Die Fresken des Palazzo Spreca

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 348-374
Author(s):  
Petra Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Negotiation Processes ◽  
Good Government ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

Abstract In the 1470s, Domenico Spreca, a citizen of Viterbo, commissioned a cycle of virtues for the sala on the upper floor of his palazzo. From 2012 to 2018, the frescoes, largely unknown in (art) historical research, were the subject of legal proceedings and, on a regional level, of public debate over the preservation of cultural heritage. Over these years, it became clear that objects not only require financial resources to protect and preserve them over the centuries, but also need to be part of a narrative. Such a narrative was lost at an early stage, although the frescoes bear extraordinary witness to the negotiation processes of the 15th century concerning political virtues. In this paper, I argue that the cycle of virtues should be interpreted as an allegory of good government. Domenico Spreca addressed the conditions of loyalty (fidelitas)/obedience (oboedientia) on the one hand and the authority (auctoritas) of the superiores – the Pope, the Curia and the Rector of the Patrimonium Petri in Tuscia – on the other. To facilitate comprehension of this interpretation, the frescoes will be embedded in the political culture of Viterbo. To this end, their interpretation will be preceded by observations on the institutional establishment of papal authority in the city and on how its citizens dealt with it in the 1450s and 1460s: an authority that they legitimised on the basis of its pacification of factional struggles within the city and demanded for this purpose, from which they benefited and whose arbitrariness they attempted to curtail.

Democracy and Political Culture

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross McKibbin
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Social System ◽  
Political System ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

This book is an examination of Britain as a democratic society; what it means to describe it as such; and how we can attempt such an examination. The book does this via a number of ‘case-studies’ which approach the subject in different ways: J.M. Keynes and his analysis of British social structures; the political career of Harold Nicolson and his understanding of democratic politics; the novels of A.J. Cronin, especially The Citadel, and what they tell us about the definition of democracy in the interwar years. The book also investigates the evolution of the British party political system until the present day and attempts to suggest why it has become so apparently unstable. There are also two chapters on sport as representative of the British social system as a whole as well as the ways in which the British influenced the sporting systems of other countries. The book has a marked comparative theme, including one chapter which compares British and Australian political cultures and which shows British democracy in a somewhat different light from the one usually shone on it. The concluding chapter brings together the overall argument.

To what question is the Badiouan notion of the subject an answer? On the dialectical elaboration of the concept in his early work

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-120
Author(s):  
Jan-Jasper Persijn
Keyword(s):  
Direct Consequence ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Academic World ◽  
Systematic Account ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Work Up

Alain Badiou’s elaboration of a subject faithful to an event is commonly known today in the academic world and beyond. However, his first systematic account of the subject ( Théorie du Sujet) was already published in 1982 and did not mention the ‘event’ at all. Therefore, this article aims at tracing back both the structural and the historical conditions that directed Badiou’s elaboration of the subject in the early work up until the publication of L’Être et l’Événément in 1988. On the one hand, it investigates to what extent the (early) Badiouan subject can be considered an exceptional product of the formalist project of the Cahiers pour l’Analyse as instigated by psychoanalytical discourse (Lacan) and a certain Marxist discourse (Althusser) insofar as both were centered upon a theory of the subject. On the other hand, this article examines the radical political implications of this subject insofar as Badiou has directed his philosophical aims towards the political field as a direct consequence of the events of May ’68.

scholarly journals The (No-)Public Space. Reviewing the Transformation of Al-Qaed Ibrahim's Urban Image

2020 ◽  
pp. 177-192
Author(s):  
Iman Hegazy
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The Political ◽  
Urban Image ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Public spaces are defined as places that should be accessible to all inhabitants without restrictions. They are spaces not only for gathering, socializing and celebrating but also for initiating discussions, protesting and demonstrating. Thus, public spaces are intangible expressions of democracy—a topic that the paper tackles its viability within the context of Alexandria, case study Al-Qaed Ibrahim square. On the one hand, Al-Qaed Ibrahim square which is named after Al-Qaed Ibrahim mosque is a sacred element in the urban fabric; whereas on the other it represents a non-religious revolutionary symbol in the Alexandrian urban public sphere. This contradiction necessitates finding an approach to study the characteristic of this square/mosque within the Alexandrian context—that is to realize the impact of the socio-political events on the image of Al-Qaed Ibrahim square, and how it has transformed into a revolutionary urban symbol and yet into a no-public space. The research revolves around the hypothesis that the political events taking place in Egypt after January 25th, 2011, have directly affected the development of urban public spaces, especially in Alexandria. Therefore methodologically, the paper reviews the development of Al-Qaed Ibrahim square throughout the Egyptian socio-political changes, with a focus on the square’s urban and emotional contextual transformations. For this reason, the study adheres to two theories: the "city elements" by Kevin Lynch and "emotionalizing the urban" by Frank Eckardt. The aim is not only to study the mentioned public space but also to figure out the changes in people’s societal behaviour and emotion toward it. Through empowering public spaces, the paper calls the different Egyptian political and civic powers to recognize each other, regardless of their religious, ethnical or political affiliations. It is a step towards replacing the ongoing political conflicts, polarization, and suppression with societal reconciliation, coexistence, and democracy.

