This thesis aims to study and describe the evolution and transformations of female archetypes appearing in the production of symbolist art movement during the time period 1880 1914. It focuses on all used variants of symbols and personifications of womanhood, and it tries to present the complete iconographic overview. The main goal is to learn whether symbolists were using maily symbols of a destructive antiheroine or whether there was a wider spectrum of positive and honorable female icons. There are also examples used from the decadent literature which include those symbolic figures.

Architecture and Activity Areas in ConchopataThis paper presents the results from excavations conducted during 1997 and 1998 in Conchopata, Ayacucho, Peru, when we discovered a ceremonial area with espectacular offering deposits consisting of urns and jars intentionally broken, associated with human skulls, camelids burials and a possible solar clock. In addition, we have identified pottery workshops, offering areas, human burials and household units where residents of the Huari epoch lived. Polychrome iconography on the ceramics represents mythological figures related to "the staff god" from Tiwanaku, as well as new images of warriors holding weapons and shields and other important persons dressed in clothing similar to known Huari textiles. / Se presentan los resultados obtenidos en las excavaciones realizadas en Conchopata en 1997 y 1998, durante las cuales se descubrió un área ceremonial con espectaculares depósitos de ofrendas correspondientes a urnas de cerámica rotas intencionalmente. A éstos se asociaban cráneos humanos, entierros de camélidos y un posible reloj solar. Asimismo, se han identificado talleres de producción de cerámica, áreas de ofrendas y entierros humanos, así como las unidades domésticas donde vivieron estos antiguos pobladores de la época Huari. La iconografía de la cerámica no sólo reproduce deidades mitológicas vinculadas al "Dios de los báculos" de Tiwanaku, sino que amplía su repertorio con la presencia de guerreros con armas y escudos, así como personajes importantes con indumentaria que aparece en los textiles.

Front Face Figures with Staffs in Tiahuanaco and Huari Iconography: Theme or Convention?In this article, the author argues that the empirical and theoretical foundations of the proposition that all Huari and Tiahuanaco iconographic renditions of the Staff God and accompanying angels derive from a single model (i.e. Tiahuanaco's Gate of the Sun) must be questioned. This conclusion is based on two different lines of evidence: a) the known or suggested provenience of Tiahuanaco and Huari ceremonial objects, and b) the repertoire of motifs and figurative conventions as well as the compositional methods that dominate the rendition of these images. The specific iconographic design of the Gateway of the Sun is not repeated in any other lithic sculpture at Tiahuanaco. Not even the decoration of the Bennett monolith, which surpasses all other sculptures at the site in monumentality and complexity, can be considered a model. In all these sculptures, the number, characteristics, posture, distribution, and orientations of portrayed personages can not be taken as character-specific. Consequently, it is suggested that this only express hierarchical position. Several deities were depicted in frontal perspective to emphasize their rank above all other supernatural beings represented in the same scenes. To express identity, the artists employed a conventional repertoire of signs that were added to staffs, spear throwers, tear bands, belts, headdress rays, and other details of human/animal bodies. Huari pot painters and textile weavers used this same repertoire of signs with great skill and creativity. Among other things, they used them to create high-ranking deities whose iconographic individuality has no antecedents known in the altiplano, and so consequently, they probably belonged to local cults. In conclusion, the presence of complex Tiahuanaco iconography in the Ayacucho Valley cannot be explained by formal influences based on casual contacts (e.g. sporadic presence of foreign workers and artists), commercial exchange, or the diffusion of a monotheist cult. On the contrary, mounting evidence indicates that the Conchopata and Huari elites consciously decided to emphasize foreign origin probably kinship with ruling lineages and deities of the altiplano by employing Tiahuanaco's symbolic design repertoire in their clothing and ritual paraphernalia. / Son sólidos los fundamentos empíricos y teóricos de la difundida hipótesis que todas las imágenes de la "Deidad Frontal de Báculos" y de los "Acólitos alados de perfil" en los estilos tiahuanaco y huari se derivarían del mismo modelo, este mismo cuya supuesta versión canónica se habría conservado en la Portada del Sol? Tras revisar la ubicación de las piezas figurativas en los espacios ceremoniales, conocida a probable, y después de haber analizado en detalle el repertorio de rasgos, convenciones figurativas y modalidades de composición, el autor ha llegado a la conclusión de que tales fundamentos no existen. El diseño de la Portada no se repite en ningún otro relieve figurativo de Tiahuanaco. Tampoco la decoración del Monolito Bennett, la escultura que supera en monumentalidad y complejidad del diseño a las demás, puede ser considerada un modelo: varía sustancialmente el número, características, posturas, distribución y orientaciones de integrantes de cortejos. La postura frontal y la de perfil carecen de vínculo con la identidad de los personajes que la adoptan, sino más bien se expresa en ella la relación circunstancial de jerarquía dentro del grupo. Varias deidades diferentes fueron representadas frontalmente para enfatizar su rango respecto a los demás seres sobrenaturales que los acompañan en los frisos. Para expresar la identidad de cada una de ellas, los escultores recurrían a un repertorio convencional de signos con los que rellenaban cetros, estólicas, lagrimales, cinturones, plumas del tocado radiante y otros detalles del cuerpo antropo o zoomorfo. Varios pintores de cerámica y tejedores huari emplearon con gran pericia y creatividad este mismo sistema de signos y convenciones figurativas. La usaron, entre otros, para crear algunas imágenes de deidades de alto rango cuya personalidad iconográfica carece de antecedentes conocidos en el altiplano y podría remitir a cultos locales. Por ende, la aparición de la compleja iconografía tiahuanaco en la cuenca de Ayacucho es un fenómeno que difícilmente puede explicarse por medio de influencias formales, a raíz de contactos casuales, v.g. el uso coyuntural de mano de obra foránea, ni menos como resultado de intercambios comerciales o de la difusión del culto de una divinidad precisa. Existen evidencias claras para sostener que las elites residentes en Conchopata y en Huari decidieron enfatizar su origen foráneo, su parentesco con los linajes gobernantes y con las deidades del altiplano por medio de la decoración figurativa de vestidos y de la parafernalia.

