Search Results (1,187)

Archaeology is a well-established discipline that sheds light on human history and uncovers the mysteries of materials, their origins, production methods, and areas of use. It provides significant insights into various topics such as the production history of glass and other materials, trade routes, manufacturing processes, degradation mechanisms, regional usages, and coloring com-positions. Glass, an ancient yet contemporary material, can transmit, absorb, and reflect light. Appreciating glass art requires recognizing its rich history, offering artists technical and aesthetic possibilities in modern life and architecture. This study examines the influence of archaeological research and the artistic character of ancient glass on contemporary glass art. Archaeological findings from Turkey and around the world have been reviewed, with a particular focus on the Phrygian Valley, located in and around Eskişehir, an important region for the Phrygian civilization. Artifacts unearthed through excavations and sur-face surveys conducted in the Phrygian Valley, and preserved in the Eskişehir Eti Archaeology Museum, have been analyzed. The museum houses approximately 22,500 artifacts, including sculptures, steles, ceramics, glass vessels, metal objects, jewelry, and coins. Inspired by these artifacts and Phrygian culture, original glass designs have been created using techniques such as stained glass, lampworking, and glass painting. The aim of the study is to interpret Phrygian art and culture through innovative designs. Full article

It has always been understood that Pablo Picasso imbued his arts with a rich symbolism. Those representations could be understood readily, at times only with some effort, or utterly inaccessible at others. A part of that symbolism is yet to be understood, with numerous points of information and cross-reference “hiding” in plain sight. He was fond of newsprint as a substrate and medium for painting, not only during wartime, but especially so in the deprivations of World War II. The relationship between some paintings typical during the period and the newsprint on which they were done was intense, such that the substrate inhabits the medium, sharing equal part with the composition. Around the same time or after, Picasso was crafting poems of an often cryptic nature. An in-depth look at two poems reveals a multitude of references to paintings on newsprint and to the contents of that newsprint. With new understandings of those symbols, evidence emerges that Picasso’s “palette of words” was more than just metaphor, but also descriptive of a theory and a method which the artist put into practice in at least two instances of WWII-era newsprint paintings and famously cryptic poems, detailed here. Full article

Soon after the devastating Ansei Edo earthquake in 1855, popular prints known as catfish prints (namazu-e) circulated widely. These prints were rooted in the folk belief that a giant catfish beneath the earth caused earthquakes. Various types of catfish prints were published: some depicted a punished earthquake catfish and served as protective charms against future quakes, while others functioned as sharp social commentary. In the latter type, the catfish was portrayed as a popular deity capable of bringing favorable societal change for people in the lower social class, symbolizing hope for commoners through reduced economic disparities after the disaster. The print “Prodigal Buddha” positioned the catfish as an antihero, criticizing the Tokugawa government’s inefficacy and the failure of religious institutions to provide spiritual salvation. By juxtaposing the catfish—now a newly popular deity—with a thunder god, formerly a fearsome deity but now submissively obeying the catfish, the print effectively visualizes the shift in status between the two. This article examines the criticism directed at political and religious authorities in the aftermath of the disaster, analyzing the layered symbolism of the thunder gods in the print. Full article

In this paper, I argue for a ‘social art history’ that embraces all protagonists of ancient Egyptian artistic production and integrates them into the global process of creating prestige through art. The raison d’être of artists is to translate their skills into material and immaterial media using culturally embedded codes and ideological trends of their time. In the process, artists—or at least top artists who accessed restricted knowledge—created value and prestige as a means of competition between rival elites (and the sub-elite emulating them). This paper aims to address the question of defining social value embedded in material artifacts, especially when owned by intermediary social categories such as the New Kingdom metalworkers. It will touch upon what was seen as valuable and prestigious from the Egyptians’ perspective by looking at the iconography of New Kingdom metalworkers. The paper will examine 18th–20th dynasty goldsmiths’ self-depictions as they were in charge of creating artifacts in gold, a metal connected with solar symbolism and intertwined with the divine, kingship, and membership in the high elite. Ultimately, the paper aims to tackle the question of self-presentation for people who were not part of the elite per se, i.e., the sub-elite illustrated here by the metalworkers. In so doing, it uses, in a preliminary attempt, some concepts inherited from the Chicago School of Sociology. Full article