scholarly journals On the Possibilities of Researching the Marriage Policies of the Rurikids: The Case of Mstislav Fyodor Vladimirovich Monomakhovich

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Dariusz Dąbrowski
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Source Material ◽  
The Other ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
The Political ◽  
Know How ◽  
Cultural Sphere ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One

The main goal of the article is to present the possibilities and methods of research on the Rurikid’s matrimonial policy in the Middle Ages on the example of a selected group of princes. As the subject of studies were chosen Mstislav Vladimirovich and his children. In total, 12 matrimonial relationships were included. The analysis of the source material revealed very unfavorable phenomena from the perspective of the topic under study. The Rus’ primary sources gave information on the conclusion of just four marriages out of twelve. The next four matrimonial arrangement inform foreign sources (Scandinavian and Norman). It should be emphasized particularly strongly that – save for two exceptions of Scandinavian provenance – the sources convey no information whatsoever as regards the political aims behind this or that marriage agreement. It appears, then, that the chroniclers of the period and cultural sphere in question did not regard details concerning marriages (such as their circumstances or the reasons behind them) as “information notable enough to be worth preserving”. Truth be told, even the very fact of the marriage did not always belong to this category. Due to the state of preservation of primary sources the basic question arises as to whether it is possible to study the Rurikids’ matrimonial policy? In spite of the mercilessly sparse source material, it is by all means possible to conduct feasible research on the Rurikids’ marriage policy. One must know how to do it right, however. Thus, such studies must on the one hand be rooted in a deep knowledge of the relevant sources (not only of Rus’ provenance) as well as the ability to subject them to astute analysis; on the other hand, they must adhere to the specially developed methodology, presented in the first part of the article.

“PURGING THE ELITE” IN TYUMEN IN 1937-1938

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-192
Author(s):  
Anatoly A. KONONENKO ◽  
Artem A. Kononenko
Keyword(s):  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Party Organization ◽  
Collective Leadership ◽  
Effect Relationship ◽  
Security Service ◽  
The Subject ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Structural Methods ◽  
The City

The political repressions of the 1930s in the USSR have repeatedly been the subject of interest of historians. Nevertheless, there are practically no studies of political repressions of the 1930s in relation to nomenklatura workers at the level of the provincial Siberian city of Tyumen. This article aims to reveal the cause-and-effect relationship in the issue of physical liquidation of the thinnest layer of the party-economic nomenklatura, using the case of the city party organization of the CPSU(b) of Tyumen in 1937-1938. We have restricted ourselves to one of the components of the “Great Terror”, namely to “purging the elite”. The research was conducted using the documents from two regional departments of the USSR Federal Security Service (FSB), former party archives of the Tyumen and Omsk regions, and periodicals. This required employing prosopographic, comparative-historical, problem-chronological, and system-structural methods. Such approach allowed clarifying the biographical data of the leaders of the city in 1936-1938 and classifying the criminal acts, incriminated to the accused. The results of a comprehensive analysis of the sources show that the cause of the personnel purge should be considered a violation of the imbalance between the limited collective leadership and the still limited one-man dictatorship of I. V. Stalin’s dictatorship. The limited collective leadership was no longer in line with the reality of one man’s increasing power. Rotation of undesirable workers as an alternative to personnel cleansing proved to be unsuccessful. The motive for repressions against workers who had never participated in the opposition was their casual contacts and acquaintances with former opposition figures described as “spies and terrorists” in 1937-1938. The party, Soviet, and Komsomol workers who had no such contacts, though subjected to repression, were rehabilitated. Finally, in terms of their educational and professional level, the new generation of city party workers did not differ from the previous one.