The thesis interprets the icon Transfiguration by Theofan the Greek. It collects the information needed for the interpretation. The first part is devoted to the meaning of a religious picture - an icon in the context of historical development of Byzantine art and Christian thinking. It presents Theofan the Greek as the author of the icon and the doctrine about the uncreated nature of the Light of Tabor, that emerged in his time and might have influenced his work. The second part is devoted to the nterpretation of the Transfiguration icon. It consist of an explication of the biblical texts which are related to the Transfiguration and reflects other possible resources of depiction: apocryphal texts and liturgy. The conclusion of the thesis holds the interpretation of the icon.

The diploma thesis deals with the forms of self-representation of the last Rosenbergs. They were using the representations to support their political positions. The paper is based on a study of the panegyrics and symbolic decorations of the Rosenbergs' castles that were used to present the virtues of the Renaissance nobleman. The study analyzes Roman motifs of the Rosenbergs' propaganda. It tries to capture the views of particular individuals on selected ancient motifs from representation of the Rosenbergs. Ancient exempla presented the Rosenbergs by using the language of symbolic communication as Christian knights.

Following diploma thesis is focused on decorative motifs of Achaemenid small-scale art. Borders of the Achaemenid Empire stretched from the river Indus to Bulgaria and from Egypt to the Black sea. It was associated with dynasty of Persian kings, who ruled over the empire between 559 - 331 BC. During its existence a characteristic art with its own style and iconography was formed. The main aim of the thesis is to present iconographical analysis of decorative motives appearing in Achaemenid small-scale art. Due to the vast range of decorative motives thesis is focused only on motives of animals. The analysis is conducted on diverse spectrum of objects included in studied collection. It consists of 397 objects namely jewellery, plaques, bracteates, toreutics, coins, stamp and cylinder seals and their impressions, horse-harness strap dividers, weapons, scabbards and scabbard tips and small scale sculpture. These objects are decorated with total of 822 animal motives, which are sorted into six chapters. The introduction is followed by second chapter, in which beasts of prey are described. Here belongs lion, dog, fox, leopard and other beasts of prey without more specific interpretation. Next chapter includes motives of wild animals where ibexes, gazelles, deer and wild boars. In the following chapter...

Nesta dissertação são analisadas fontes iconográficas do I milênio a.C. na Assíria representando mulheres deportadas. Examinam-se representações de mulheres na arte assíria, resgatando-se a memória de sujeitos subalternos na historiografia e suas funções no cenário bélico. Realiza-se um catálogo temático das representações de mulheres deportadas na arte assíria, com uso de fontes editadas, contendo ficha técnica, com descrição iconográfica e interpretação. Além de se estudar como eram representadas as mulheres deportadas e quais funções os assírios davam para estas mulheres nas narrativas bélicas, vemos como se representava o outro, o estrangeiro inimigo, vencido e cativo. Nota-se, ademais, que os assírios ressaltavam aspectos da sua compreensão de feminilidade, assim como denotavam a distinção étnica e de gênero que marcava a identidade dessas mulheres, oriundas de diversas regiões sob domínio do impérioassírio (884-631 a.C.). / This work plan to do an analysis of iconographic sources from the I millennium B.C. in Assyria. The studies of these iconographic sources are widespread among Assyriologists and scholars of Assyrian art. However, little is attentive to the presence of women in Assyrian art. Besides being subaltern historiography subject as a whole, women and their role in war are poorly studied objects. In this paper, I intend to develop a critical and analytical view of how the deported women were represented, and what actions the Assyrians gave to these women in warlike narratives, besides representing the other, the stranger, the Assyrians were concerned to emphasize aspects of their understanding of femininity, as well as emphasized the gender distinction in aspects that marked the identity of these women, coming from different parts that were on the domain of the Assyrianempire.

