Introduction: Iranian miniature painting, as a significant artistic discipline in Iran, has been the subject of study since the 19th century, fueled by the growing interest of Western collectors and experts. Like all forms of painting, writing the history of this discipline relies on recognizing its characteristics and analyzing various artworks. Therefore, it is essential to explore the development of this branch of art history and revisit the foundations of what is often accepted as obvious today. This study aims at understanding how Western art historians have identified and interpreted the distinctive features of Iranian painting. By focusing on Western publications from 1876 to 1930, it examines how the diverse specialties of scholars influenced the production of this body of historical knowledge. The main question revolves around how the characteristics of Iranian Painting were identified, systematized, and explained within the context of Western art historyResearch Method: With a developmental goal, this qualitative research is based on literature review and library data collection. It describes, analyzes and interprets data found on the characteristics of Iranian Miniature in primary sources Western publications.Findings: The historiography of Iranian miniatures in this period has shifted from explaining visual features (such as the use of bright colors) to expressing qualitative features while the approaches of «objectification» and «artistic masterpiece» are present in all of the aforementioned studies regarding Iranian miniatures.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that understanding the characteristics and history of Iranian miniatures during this period is influenced by the diversity of specializations of its contributors.
In 2022, Harmattan published a new book on the work of a renowned playwright who revolutionized theater. The playwright is Samuel Beckett, the author, Christakis Christofi, lecturer at the University of Cyprus, in the Department of French and European Studies, specialized in theory and theory and theatrical, artistic and literary practices. This extensive monograph entitled La plasticité et le théâtre de Samuel Beckett [Plasticity and the Theatre of Samuel Beckett] focuses on plastic concerns – painting, sculpture, music, performing arts – in Beckett’s dramaturgy with direct or indirect references incorporated therein. In three parts, Éléments dramatiques et techniques [Dramatic and technical elements], Surfaces, textures et formes plastiques [Surfaces, textures and plastic forms], Œuvre dramatique et plastique [Dramatic and plastic work], Christakis Christofi’s monograph follows a method similar to that of the accumulation of information in a snowball, based on key notions which are taken up, from various angles, throughout the volume: dramatic and plastic elements, dramatic and plastic tensions, elementary and unresolved dramatic situation, the writing of repetition, thematic and formal repetitions, poetic value, concept of plasticity, intertextuality, stage directions as a form of diction, negative/positive relationship, shadow/light relationship, character-voice-body... The author of this rich and complex monograph notes that, even if Beckettian theatre has benefited from several characterizations, none can encompass it completely, thus preventing this theatre from being confined to didacticism.
During an archaeological study of the madrasah in the town of Staryi Krym (formerly Eski Kyrym, Krym, Solkhat), dating back to 733 AH (=1332/33), numerous architectural details with carved epigraphic ornaments were found. Some of them were reused in the masonry of the support wall of the necropolis of the XVI–XVIII centuries. According to experts, they could belong to the decoration of the portal, the mihrab in the southern iwan, the eastern wall of the building or the entrance exedra. The study found that none of these suppositions has been sufficiently convincingly confirmed yet. An important feature has been identified, that allows us to understand correctly the ornamental composition, and, consequently, to carry out a correct reconstruction of the stone sculpture of the madrasah. This requires the presence of a large smooth surface, that adjacent to the curb on the inside. In particular, therefore, the found architectural details have a low probability of belonging to the portal and mihrab of the building.
In the nineteenth century, as the idea of a museum took shape in the Paris region, the first attempts at museography and restoration appeared. An object biography of four wooden sculptures of women attributed to Germain Pilon at the time provides an opportunity to explore these intertwined phenomena. The journey of the figures, which once supported the shrine of Saint Genevieve in the Paris church of the same name, illustrates both the museum practice of an era and its growing taste for the French Renaissance. The aim of this study is to analyse the peregrinations of the group during the nineteenth century, as well as the various practices that enabled it to be exhibited in three institutions that were themselves key players in the history of collections: the Musée des Monuments Français, the Louvre and the History Galleries of Versailles.
The plastic treatments for subjects that are derived from life help the artist to express his individuality, by showing his ability to highlight the humanity features of his society and revealing new facts about the core of the human soul it considered as a Standard of artist authenticity and his honesty, that’s why the researcher is trying to express in her art thepsychological and philosophical aspects of the Egyptian's personality and the nature of the human feelings that he face as a result of the challenges and pressure coming from society around him.The researcher was influenced by the psychological aspect of the characters and its relation to the human body in sculpture in order to express these inner human conditions that person go through in this crowded world, in addition to her work, the researcher wanted to present what this era reflects from feelings and emotions that is resulting from the constant struggle with the soul in order to prove itself. The human subjects that are created from the womb of crises and pressures have added new artistic values to the sculptural works, as they try to show different feelings that deserve to be highlighted and explored. The study also aims to search for the psychological and emotional experiences that people goes through in mental wrangling and trauma with life situations and how to deal with crises, pressures, moments of victory and pain. It is worth noting that the Arab society around us is rich in intellectual patterns and various issues that allow them to explore it in sculpture works, therefor Researching and diving into personalities and emotional states creates lots of methods and philosophies of contemporary sculpture, which work as a motivator to produce sculptural works that reflect and express these emotions. Therefore, the researcher presented a descriptive and analytical study of some of her sculpture that she created according to all of this, which through it she got inspired for the human aspects of the soul in her sculpture.
