Alcanzar la gloria tras la muerte

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo llevar a cabo un análisis iconográfico de las emisiones numismáticas de virtudes que se producen tras la muerte y divinización de las mujeres de la dinastía antonina (96-192 d.C) durante el Alto Imperio romano. Se pretende analizar la significación de las virtudes emitidas en relación a estas mujeres tras su divinización. Estas virtudes son consideradas indicativos del papel de género otorgado a las figuras femeninas vinculadas al poder imperial, al mismo tiempo que actúan como exemplas para el resto de mujeres romanas de clase alta. También este análisis pretende conocer tanto la trayectoria vital de estas emperatrices como la imagen pública y discursiva proyectada de ellas tras su muerte. Para ello se ha realizado una comparativa entre las virtudes emitidas tras la defunción y consagración de las emperatrices antoninas, así como de aquellas virtudes emitidas en vida de las mismas. Para la elaboración de este trabajo se ha incorporado el género como categoría de análisis indispensable para afrontar cualquier estudio de estas características. Este texto trata de ser una contribución tanto para la Historia de las Mujeres como para la propia historia del Imperio romano.

Sadness, Gender and Empathy

This paper is focused on private tomb scenes with mourners dated to the end of the 18th Dynasty located in the Egyptian Memphite necropolis, with a special interest on the artistic resources and the clear division of groups according to the gender of mourners, as mourning men in expressive attitudes are particularly rare in ancient Egyptian scenes. The presence of men in grief, together with the traditional female mourners, within the funerary procession is striking, portraying expressive poses which provoke feeling of empathy and sorrow in the beholder. Indeed, the expressions of feelings in mourning scenes and their diverse artistic treatment in Memphite tomb decoration reveals the innovation and originality of the artists, features that could be traced back to the reign of Akhenaten. This paper explores the complex process of creation of the funerary iconography of the Post-Amarna art, a period of religious, political and social changes which were mirrored in private tomb scenes.

El Atributo en las Figuras Australes de los Planisferios Celestes Medievales

El trabajo estudia y analiza los atributos de todas aquellas figuras celestes que lo portan y que se encuentran en el hemisferio austral de los planisferios medievales. Las fuentes sobre las que se ha llevado a cabo la tarea de investigación que ha permitido concluir el resultado que se expone, han sido, exclusivamente, los textos de la antigüedad griega y latina que tratan de la descripción de las constelaciones desde la perspectiva de la mitología. Estos contenidos son los que dan pie a las figuras constelares representantes de los distintos protagonistas que merecieron subir al cielo y permanecer allí por toda la eternidad, debido a las particulares circunstancias que confluyeron sobre ellos. El atributo que ilustra a la figura que lo contiene, siendo un elemento secundario y subordinado de aquella, se convierte aquí en el protagonista del estudio. Para facilitar el conocimiento del lugar que la figura, de cada momento, ocupa en la esfera de las estrellas fijas en relación con sus compañeras, se ha incorporado un planisferio celeste que actúa como referencia.

Beautiful Deaths and Heard Gazes

Viewers frequently encounter “normative” prescriptions and perceptions through photographs of how images depicting death and dying should loo and, cognitively, how those images ought to be received. In such encounters, varying fundamental views or cultural myths surrounding death and dying, how it is envisioned, how it is, literally, pictured dictate a particular way of seeing and being. This article considers visual representations made of individuals who choose to enact Death With Dignity provisions to end their lives on their own terms and on their own time line. By an interrogation of a corpus of DWD images, the author investigates how such representations challenge a particular cultural logic. This reconsideration may lead to an awareness; a reasoning, creating a space in which reality is constructed beneath the viewer’s gaze. Such a reality, relies on an embodied or pragmatic aesthetic and is co-constituted by expressions of power that emanate from image and viewer. The author dubs this modality the heard gaze; a vision in which the past, present, and future are fused and subject becomes object or vessel of understanding by perceiving a visual, auditory “cue”.

From Purāṇic to Folk: the ‘Kirātārjunīyam Ballade’ and Visuals

The present article aims to examine a folk literary motif from the ‘Kirātārjunīyam’. Kirāta (hunter-Śiva) and Arjuna once needed to clash with each other during the forest life of the Pāṇḍavas. Arjuna wanted to obtain the coveted pāśupatāstra from Śiva that could only be awarded to a soldier of mettle to wield the missile efficiently. Arjuna undertook hazardous tapas pleased with which Śiva tested Arjuna and finally awarded the astra. This myth appears in the Mahābhārata dated sometime in the fifth century BCE and its folk origin may get back to the immoral past. This story was retold in a classical work by the poet Sanskrit Bhāravi in eighteen cantos. The article examines a key motif relating to the Penance of Arjuna (cf. the Māmallapuram bas relief) from the Kirātārjunīyam episode, called pañcāgnitapas and how the Penance of Arjuna is retold in the ballad understudy? Several folk motifs of kuṟavaṉ-kuṟatti of Kuṟṟālakkuṟavañci are illustrated in a later phase of the art in Tamilnadu (e.g., the Thousand-Pillared Hall of the Great Maturai Temple of the Nāyaka period). Kirātārjunīyam was a popular motif in sculptural art though the ages.

The House/Palace in Annunciations of the 15th Century

This article seeks to highlight the doctrinal meanings enclosed in the representation of the house of Mary in the form of a palace or an aristocratic residence in seven images of the Annunciation of the 15th century. To justify our iconographic interpretations in this sense, we based on the analysis of many exegetical comments with which many Latin Fathers and theologians interpreted several metaphorical expressions with dogmatic projection, such as domus Sapientiae, domus Dei, aula regia, palatium Regis, domicilium Trinitatis, and other analogous terms. As a methodological strategy, we use here a double comparative analysis: in the first instance, analyzing a series of patristic and theological texts that exegetically interpret the metaphors above; secondly, relating these exegetical texts with the eight Annunciations explained here.

Sobre la muerte y todas sus imágenes

Editorial de Tristeza eterna: representaciones de la muerte en la cultura visual desde la Antigüedad a la actualidad. El propósito de este monográfico es analizar las representaciones de la muerte en la cultura visual de distintos tiempos y lugares. Con este fin se han reunido una serie de artículos que tratan las relaciones entre la muerte y la imagen desde distintas disciplinas.

Iconography of Peace Сongresses during the Formation of the Westphallian System

The formation of the first state system in Europe took place from the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, as a result of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), to the Utrecht (1713), Rastatt-Baden (1714) and Nystad Congresses (1721) which finished the end of the war of the Spanish Succession and the Northern war. The legal fixation of the Westphallian system was accompanied by its public perception and acceptance. First of all, this was demonstrated by International Congresses, which were not only a common negotiation process, but also a place of representation of the significance and culture of each state. In fact, the European Congress was a carefully designed triumph of Рeace within the continent, which required considerable funds, was widely covered in the press and glorified in celebrations, paintings, plastic art, release of commemorative medals, poetry and even fashion. The article presents the most striking examples of iconography of Peace Congresses. The author believes that their performative nature and iconography, emphasizing the European character of Peace and the protopatriotic moods that it evoked, made a significant contribution to the civilization heritage of Europe.