Joanna I of Anjou (1343–1382)

Joanna I of Anjou (1325–1382), countess of Provence and the fourth sovereign of the Angevin dynasty in south Italy (since 1343), became the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Sicily, succeeding her grandfather King Robert “the Wise” (1277–1343). The public and official images of the queen and the “symbolic” representations of her power, commissioned by her or by her entourage, contributed to create a new standard in the cultural references of the Angevin iconographic tradition aiming to assimilate models shared by the European ruling class. In particular, the following works of art and architecture will be analyzed: the queen’s portraits carved on the front slabs of royal sepulchers (namely those of her mother Mary of Valois and of Robert of Anjou) and on the liturgical furnishings in the church of Santa Chiara in Naples; the images painted in numerous illuminated manuscripts, in the chapter house of the friars in the Franciscan convent of Santa Chiara in Naples, in the lunette of the church in the Charterhouse of Capri. The church of the Incoronata in Naples does not show, at the present time, any portrait of the queen or explicit reference to Joanna as a patron. However, it is considered the highest symbolic image of her queenship.

Illustrated and Illuminated Manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt from Southeast Asia

Illustrated and illuminated manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt from Southeast Asia are an invaluable resource for our understanding of the painting tradition of this region. The many copies now kept in various institutions attest to its popularity, while the lavish treatment often given to manuscripts indicates the high regard local communities had for this text. The types of images featured are similar to those from other parts of the Islamic world, yet these images, as well as the decorative illumination, also reflect local artistic styles. This paper examines a selection of Southeast Asian manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, situating them both within the broader context of manuscript production and usage, and the pietistic landscape of the region.

Illuminated Manuscripts: Religious

Most illustrated Byzantine religious manuscripts—books of the Old and New Testament, sermons, psalters and hours, lectionaries, saints’ lives, and hymnals—were deluxe hand-produced books made in the capital primarily as gifts or for use in the performance of the liturgy or other religious ceremony. Surviving examples reflect co-existing phenomena including an interest in texts collected in one luxuriously ornamented volume; the popularity of certain religious texts (or authors) in a given time and place; the notion that books made of expensive materials paid homage to the giver, the owner, and the author of the texts within; and prestige associated with owning or giving a volume created by artists and scribes working in the most sought-after styles of the day.

Illuminated Manuscripts: Secular

Illuminated manuscripts with non-religious content—texts on literature, medicine, science, warfare, geography, hunting, and history—typically derive from illuminated Classical and Late Antique texts. Over time, the direct, explicatory images accrued additional features and sometimes transformed into full miniatures with settings and humans performing actions or demonstrating effects. Artists relied mostly on convention and formulae but can be occasionally glimpsed responding to the necessity of producing an original image. As with religious books, secular programs can be analyzed to discern particular agendas, usually of commissioners or intended recipients, while the books themselves had practical application—instructions on building a siege machine or what plant not to consume—as well as serving as luxury products for reading, presentation, even performance.

Vial Movies

In the 16th and 17th centuries vials played a prominent role in the visualization of nature’s driving forces as recreated in the laboratory. While in technical drawings the vial was often depicted as empty, there were also elaborate images—mainly pertaining to alchemical knowledge—in which vessels were filled, usually not with actual liquids, but with allegorical scenes. Vials functioned as visual devices, as virtual stages in illuminated manuscripts as well as in engravings in books—contrary to the reality in the laboratory where heat-resistant stoneware was normally used. This study focuses on a lavishly illustrated manuscript—Coronatio naturae—which circulated in numerous versions throughout Europe in the 17th century. The second part of this article presents the manuscript in detail, while the first part examines the serial “vial portraits” that appeared in books and manuscripts—the principal medium of alchemical communication at the time. It will be argued that the visualization of the individual stages of the alchemical process has an additional, inherent dimension of movement that can be described as cinematographic.