Ma recherche porte sur l'iconographie de la Nativité du Christ dans la peinture italienne médiévale, avec un corpus de 300 images incluant les petits retables destinés à la dévotion privée comme les grands cycles de fresques. L'enquête commence autour de 1250 par la production des peintres qui précédèrent Giotto et Duccio, et s'achève autour de 1450, avec les oeuvres de Beato Angelico et Filippo Lippi. L'objectif est d'étudier l'évolution de chacune des figures constitutives de la scène (Marie, Jésus, Joseph, l'âne et le boeuf, les bergers, les sages-femmes, etc.) et surtout de la scène comme ensemble, à partir du motif figuratif du personnage agenouillé en adoration, motif toujours plus fréquent dans la Nativité au cours de la période et symptomatique des usages dévotionnels de l'image dans l'Italie médiévale. / My research scrutinizes the iconography of Christ's Nativity in italian medieval painting, dealing with 300 images, ranging from small altarpieces for private devotion to major fresco cycles. It starts around 1250, with the generation of painters who were teachers to Giotto and Duccio, and it ends around 1450, with the works of Beato Angelico and Filippo Lippi. My aim is to provide a complete study of each figure's evolution (Mary, Jesus, Joseph, the ox and ass, the shepherds, the midwives, etc.) and of the scene as a whole. The increasing proportion of kneeling figures – the adoratio flexis genibus – in the scene testifies the evolution of devotional practices and the use of images for praying.

Cette thèse propose une étude sur l'histoire du culte élisabéthain et son évolution en Slovaquie médiévale entre le XIIIe et le XVIe siècle. Elle s'appuie sur un corpus de 61 représentations visuelles, croisé avec les textes hagiographiques, liturgiques et littéraires, et replacé dans son contexte historique et spatial.Le culte de sainte Élisabeth a été un des plus répandus à travers l'Europe du bas Moyen Âge. Porté par la nouvelle sainteté mendiante, l'exemple d'Élisabeth a trouvé un écho puissant dans son pays d'origine, la Hongrie, immédiatement après sa canonisation en 1235. Plusieurs facteurs contribuèrent à la diffusion de la vénération de cette figure féminine : les familles royales, à commencer par celle des Árpád jusqu'au roi Mathias Corvin ; les mendiants ; et, enfin, les colons allemands. Une première partie de la thèse délimite l'espace géographique du thème étudié et présente les sources iconographiques et hagiographiques élisabéthaines qui constituent la base à partir de laquelle se déploie les grandes caractéristiques du culte. Elle recense d'une part les documents d'ordre juridique et biographique sur sainte Élisabeth, puis place sa personne dans la pratique liturgique à partir des manuscrits conservés en Slovaquie. D'autre part, elle présente l'image de la sainte, qui apparait sur des supports variés, grâce à un corpus iconographique inédit.Dans la deuxième partie, Élisabeth est replacée dans les contextes historiques hongrois et slovaque pour définir les premières formes de l'établissement de son culte. L'étude de la topographie témoigne de l'abondance des lieux dédiés à la sainte dans les décennies suivant sa mort.La troisième partie expose les divers motifs et scènes iconographiques de sainte Élisabeth telles qu'elles ont été pratiquées en Slovaquie et les croisent avec les modèles d'autres pays d'Europe. Les images élisabéthaines, auxquelles les fidèles s'identifient aisément, sont soumises à l'analyse pour démontrer leur plasticité au sein de la société médiévale où différents groupes sociopolitiques peuvent se les approprier selon ses propres besoins spirituels. Cette analyse située à la croisée de deux disciplines : l'histoire et l'histoire de l'art, apporte un regard nouveau sur les variations du culte d'une sainte à travers un rassemblement inédit de ses représentations du XIIIe au XVIe siècle. / This thesis deals with the history of the Elizabethan cult and its evolution in Medieval Slovakia between the 13th and the 16th centuries. It is based on a corpus of 61 visual representations crosschecked against hagiographic, liturgical and literary texts and put in its historical and spatial context. The cult of Saint Elizabeth is one of the most widespread throughout Europe in the Late Middle Ages. Backed by the new begging holiness, the example of Elizabeth finds an echo in Hungary, her country of origin, immediately after her canonization in 1235, where many factors contribute to the spread of the reverence for this feminine figure: royal families, starting with that of the Árpáds and ending by King Matthias Corvinus; beggars; and finally German settlers. The first part of the thesis defines the geographical space of the topic under consideration and determines Elizabethan iconographic and hagiographic sources which constitute the base for the problem of cult. On the one hand, this part identifies legal and biographical documents on Saint Elizabeth and analyses liturgical practices in connection with this figure on the basis of the manuscripts conserved in Slovakia. On the other hand, it presents the image of the saint with the help of an original iconographic corpus. The second part focuses on Elizabeth in the Hungarian and Slovak historical contexts in order to define the earliest forms of the establishment of her cult. Informed by historical topography, it shows the abundance of places dedicated to the saint in the decades following her death. The third part sets out different motifs and iconographic scenes of Saint Elizabeth in Slovakia and discusses them in comparison with other models in Europe. The images of Saint Elizabeth, with which the faithful identify themselves easily, are analyzed to demonstrate their plasticity in the medieval society which appropriates them according to its own demands. This analysis, placed at the crossroads of two subjects: history and history of art, provides a new approach to cult variations of the saint through the original grouping of representations from the 13th till the 16th centuries.

