The Uffizi Library: a collection that documents collections

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-7
Author(s):  
Claudio Di Benedetto

The Biblioteca degli Uffizi acts as a documentary ‘black box’ for all the notable collecting that has taken place in Florence during the past 500 years. The Library’s collections stretch from the autograph 22-year diary of the 15th-century painter Neri di Bicci and the different editions of Vasari’s Lives of the painters, through the inventories and lists of objects acquired and held successively by the Medici, the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine and the new Italian united kingdom, and to all the memoirs and plans and catalogues of the directors and ‘royal antiquarians’ of the Uffizi Gallery. In addition it contains major works on art history, artists, public and private art collections, exhibitions and many related topics. The Library holds 77,000 printed books and more than 440 manuscripts; its catalogue is shared with the IRIS consortium of art history and humanities libraries and contributes to artlibraries.net through this shared bibliographic database. Several digitisation projects have already been completed or are currently in progress.

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
E. V. Yaylenko

This article investigates the painted miniatures of manuscripts and early printed books of the second half of the 15th century performed in the art workshops of the Renaissance Venice and Padua. The author determines the main development stages of the principles of space depicting in the picturesque design of manuscripts and printed books. The relevance of study of this topic is caused by the fact that it has been on the periphery of research attention for a long time, obscured by other historical and artistic problems. The scientifi c novelty of the research revealed the new principles of constructing spatial composition and formation of new typology of landscape in Venetian art. For the main research method, the author uses the formal-style analysis and structural analysis. It demonstrates how simultaneously with the change of the sheet decoration structure there appeared the new opportunities for the placement of spatial composition. At an early stage, the manuscript sheet decoration consisted of the depiction of painted architecture treated in the guise of triumphal arch or classical altar with inscription, which gradually has been getting form of imaginary façade with ornaments and fragments of text upon it (the so-called architectural frontispiece type). The next faze consists in the emergence of natural motifs near it and its progressive development in the form of autonomous landscape, which one can see in the works of leading Venetian illuminator in the time circa 1500 Benedetto Bordon. The author investigated the basic types of manuscript decoration that included the depiction of landscape as well as its basic iconographical formulae. The signifi cance of the study lies in that fact which helps to explore the new sources of Venetian mythological painting, going back to the stylistic features and compositional principles of the Late Quattrocento miniature.


Mediaevistik ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 450-452
Author(s):  
John M. Jeep

Under the somewhat different, certainly intentionally punning title, Unter Druck: Mitteleuropäische Buchmalerei im Zeitalter Gutenbergs / Under Pressure / Printing […] in the Age of Gutenberg, this volume first appeared in German (Lucerne: Quaternio, 2015) to accompany a series of twelve different exhibitions of largely fifteenth-century book illumination across Central Europe. The exhibitions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were held, in part overlapping, from September 2015 – March 2017. They were bookended by exhibits in Vienna and Munich (for the latter, see Bilderwelten. Buchmalerei zwischen Mittelalter und Neuzeit. Katalogband zu den Ausstellungen in der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek vom 13. April 2016 bis 24. Februar 2017, ed. Jeffrey F. Hamburger et al. Buchmalerei des 15. Jahrhunderts in Mitteleuropa, 3 (Lucerne: Quaternio, 2016). For each of ten somewhat smaller exhibitions a catalogue of uniform size and format was produced; they are, according to the publisher, already out of print. The three editors of the more comprehensive collection, Painting the Page, penned contributions that complement Eberhard König’s study, “Colour for the Black Art,” which traces <?page nr="451"?>the development of ornamentation to the Gutenberg and following printed Bibles. Early printed Bibles, in Latin or in the vernacular, tended only to provide space for initial and marginal, as opposed to full page illumination. These admittedly limited artistic accomplishments often allow for more precise localization of incunabula than other available resources. At the same time, differences and even misunderstandings – such as failure to follow instructions to the illuminator – on occasion lead to fruitful cultural analysis. Finally, printed copies that were never adorned were sometimes in the past thought to be superior, untouched, as it were, by the artistry of the ‘old’ manuscript world. König argues that the study of early printed books, and especially the illuminations they contain, should be celebrated not only as ancillary scholarship, but also as a discipline in its own right.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 464
Author(s):  
Marie Clausén

