenth century Cologne painting, which was based on attempted stylistic associations with the St. Clare Altarpiece, has been grounded on the slimmest evidence. In particular, this investigation shows that the interest in finding an artist(s) for the altarpiece has lead to inconclusive results, especially when attempts were made to associate the altar either with William of Herle or Herman Wynrich of Wesel. / Iconographically, no serious investigations have been undertaken previously to explain each opening of the altarpiece and indicate their inter-relationships. Although certain scenes have been extrapolated from the altar and used as illustrations for discussions of a particular iconographic theme, these discussions were tangential and often flawed methodologically. Earlier suggestions of the altarpiece's relationship to Rhenish mysticism are refuted in terms of origin, style, iconography, and function. / Two new iconographic interpretations are developed. First, the probability of a carved Crucifixion in the central upper niche of the second opening is suggested. Second, the scene on the first opening referred to in most accounts as the Return from Egypt is reidentified as the Journey to the Temple. In addition, it is argued that relationships may exist between the different openings. The program seems to reflect a carefully established theological program emphasizing allegorical and/or tropological meanings that had a long tradition in medieval textual exegesis. / The altarpiece appears to be related to the fourteenth century Franciscan convent of St. Clare's by the Roman Tower in Cologne. An argument is made that the hypothesized relationship of the Guelders sisters to the altar is suspect and that a strong possibility exists that the entire convent commissioned the altarpiece. / After a careful perusal of the stylistic, iconographic, and historical elements associated with the St. Clare Altarpiece, this investigation has concluded that the best range of dates for the earlier painting can be established from around 1347 to around 1390, with the greater possibility focussing on a period shortly after the dedication of the new church of St. Clare in 1347. The later overpainting occurred during the earliest phase of the Soft Style in Cologne around 1400. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-01, Section: A, page: 0006. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 30-02, Section: A, page: 0635. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1968.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was one of the twentieth century's first abstract painters. From his attempt to embody das Geistige (the non-material) in as pure and intense a form as possible, between about 1908 and 1914 his work developed from a traditional representational form to a purely abstract or "concrete" art. / Like many contemporary artists with a strong sense of the synaesthetic resonances among the arts, in the same period Kandinsky was also interested in the relationships between visual art and other media. His explorations included not only several theater pieces but also poetry. It can be no accident that the period of Kandinsky's most intensive activity in non-visual media came at the same time as the most radical change in his visual art. / In 1912 Kandinsky published a synthetic volume of woodcuts and his own prose poems which he called Klange (Sounds or Resonances). Kandinsky said that traces of his development from figurative to abstract art could be seen in both poems and woodcuts. Clearly, Kandinsky was learning something from this other medium which he was able to apply to his visual work. / That is the subject of this study: what Kandinsky was doing in these unusual poems; what he could accomplish more easily in them than he could in his painting; how they contributed to his development toward abstraction; and what the other relationships are between Kandinsky's poetry and his visual art. Kandinsky's letters, theoretical writings, and comparisons among his works constitute the primary sources on which the study draws. / In addition, the study places Kandinsky's poetry and his related theories into historical context, laying out the connections with Symbolist poetry, German Expressionist poetry, Russian Futurism, and Dada in Zurich. / Kandinsky's non-visual works have too long been ignored in the scholarly literature; fewer than a handful of articles on Kandinsky's poetry have been published. This study tries to fill an important gap in our understanding of Kandinsky's work. The poems are not only interesting in themselves but also cast significant light on Kandinsky's working method in this critical period of his development. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2336. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

This dissertation is a study of Antonio Canova's Tomb to Vittorio Alfieri (1803-10), located in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence, Italy. The central purpose has been to reconstruct the history of the tomb in its cultural and political setting, and to use this monument as a focus for examining Canova's political attitudes during the period of Napoleon's occupation of Italy. / Alfieri, a great literary precursor of Italian nationalism, lived for almost three decades with Luise Stolberg, Countess d'Albany. Together they opposed both the French Revolution and Napoleon's domination of Italy, and Alfieri became known as a champion of Italian unification. D'Albany commissioned the monument to Alfieri upon his death in 1803. / The relationship between Canova and his Neoclassical art on the one hand, and the origins of Italian nationalist sentiment on the other, have never been fully explored. A major unanswered question is whether Canova took a position with regard to the political ideologies of his day, and, if so, whether his position was reflected in the tomb to Alfieri. The famous figure of Italia depicted on the monument would suggest that indeed Canova intended the work to be not only a commemoration of the patriotic poet, but