In the seventeenth century, plaster casts, which were essential sources of inspiration and instruction, became a recurring motif in images of Dutch painters’ workspaces, a marker of both intellectual and manual labor. Painters used plaster casts to proclaim their erudite knowledge of antiquity and of Renaissance sculpture that emulated ancient models. Plaster casts also provided a means for ambitious painters to communicate their personal and aspirational ties to other masters. The presence of plaster casts in archival records along with painted depictions of the studio provide insights into the impact of these objects on Dutch artists’ practice and the distinguished lineages they claimed.
The polychrome clay sculptures of the Buddha at Baosheng Temple in Suzhou, China are important and famous cultural heritage with a history of more than 1000 years. Currently, they are tarnished by cracking, peeling, and fading. To evaluate the current conservation environment and deterioration risk to the sculptures, the hygrothermal environment of Luohan Hall and the temperature and moisture content of the surfaces of the Buddhas were analyzed by field environmental monitoring and a heat and moisture transfer model. The results show that the air temperatures near the sculptures have different fluctuation patterns in different orientations and that the relative humidity of the air near the sculptures fluctuates sharply, with the daily fluctuation exceeding set limits most of the time. The fluctuations of the air temperatures and relative humidities in Luohan Hall are mainly due to air exchange with the outdoors. The surface layer of the sculpture is in a dynamic state of absorption and evaporation depending on the humidity of the surrounding air, and evaporation from the sculptures’ surfaces is more significant in autumn and winter. The air tightness and insulation performance of Luohan Hall should be improved, and dehumidification during periods of high humidity might be needed to reduce the evaporation of the surface layer of the sculpture.
Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
The sculptor Lazar Dubinovsky (1910-1982) received his first skills in the fi eld of anatomy of the head at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, where he studied in the class of teachers as Dimitri Pachurya and Oscar Khan. A short trip to Paris had a significant impact on his work, where he continued his studies at the workshop of Antoine Bourdelle, at the Academia Grand Chaumiere. In 1930 he graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. In 1951-1953 Lazar Dubinovsky worked in the studio of the famous monumental sculptor Eugenie Vuchetich. Anatomical constructions in the portraits created by Lazar Dubinovsky have a special place in demonstration the character and individual peculiarities of the nature. In different periods, the documentary, romanticism and humanism of the images, created by him became an example of a sculptural portrait for the viewer, and for colleagues in the workshop. The knowledge acquired by the sculptor in the field of anatomy of head allowed him to create signifi cant works on the national and international level.
This paper explores how Harriet Hosmer (1930-1908) positioned two early busts, Daphne (1853/4) and Medusa (1854) in opposition to Gianlorenzo Bernini's works of thes same subject through careful deployment of Winckelmannian principles. This engages with the first English translation of Winckelmann's History of the Art of Antiquity by Giles Henry Lodge in 1850, as well as the rich body of antique material available to Hosmer in Rome. It problematises art historical approaches to Hosmer's work that emphasise biographically-led readings over object-led interpretations informed by contemporary translations, discourses of originality, and display practices. It demonstrates the conflicting position of Bernini in the middle and late nineteenth century as the "Prince of Degenerate Sculpture", and shows that Winckelmann's victimisation of Bernini led to his poor reputation. This reputation as skilled but degenerate provided the foil for Hosmer to reclaim these subjects, demonstrate her correct understanding of classical principles and citation, and prove her superiority. Ultimately, however, the two artists will be shown to have more similarities than differences in their use of classical references; only access to Winckelmann's writings separates their reception in the nineteenth century.
Greek language and literature. Latin language and literature
Little studied until now, many non-academic sculptors were involved in the works at Versailles under Louis XIV. Using the accounts of the Bâtiments du Roi it has been possible to quantify and define the activity of this diverse group of artists, which became gradually more significant during the seventeenth century. From the first commissions, such as the Grande Commande of 1674 to the final project of the royal chapel, they moved from marginal figures to the most important group of artists in terms of numbers. Though these sculptors worked mostly on ornaments – whereas the academicians dominated figurative sculpture in the round – some managed to sculpt figures in marble, a material guarantee of their talent. Their versatility enabled them to evolve their practice according to the needs of the time. The relationship between project managers and the sculptors was also one of the paths to prestigious royal commissions.