Cette thèse porte sur la question de la figuration des signes du Zodiaque entre Antiquité et Moyen Âge et en particulier dans les églises entre le XIe et le XIIIe siècle. Le cœur de cette thèse est l’analyse d’un corpus de 260 occurrences des signes du Zodiaque et Occupations des mois, qu’ils soient associés ou non, au sein de la décoration ecclésiale entre le XIe siècle et la fin du XIIIe siècle. Cette période correspond à la « renaissance » et à l’essor de la figuration du Zodiaque dans un tel contexte. L’étude est organisée en trois parties. La première est consacrée à l’historiographie, à la présentation du corpus réuni, puis aux origines, réappropriations et transmissions de la tradition zodiacale entre Antiquité et Moyen Âge. La deuxième partie envisage la répartition du Zodiaque dans l’édifice ecclésial. Sa place dans le décor extérieur et en lien avec le thème de la Porta coeli est discutée avant de passer à sa place dans la structuration du décor intérieur. Du sol à la voûte en passant par les chapiteaux, piliers et arcs, la distribution des signes du Zodiaque dans l’espace ecclésial est analysée au regard des dynamiques liées aux notions de transitus et d’iter et à une certaine polarisation du lieu ecclésial. La troisième partie commence par aborder les enjeux de la figuration des signes zodiacaux dans leurs rapports dynamiques avec les Occupations des mois. Ensuite, la re-sémantisation chrétienne de chacun des signes du Zodiaque est observée grâce à une mise en série des occurrences du corpus. Enfin, l’ensemble se conclut par une approche synthétique mettant en lumière les articulations entre ciel et terre traduites par le biais des signes zodiacaux et leur pendant mensuel/terrestre. Leur insertion dans un contexte iconographique plus large lié à l’histoire chrétienne et selon une perspective eschatologique est considérée afin de montrer que les signes du Zodiaque sont comme des opérateurs entre terre et ciel, à la fois dans le lieu ecclésial tendu vers son modèle céleste et dans un contexte iconographique articulant charnel et spirituel, humain et divin. / This dissertation deals with the iconography of the Zodiac between Antiquity and Middle Age, in particular in churches between the XIth and the XIIIth century. The heart of the dissertation is the analysis of a corpus of 260 items. These items concern the figuration of the signs of the Zodiac and the Labors of the months, whether or not combinated, within ecclesial ornamentation between the XIth and the XIIIth century. This period corresponds to the “renaissance” and to the growth of the figuration of the Zodiac in this context. The study is divided into three parts. The first section deals with historiography and with the presentation of the corpus. Then, the origins, re-appropriations and transmissions of the zodiacal tradition between Antiquity and Middle Ages are discussed. The second section considers the distribution of the Zodiac in church. Its role in exterior ornamentation relating to the theme of the Porta coeli and its role in the structuring of intern ornamentation are observed. From the floor to the vault, through capitals, pillars and arches, distribution of the Zodiac in ecclesial space is analyzed in the light of the notions of transitus and iter and in the light of a certain focusing of the ecclesial place. The third section begins with the stakes of the figuration of the zodiacal signs and their dynamic relationship with the Labors of the months. Then, the “re-sémantisation” of each of the zodiacal signs is observed. Finally, the last chapter is an overall view of the connections between heavens and earth which find expression in signs of the Zodiac and the Labors of the months. Their place is considerated according to their iconographical context linked to Christian history and from an eschatological perspective. Signs of the Zodiac are like operators between heavens and earth, both in the ecclesial space tented towards its celestial model and in an iconographical context which connect caro and spiritus, the Human and the Divine.