also a nationalist statement of his own. / Although Neoclassicism has enjoyed a renewal of scholarly interest in recent years, little work of a definitive nature has appeared on Canova, the acknowledged master of the style. Moreover, no critical analyses of his funerary works have been produced. This dissertation therefore also examines the Alfieri tomb in the context of Canova's other funerary monuments. / Chapter one traces Canova's stylistic development from his early Venetian training, with its late Baroque and Classical encounters, to his Roman period, when these two stylistic streams were synthesized in his work. The second chapter reviews his five major funerary monuments, as well as two unrealized projects, primarily from a stylistic viewpoint. The third chapter traces in detail the story of the commission of the Alfieri tomb, while the fourth chapter deals with its execution and erection. Chapter five provides a detailed stylistic analysis of the Alfieri monument and places it within the context of his other funerary monuments. The sixth chapter focuses on the highly important figure of Italia--its iconographic sources and style--and seeks to explain Canova's use of that symbol. The conclusion discusses the political after-effects of the tomb and the interpretations that contemporaries and later generations of Italians gave to it, and reviews the evidence that points to Canova's political intentions: at first he preferred to avoid political turmoil altogether, but events inextricably drew him into the world of Italian and international affairs; once involved, he formulated precise and consistent views. The dissertation concludes that under the impact of Napoleon's occupation of Italy, Canova developed a patriotic consciousness and a dislike for foreign domination. His final conception of the Alfieri monument aimed at celebrating the ideals for which Alfieri was famous and exhorting Italians of his day to resist oppression for the sake of liberty. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 3764. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-11, Section: A, page: 5633. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1970.

This dissertation is a study of the iconography of the sculpture and the frescoes in the Palazzo Magnani (1577-1592) in Bologna, Italy. The central purpose is to examine the decoration for the meaning it once had for the owner, Lorenzo Magnani. / The Carracci series of frescoes on the Life of Romulus in the salon d'onore of the Palazzo has long been praised and described from the point of view of style. However, until this study, it has not been examined iconographically, or discussed as part of a decorative concetto. / The major unanswered question which is addressed in this dissertation is whether there is an iconographic connection between the sculpture of Hercules with two boys which stands in a niche in the cortile of the Palazzo and the fresco series. Nine busts all'antica flanked by urns placed over the doorways of the Palazzo are also included in the analysis of the decoration. / Chapter one surveys previous scholarship and includes in an appendix the stylistic analyses which major scholars have made regarding the Carracci frescoes since the time of Malvasia. Since these analyses have not lead to a clarification of the meaning the decoration may have had for the owner, the first chapter serves to underscore the need for an iconographic approach. The second chapter describes the niche sculpture of Hercules with two young boys who stand one behind the other in an unique grouping. The multiple associations surrounding Hercules are explored as well as the parallels between Hercules and Romulus. Hercules as a twin, as the protector of bastards, and as a model of virtu are among the aspects of the hero which are shown to be relevant to an understanding of the importance of this group. Chapter three describes the busts and the flanking urns which are placed over the doorways in the Palazzo. These are treated as a sixteenth century interpretation of the Roman ius imaginum. Hercules, Romulus and the great Romans form a genealogical succession down to the Magnani family. The fourth chapter examines Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti's (1522-1597) attitude toward profane art and shows that the decoration of the Palazzo Magnani would have followed the requirements which he set forth. The historicity of Romulus in the 16th century is an important aspect of the scheme allowing the frescoes to be seen as history and not myth. Chapter five presents documents which establish the prestige of Lorenzo Magnani and his status in the government of Bologna. Baptismal and genealogical records reveal the birth of two sons, one of whom was born in 1592, the date recorded on the camino of the salon d'onore. / The dissertation concludes that the niche sculpture of Hercules and the two boys is linked iconographically to the frescoes of the Life of Romulus through the figure of Hercules who can be seen in this context as the prototypical ancestor of the Magnani family. The sculpture in the niche is also linked to the family history of the Lorenzo and his children. Hercules, although a pagan figure, was acceptable to both the humanist and the churchman of sixteenth century Bologna as a model of virtu who proclaimed to the viewer the power and the status of the Magnani. The dissertation sees the decoration of the Palazzo Magnani as the expression of a unified concetto and also one which expressed the Neo-Romanism of the late sixteenth century. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-01, Section: A, page: 0003. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-06, Section: A, page: 2954. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, Section: A, page: 3597. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 35-07, Section: A, page: 4334. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1974.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-04, Section: A, page: 1876. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1969.