In India, particularly in central India, a large number of early images were created using green pigments. Within the green images or images in the earliest style, one can see that some extremely naturalistic animal figures were made with green and dark red, and rarely in a polychrome (green, red and yellow) style. Only a few images have survived. The human figures, represented in a typical S shape in a smaller size or with an S-twist body in single outline, are highly artistic and very dynamic figures. The figures are mostly represented as dancers. Wakankar found green pigment in the Upper Paleolithic levels in Bhimbetka, and hence these images were put in the Upper Paleolithic period. These green images mainly exist in rock art sites in the surroundings of Bhimbetka in the Raisen, Sehore and Vidisha districts. Full article

This article covers the subject of illusory exposure of non-existent architectural objects in their original location. The authors believe that this specific conservation method is a way to disseminate knowledge about the past architectural landscape and thus to increase the identity of cities and their inhabitants. The concept refers to augmented reality, but the authors use only analog optical means to visualize the virtual component. The visualization consists of projecting the object onto the walls of buildings and the ground. In order to preserve their intact condition, light projection is used. The image creates the illusion of three-dimensionality if it is perceived from the center of the projection. After a preliminary analysis of the available means of light expression, this article presents the results of this research. In the first stage, a simple geometric model was visualized using various techniques in order to evaluate them and select the optimal one. In the second stage, a virtual visualization of a specific architectural object was created. Its form and location were established based on the analysis of historical iconographic material and reports from archaeological works. The influence of local conditions on the practical possibilities of light projection was taken into account. Full article

This article examines the place of Croatian art within Hungarian art exhibitions around the turn of the century. Over close to a decade, from the 1896 Millennial Exhibition until the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the way Croatian art was displayed within Hungarian exhibitions had changed. While it might seem that the ultimate absence of Croatian art in later Hungarian displays is an example of Hungarian chauvinism, the opposite is the case: Croatian art still continued to be displayed, but not as a subsidiary of Hungarian art. Full article

For the Norman kings of Sicily and the ecclesiastical authorities who ruled their dioceses, Byzantine art served as both a symbol of luxury and a model of prestige. Similarly to the mosaics of Palermo, Monreale, and Cefalú, as well as textiles and goldsmithing, the manuscripts preserved in the National Library of Madrid stand as prime examples of the fascination that the dignitaries of the Kingdom of Sicily had for Byzantine esthetics. Among these manuscripts, the Sacramentary of Messina (Madrid, BNE Ms. 52) is perhaps the most striking. This Latin sacramentary, comprising 303 folios, features illuminated initials, a calendar with depictions of classical topics, such as the Spinario and a compelling depiction of August inspired by the Byzantine Koimesis, the months and zodiac, and two full-page illustrations depicting the Virgin Glykophilousa, the Crucifixion, and the Deesis. This study has a dual focus. First, it aims to analyze the iconographic peculiarities of the monthly images in this Latin calendar. Second, it seeks to provide new insights into the manuscript’s patronage and its place of origin. In this context, one of the most striking and significant aspects of the sacramentary’s iconography is the prominent role of the Virgin, a theme that will also be examined in this study. Archbishop Richard Palmer emerges as the leading candidate to have been the driving force in the patronage of the manuscript to the Royal scriptoria of Palermo. Full article

Aesthetic tendencies in architecture are disposed between two poles: rich ornamentation and formal restraint. The principle of an empty wall and the rejection of decoration are perceived as features of contemporary architecture. However, does the thesis attributed to Adolf Loos that ornament is a crime still apply? This study covered 50 buildings completed between 2000 and 2022 in Poznań (Poland) and 810 photographs were obtained. In order to analyze the research material from an aesthetic point of view, the author refers to the past concept of decorum, which distinguishes it from the concept of ornament. The result of the research presented in this article is a typology of contemporary decorative elements, which includes eleven types of decorations. The study of construction in Poznań reveals the widespread presence of new ornaments, which demonstrates a universal human need for decoration. Increased decorativeness, which characterizes the declining periods of architectural styles, indicates that the modern style of architecture has also fallen into a “Rococo phase” in terms of aesthetics. This raises a question about the direction that the development of architectural decorations should take. A clear need to return to the idea of decorum is observed, encouraging further research as well as the elevation of the design value of modern ornaments through professional design research. Full article

