2015 Western Medieval Art

This paper analyses images of the Last Judgment in Gothic monumental sculpture of the 13th century in different regions of France, Germany, Spain and England, with the aim to:
• Identify common and specific features of the development of narrative and iconographic programmes;
• Study how the historical and sociocultural context influences the interpretation of the theme;
• Characterize the factors affecting the formation of iconographic programmes and stylistic features of the studied monuments;
• Explore the nature of new ways of producing meanings, and new types of verbal and visual interaction within these images.
Chronologically studied images of the Last Judgment cover the period from the turn of the 12th to 13th centuries until the last decade of the 13th century, coinciding with the development of High Gothic architecture in Western Europe. The study of these monuments also applies to the problem of stadial differences in the interpretation of the Last Judgment within the Gothic style in terms of its regional specificity.
The key place occupied by images of the Last Judgment in the Gothic monumental arts of the 13th century, gave rise to a long tradition of its study in terms of iconographic interpretation and style (in the case of well-preserved monuments). This study builds on this tradition, but this feature is a comparative approach, summarizing the main trends of interpretation of the theme in areas where it is particularly actively represented. This allows us to approach the creation of a comprehensive picture of the functioning of the Last Judgment theme in the specified period.

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The depiction of the Heavenly Jerusalem was one of the most common iconographical motifs in the design of early-medieval censers. The source of this iconography is quite obvious — and is the appearance Theophilus suggests in his treatise. However, except for a few examples, most craftsmen did not follow Theophilus’ iconographical programme, often leaving out figures of prophets and apostles.
This makes the censer from the collection of the Lille Fine Arts Palace (Inv. A. 82) even more interesting. It is decorated with small figures, but the subject is not the one Theophilus mentions. On the top of the censer, there are figures of the Three Hebrews in Fiery Furnace, a story common in medieval art, not previously seen on the censers. Perhaps the artist was inspired not only by the theological problems, but also by the visual effects that would appear during the service. The maker of the censer rejects building-like shape in favour of a round form (the latter might be subject to Byzantine influences).
The paper will focus on possible sources of the censer’s iconography, and also on ways in which scenes from the Scripture shift from one type of minor arts to another, and the changes that appear in their looks and, possibly, their meanings. Censers, which, mostly because of their size, do not bear any extensive iconographical programme, remain a somewhat underinvestigated typology of medieval art.

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The church of St. Francis in Cortona was built in the middle of the 13th century by Elias of Cortona (1180–1253), second Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor and trusted confidant of Frederick II. This church houses an important gathering of relics, that arrived in the tuscan city thanks to the effort of the friar.
In 1243 this controversial figure of the early Franciscan Age was sent on diplomatic mission to the East by the Hohenstaufen. A few years after he brought back from this journey a lot of gifts and relics: among them perhaps a fragment of the Holy Cross, kept in the well-known Byzantine ivory staurotheke (10th century) that he later settled in the church of St. Francis, built immediately after (1245). Willing to create in Cortona a franciscan alternative to Assisi, Elias used the fragment of the Holy Cross as well as three other relics bound to the Serafico’s memory: Francis’ evangeliary and cassock, and a pillow maybe given to him as a gift by Jacopa de’ Settesoli and linked to the Saint’s last moments before his death.
The presence of all these relics in the church of St. Francis shows the importance of this place in the early years of Franciscanism, also proving its founder’s contacts with the East: these objects are actual documents telling us both about the role of Elias as intermediate between Byzantium and Cortona and his deep and intimate connection with Saint Francis.

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The philosophical image of “Memento mori” (lat. “remember (that you have) to die”) expresses the idea of the vanity of earthly life. People, during many centuries, felt disquiet about the frailty of exi­stence and expressed their feelings in different kinds of art. That iconographic type of jewellery has a particular role, and is originally disclosed in the heritage of Western Europe. Most of studies of the “Memento mori” are currently concentrated in the art of the 16th to 17th centuries, firstly with “Vani­tas” painting. At the same time, applied arts undeservedly rest in a shadow.
Nevertheless, numerous “Memento mori” jewellery referred to in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, show the development of a special artistic imagery of this motif in the context of changes in its historical and philosophical perception in different epochs.
Case studies of the monuments of the jeweller’s art reveal the individual interpretation of the icono­graphic type “Memento mori” since Antiquity, and also help to identify major trends, and their stylistic and technological features. Special attention is paid to the reflection of religious movements and social changes on emblems, especially in the era of the Reformation and the establishment of humanistic ideas in Europe.
This study is focused on the formation problem of the iconography of “Memento mori” in Renaissance jewellery, which finds no ideological and stylistic support in the reappeared heritage of Antiquity. Thus, contrary to the general tendency, the jewellery of that period continues to evolve in the medieval canon. As a result, examples from the Renaissance demonstrate a composite nature.
The specifics of jewellery are not allowed to reveal all variations of iconography type “Memento mori” that can be represented in other kinds of art. However, thanks to the variety of techniques and materials, jewellers created an original recognizable language of symbols, which enriches the semantic content of products, combining “Memento mori” with the marriage and funeral ceremony.

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