Politicizing the Past: The "Atthis" of Kleidemos

1994 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy McInerney
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Vase Painting ◽  
Democratic Leadership ◽  
Naval Power ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Relief Sculpture ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The City ◽  
Democratic Constitution

Jacoby's influential opinion that the Atthidographers were part of the political discourse of the fourth century has been the subject of revision in recent years. His critics have argued that the genre of Atthidography is primarily antiquarian and that to look for partisan political attitudes in the Atthides is a mistake. An examination of the work of Kleidemos, however, reveals a coherent presentation of the Athenian past designed to vindicate the democratic constitution and to demonstrate the close connection between the democracy and Athens' naval power. This emerges most clearly in Kleidemos's treatment of three important democratic heroes: Theseus, Kleisthenes, and Themistokles. By the fourth century, Theseus had already emerged as the most popular Athenian hero. His accomplishments were modeled in part on the deeds of Herakles and were recorded in vase painting and relief sculpture, and on the walls of the Stoa Poikile. Kleidemos presented a distinctive account of Theseus, emphasizing his role in founding the Athenian navy in preparation for the expedition to Krete. Kleidemos portrayed him as a leader capable of defending Athens and making peace with Athens' enemies, first the Kretans and later the Amazons. This is a king in the tradition of Euripides' Theseus in the Suppliants, the ruler of a free and democratic city. The connection between democratic leadership, Athenian might, and the naval power of Athens is also underscored in Kleidemos's handling of Kleisthenes. Again, the information provided by Kleidemos is distinctive, inasmuch as he reports that it was Kleisthenes who was responsible for the system of naukrariai, which he likens to the symmories of the fourth century. Unlike the version of the Ath. Pol., which imagines the Kleisthenic demes replacing the Solonian naukrariai, Kleidemos saw the demes and naukrariai as complementary divisions, the former organizing the state's resources for the upkeep of the navy, and the latter establishing the political basis for the democracy. Themistokles is also given unique treatment. Kleidemos records the anecdote according to which Themistokles was responsible for the Battle of Salamis because he found sufficient money to man the ships when the generals had run out of funds and had ordered the abandonment of the city. He used the disappearance of the gorgoneion of the statue of Athena as an excuse to ransack the baggage of the Athenians and collect enough wealth to pay the fleet. The story is as tendentious as the account in the Ath. Pol., which gives the credit to the Areopagos. Both versions demonstrate how Athens' past had become a battleground in the political debates of the mid-fourth century. Unlike the epitaphios logos with its emphasis on the eternal and unchanging glory of Athens, the "Atthis" of Kleidemos attempted to prove that the greatness of Athens rested historically on three foundations: the heroes of the democracy, the democratic constitution, and the navy.

In the Beginning, All the World was America: American Exceptionalism in New Contexts

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Industrial Capitalism ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The U.S

This article considers the concept of the so-called American exceptionalism in new contexts. It explains that American exceptionalism is a highly adaptable narrative for commentators on the political culture of the U.S. was first coined in the mid-twentieth century as part of an attempt by social scientists to explain the lack of a revolutionary socialist response to the failures of industrial capitalism in the Great Depression. The article suggests that rather than reversing or redeeming American exceptionalism, the theorist must now confront it and find new ways to read the role played by the U.S. in a new century, and refuse to be tempted by the easy and apolitical escape of identifying the one true and essential American soul.

scholarly journals SUNG POEMS AND POETIC SONGS: HELLENISTIC DEFINITIONS OF POETRY, MUSIC AND THE SPACES IN BETWEEN

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 597-615
Author(s):  
Spencer A. Klavan
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
English Speaker ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Poetry ◽  
Cosmic Order ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

Simply by formulating a question about the nature of ancient Greek poetry or music, any modern English speaker is already risking anachronism. In recent years especially, scholars have reminded one another that the words ‘music’ and ‘poetry’ denote concepts with no easy counterpart in Greek. μουσική in its broadest sense evokes not only innumerable kinds of structured movement and sound but also the political, psychological and cosmic order of which song, verse and dance are supposed to be perceptible manifestations. Likewise, ποίησις and the ποιητικὴ τέχνη can encompass all kinds of ‘making’, from the assembly of a table to the construction of a rhetorical argument. Of course, there were specifically artistic usages of these terms—according to Plato, ‘musical and metrical production’ was the default meaning of ποίησις in everyday speech. But even in discussions which restrict themselves to the sphere of human art, we find nothing like the neat compartmentalization of harmonized rhythmic melody on the one hand, and stylized verbal composition on the other, which is often casually implied or expressly formulated in modern comparisons of ‘music’ with ‘poetry’. For many ancient theorists the City Dionysia, a dithyrambic festival and a recitation of Homer all featured different versions of one and the same form of composition, a μουσική or ποιητική to which λόγοι, γράμματα and συλλαβαί were just as essential as ἁρμονία, φθόγγοι, ῥυθμός and χρόνοι.