My paper analyses the 15th-century seven-sacraments font at the medieval church of St Peter and St Paul at Salle in Norfolk (England). The church guides and gazetteers that describe the font, and the church in which it is situated, owe both their style and content to Art History, focusing as they do on their material and aesthetic dimensions. The guides also tend towards isolating the various elements of the font, and these in turn from the rest of the architectural elements, fittings and furniture of the church, as if they could be meaningfully experienced or interpreted as discrete entities, in isolation from one another. While none of the font descriptions can be faulted for being inaccurate, they can, as a result of these tendencies, be held insufficient, and not quite to the purpose. My analysis of the font, by means of Heidegger’s concept of Dwelling, does not separate the font either from the rest of the church, nor from other fonts, but acknowledges that it comes to be, and be seen as, what it is only when considered as standing in ‘myriad referential relations’ to other things, as well as to ourselves. This perspective has enabled me to draw out what it is about the font at Salle that can be experienced as not merely beautiful or interesting, but also as meaningful to those—believers and non-believers alike—who encounter it. By reconsidering the proper mode of perceiving and engaging with the font, we may spare it from being commodified, from becoming a unit in the standing reserve of cultural heritage, and in so doing, we, too, may be momentarily freed from our false identities as units of production and agents of consumption. The medieval fonts and churches of Norfolk are, I argue, not valuable as a result of their putative antiquarian qualities, but invaluable in their extending to us a possibility of dwelling—as mortals—on the earth—under the sky—before the divinities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. e003844
Author(s):  
Rana Islamiah Zahroh ◽  
George Disney ◽  
Ana Pilar Betrán ◽  
Meghan A. Bohren

IntroductionCaesarean section (CS) rates are increasing globally. CS can be a live-saving procedure when medically indicated, but it comes with higher risks for women and newborns when done without medical indication. Crucially, inequalities in who receives CS exist, both within and across countries. Understanding factors driving increasing rates and inequalities of CS is imperative to optimise the use of this life-saving intervention. This study aimed to investigate trends of CS use and inequalities across sociodemographic characteristics in Indonesia over a 30-year period.MethodsSeven waves of the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey were used to estimate trends and inequalities in CS from 1987 to 2017. Relative and absolute inequalities across a range of sociodemographic characteristics were estimated and trends in inequalities were assessed through changes in rate ratio and rate difference.ResultsThe proportion of facility-based births in Indonesia has increased in the past 30 years, coinciding with an increase in CS rate (CSR) (1991 CSR: 1.6% (95% CI 1.3 to 1.9); 2017 CSR: 17.6% (95% CI 16.7 to 18.5)). Higher rates of CS are observed mostly in Western Indonesia, while lower CSRs are observed in Eastern Indonesia. Inequalities of CSRs in Indonesia are observed across type of health facility (public/private), regions, places of residence, wealth quintiles and maternal education, with the highest CSRs in more affluent and educated groups. Widening absolute inequalities of CS are observed across all sociodemographic characteristics, except facility type, where CSR gaps between public and private facilities have closed on both relative and absolute scales.ConclusionThis study provides evidence of increasing trends in CSRs and widening absolute inequalities in CSRs across different sociodemographic groups of women in Indonesia. The context of increasing CSRs across society, however, may have resulted in more stable relative inequalities. Improving understanding of the drivers of these trends in Indonesia and, particularly, of women’s and providers’ perspectives and preferences for childbirth, should be prioritised to optimise the use of CS.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-910
Author(s):  
Robert E. Goodin ◽  
James Mahmud Rice