Eagerly venerated and able to perform miracles, medieval relics and religious artefacts in the Latin West would occasionally also be subject to sensorial and tactile devotional practices. Evidenced by various reports, artefacts were grasped and stroked, kissed and tasted, carried and pulled. For medieval Norway, however, there is very little documentary and/or physical evidence of such sensorial engagements with religious artefacts. Nevertheless, two church inventories for the parish churches in Hålandsdalen (1306) and Ylmheim (1321/1323) offer a small glimpse of what may have been a semi-domestic devotional practice related to sculpture, namely the embellishing of wooden sculptures in parish churches with silver bracelets and silver brooches. According to wills from England and the continent, jewellery was a common material gift donated to parishes by women. Such a practice is likely to have been taking place in Norway, too, yet the lack of coherent source material complicate the matter. Nonetheless, using a few preserved objects and archaeological finds as well as medieval sermons, homiletic texts and events recorded in Old Norse sagas, this article teases out more of the significances of the silver items mentioned in the two inventories by exploring the interfaces between devotional acts, decorative needs, and possibly gendered experiences, as well as object itineraries between the domestic and the religious space.
Ernest Redondo, David Fonseca Escudero, Albert Sánchez
et al.
This paper describes an educational experience using augmented reality (AR) on mobile devices as a tool for learning urban design concepts and specifically for architecture degree students. In a real project-based exercise, the participants had to design a sculpture to be placed in a public space, checking the suitability of the object as for example the form, scale, location, materials, etc., and taking into account the surroundings. The project is controlled on-site using AR on mobile platforms, encouraging collaborative learning by sharing the 3D models of their proposals, and acting both as producers and consumers of AR content in the process. To assess both the usability of technology, as well as the learning improvement, the class was divided into two groups with equivalent pre-course grades: a control group, who followed the conventional course in the laboratory, and a test group, who used AR technology. At the end of the course, the AR-using group showed a significant increase in academic performance, higher motivation and satisfaction compared to the control group.
Education (General), Theory and practice of education
Tempo, metodologia, técnica, referentes, pesquisa, reflexão, diário de bordo, tentativas, anotações, making of, entre outros, são elementos próprios da prática artística que, na maioria das vezes, não estão explicitados ao público. O que há por trás de uma obra de arte? Interessada pelos processos artísticos e no relato em primeira pessoa, convido o artista espanhol Carlos Valverde para compartilhar os procedimentos utilizados no seu trabalho, bem como as motivações/inquietações de uma obra que gira em torno de uma reflexão sobre corpo, objeto e espaço.
ABSTRACT
Time, methodology, skill, models, research, reflection, logbook, attempts, notes, making of, and so forth, are elements related to the art practice that are mostly unknown to the public. What is behind an artwork? Interested on artistic processes and first-person accounts, I am inviting the Spanish artist Carlos Valverde to share the procedures used in his work as well as the motivations/concerns of a work that moves around a reflection on body, object and space.
KEYWORDS
Contemporary art, Sculpture, empowerment of the spectator, artistic practice.
Manuel Carlos JIMÉNEZ GONZÁLEZ, Ana RUPIDERA GIRALDO
We disclose the finding, during a recent archaeological work in the city of Salamanca, of two marble fragments belonging to a statue of a togatus, which we believe could have been part of the decorative and propagandistic program of the forum in the time of the Early Empire. The data that we have about the location and layout of the forum and the various public spaces and buildings that formed it are indeed very limited. The location of this sculpture would confirm and might even provide some more information in this regard. The discovery was made out of archaeological context, because there is no historical stratigraphic sequence in the basement of the site where it appeared, the material and formal characteristics that can be seen in sculpture, along with the space in which it was found, as well as the archaeological context of the area in a broader sense, allow some clarifications on a number of aspects of formal, chronological and interpretive order relating to it.
El artículo propone analizar el origen de los modelos transpirenaicos empleados en la construcción de las primeras fases de la catedral de Santiago de Compostela (cabecera y crucero). El enfoque de dicho estudio se basa en dos puntos principales: por una parte, se intenta distinguir entre la “presencia real” de escultores franceses que proceden de las iglesias que sirvieron de referencia y la “imitación” de la escultura de esas mismas iglesias por parte de escultores externos a sus obras; por otra, sugerir las razones –vinculadas con la voluntad de adherirse a Roma y a las ideas de la reforma gregoriana– que indujeron al clero compostelano a elegir estos modelos en lugar de otros posibles.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities
Pollen grain morphology and seed coat characters of 11 cultivars belonging to two species of genus Hibiscus (Family Malvaceae) namely H. esculentus, H. abelmoschus and H. sabdariffa were investigated. This study was carried out using light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Pollen morphology of this genus is fairly uniform. Generally radially symmetrical apolar, mostly spheroidal, pantoporate. Seed exomorphic characters revealed four types of ornamentations; reticulate, ocealate, foveolate and ruminate. Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) was employed to characterize those taxa. Thirty-one bands of seed protein profiles have been constructed from the gel. The produced dendrograms that were analyzed by STATISCA program using UPGMA clustering method showed a close affinity among the seven H. esculentus cultivars and the four H. sabdariffa cultivars.