Exiliados de la Revolucióón mexicana: El caso de los villistas (1915––1921)

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Lerner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Mexican Revolution ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Sobre Todo

As a result of the Mexican Revolution, many politicians from various factions were forced into exile between 1906 and 1940, particularly between 1910 and 1920. The subject has merited little attention until the present despite the fact that its study can provide another perspective on the Mexican Revolution, the one of the opponents who were defeated. This study focuses on the exile of the villistas that began in the autumn of 1915 and ended at the beginning of the 1920s. The article considers who were the villista exiles, how they escaped from Mexico, how they adapted economically in the United States, and when they returned to their country. It also examines certain political tendencies and their later activities between 1920 and 1940. Four political activities in the United States intended to change the political situation in Mexico are considered. Finally, the article examines how U.S. authorities, closely involved with their Mexican counterparts, treated the exiles. LaRevolucióón mexicanacausóó elexilio de muchos polííticos de distintas facciones entre 1906 y 1940, sobre todo entre 1910 y 1920. Este tema ha merecido muy pocaatencióón hasta elmomento presente,a pesarde que atravéés de éélpodemos aproximarnos desde otra perpectiva a la Revolucióón mexicana, desde el punto de vista de los opositores que muchas veces fueron los vencidos. Este estudio se centra en el exilio de los villistas que empezóó en el otoñño de 1915 y terminóó a principios de la déécada de 1920. En este artíículo se analiza quiéénes fueron los exiliados villistas, cóómo escaparon de Mééxico, su acomodo econóómico y laboral en Estados Unidos y el retorno a su patria, dejando ver ciertas tendencias polííticas de su actuacióónpolíítica ulterior entre 1920y 1940.Se desmenuzan cuatro actividades polííticas que emprendieron en Estados Unidos para cambiar la situacióón mexicana. Finalmente se abarca la forma en que fueron tratados durante su exilio en los Estados Unidos, por las autoridades de este paíís que estaban estrechamente vinculadas con las mexicanas.

scholarly journals The Image of the city in Italian chapels of the 15th century (a study of Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco cycles)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Е.И. Тараканова
Keyword(s):  
Real Situation ◽  
The Real ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Type ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Renaissance Italy ◽  
The City ◽  
New Buildings

Образ города, предстающий в расписанных Беноццо Гоццоли капеллах, фиксирует в себе достижения изобразительного искусства, архитектуры и градостроительства в эпоху Кватроченто. В статье впервые прослеживается эволюция изображений городских видов и конкретных сооружений во фресковых циклах, выполненных мастером в Риме, Умбрии и Тоскане. Представление образа города в творчестве Гоццоли связано с решением перспективных задач, реальной ренессансной городской действительностью, особенностями заказа и личностью художника. Проанализированы разные ракурсы и масштабы в изображении городов, а также варианты их символического прочтения как в контексте священной истории, так и современных Беноццо событий. Показано, как в его творчестве новое ренессансное искусство сочетается с наследием античности и интернациональной готики. The subject of this article is an ideal city in Italy of the Early Renaissance. Starting with the first decades of the 15th century the erecting a new buildings at cities, primarily in Florence which was at that time a very progressive part of Italy, could be seen as a tendency to realize a perfect city on the basis of humanistic conceptions. Even the real situation when medieval patterns of planning and building combined with Renaissance elements in Florence was interpreted from an idealized perspective: the social and political superiority of Florentine Republic seems interflowed with its perfect appearance. Despite the fact that a new type of the city as architectural and planning whole was not devised in Renaissance Italy, the model of an ideal city was being successfully developed there in Quattrocento treatises on architecture and vedutas. The author of this article examines the principles underlying the idea of such city with optimal potentialities for man to fulfill its predestination on Earth as it was presented concepts of humanism.

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