Judging from Gallup Polls in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, opinion often changes during an election campaign. Come election day itself, however, opinion often reverts back nearer to where it was before the campaign began. That that happens even in Australia, where voting is compulsory and turnout is near-universal, suggests that differential turnout among those who have and have not been influenced by the campaign is not the whole story. Inspection of individual-level panel data from 1987 and 2005 British General Elections confirms that between 3 and 5 percent of voters switch voting intentions during the campaign, only to switch back toward their original intentions on election day. One explanation, we suggest, is that people become more responsible when stepping into the poll booth: when voting they reflect back on the government's whole time in office, rather than just responding (as when talking to pollsters) to the noise of the past few days' campaigning. Inspection of Gallup Polls for UK snap elections suggests that this effect is even stronger in elections that were in that sense unanticipated.


Author(s):  
Mark Snider ◽  
Sudhakar Teegavarapu ◽  
D. Scott Hesser ◽  
Joshua D. Summers

Reverse engineering has gained importance over the past few years due to an intense competitive market aiding in the survivability of a company. This paper examines the reverse engineering process and what, how, and why it can assist in making a better design. Two well known reverse engineering methodologies are explored, the first by Otto and Wood and the second by Ingle. Each methodology is compared and contrasted according to the protocols and tools used. Among some of the reverse engineering tools detailed and illustrated are: Black box, Fishbone, Function Structure, Bill of Material, Exploded CAD models, Morphological Matrix, Subtract and Operate Procedure (SOP), House of Quality matrix, and FMEA. Even though both methodologies have highly valued tools, some of the areas in reverse engineering need additional robust tooling. This paper presents new and expanded tooling to augment the existing methods in hopes of furthering the understanding of the product, and process. Tools like Reverse Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (RFMEA), Connectivity graphs, and inter-relation matrix increase the design efficiency, quality, and the understanding of the reverse engineering process. These tools have been employed in two industry projects and one demonstrative purpose for a Design for Manufacture Class. In both of these scenarios, industry and academic, the users found that the augmented tools were useful in capturing and revealing information not previously realized.


2019 ◽  

This volume approaches three key concepts in Roman history — gender, memory and identity — and demonstrates the significance of their interaction in all social levels and during all periods of Imperial Rome. When societies, as well as individuals, form their identities, remembrance and references to the past play a significant role. The aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World is to cast light on the constructing and the maintaining of both public and private identities in the Roman Empire through memory, and to highlight, in particular, the role of gender in that process. While approaching this subject, the contributors to this volume scrutinise both the literature and material sources, pointing out how widespread the close relationship between gender, memory and identity was. A major aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World as a whole is to point out the significance of the interaction between these three concepts in both the upper and lower levels of Roman society, and how it remained an important question through the period from Augustus right into Late Antiquity.


Res Publica ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-501
Author(s):  
Dusan Sidjanski

The results of the first European elections reflect the general distribution of the European electorate slightly center-right oriented, even if the abstentionism of almost 40 % caused some distorsions as in the case of United Kingdom. After the comparison of the results, state by state, it appears globally that the socialists ( 113) and liberals (40) regressed, the gaullists and their allies (22) suffered a serious defeat, white the christian democrats ( 107) and the communists (44) progressed and some minor parties (leftists and regionalists) entered the European Parliament.The second part contains a portrait of the new European Parliament which is younger than its predecessor, has more women including its president and has many high personnalities. As in the past, the political groupsplay a central and dynamic role. The question is to know if they will be capable of maintaining their cohesion. The examined cases give no evidence of the existence of the center-right majority in front of the left opposition. In fact, there were changing coalitions and voting constellations according to different problems, ideological options or concrete choices. The recent vote rejecting the proposed budget expresses a will of the European Parliament to impose its style and its democratic control on the European Community.


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2008
Author(s):  
Carl F. Stychin

Over the past decade of Labour government in the United Kingdom (U.K.), the regulation of sexual orientation through law has frequently been explained by its supporters through a nar- rative of progress and even emancipation. The most recent junction in this journey came in 2007, with the coming into force of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations on 30 April 2007.1 These Regulations contain measures pro- hibiting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, the use and disposal of premises, and the exercise of public functions.


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