Tall buildings are a unique category of architectural objects, as they are characterized by a strong self-presentation effect and have a significant visual impact on the urban composition and the surrounding cityscape. This contextual impact has a one-way character—it is directed from the tall building to its surroundings, the neighborhood, the entire urban area, and the landscape. The context of the surroundings generally has no effect on tall buildings. Tall buildings are usually solitary structures, focused on their own composition. Conversely, the impact of a tall building is multifaceted: it is symbolic, iconic, and compositional, in the sense that it is a ‘strong’ form that draws attention to itself. This study analyzes and evaluates the case of the Hanza Tower, a tall building in Szczecin, and its impact on the city of Szczecin in terms of urban, architectural, and historical contexts, as well as its location in relation to its surroundings. In this case, the authors have considered the spatial and cityscape impact of skyscrapers when viewed from a distance, as well as the role a skyscraper plays in terms of its symbolic, contextual, and compositional significance within the city. Attention is drawn to the sustainable correlation of the placement of the tall building with the spatial composition of the city layout to make its overall structure legible. Full article

The illustrated books of Kōriki Enkōan (1756–1831), a samurai and amateur illustrator from Owari domain, offer a unique window into the culture of spectacle and display that flourished in late Edo-period Japan. Included in his corpus are several manuscripts that document kaichō, public exhibitions of sacred icons and temple treasures hosted by Buddhist temples and other venues. While most studies of kaichō emphasize their popularity in the capital of Edo, this article focuses on Enkōan’s illustrated manuscript of an exhibition of the famous Seiryōji Shaka that was held in Nagoya in 1819. Situating the event and its visual documentation within the statue’s legendary history as a traveling icon, the study explores how Enkōan’s careful manipulation of text and image created an immersive reading experience that allowed its readers a kind of virtual access to the exhibition. Considering the author’s position within the contemporary social hierarchy, it also addresses the role that samurai values may have played in shaping the representation of kaichō and illuminates its intersections with urban spectacle and emerging exhibition practices in early modern Japan. Full article

Among the multiple zoomorphic and geometric images that dominate Upper Paleolithic decorated cave walls in Europe, some intriguing human hand stencils and finger flutings stand out. Dozens of these marks are attributed to toddlers and children aged 2–12. Accompanied by older group members, they entered these deep, oxygen-depleted and sensory-deprived spaces, climbing and crawling in dark, wet, difficult-to-navigate environments where one might easily get lost or separated from the group. So, why would anyone bring young children into such dangerous locations? Relevant archaeological and anthropological studies form the basis of our hypothesis that the journeys of Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers to the depths of deep caves along with their young children should be seen in the framework of active connection with the cosmos as practiced by many indigenous societies worldwide. Indigenous societies often view children as liminal agents with unique physical, cognitive, and mental qualities that allow them to return to the supernatural realm more easily than adults. This makes them especially adept mediators between the world of the living and that of the spirits. In this paper, we examine children’s contribution to the creation of Paleolithic cave art as active agents. Their presence in caves (liminal spaces in themselves) and their participation in the creation of rock art might thus reflect their unique role in early human cosmology and ontology. Full article

The material legacy of the Almoravid dynasty is evident in a limited number of public and military works promoted by the authorities, reflecting their policies on territorial expansion and urban planning. Other aspects, such as its integration into the Mediterranean economy, its ideological spread, and the vitality of its productive sectors, are well represented through coinage, inscriptions, and sumptuary arts. However, understanding everyday material culture beyond aristocratic circles remains elusive. This paper explores the influence of the Almoravid period on al-Andalus’s material culture, identifying antecedents and impacts on later periods. We analyze artifacts from the Albalat site (Romangordo, Cáceres, Spain), contextualized in the first half of the 12th century, comparing them with contemporary and earlier examples across the Almoravid empire. Emphasis is placed on ceramics, highlighting their diverse nature with inherited traits from the Taifa period, and innovations that persisted into Almohad culture, considering the role of production centers in disseminating these models. The transition from Almoravid to Almohad is also examined through everyday items like a casket adorned with bone inlays, representing a link in Andalusian ivory handicraft evolution. This analysis aims to deepen understanding of Almoravid heritage in the Iberian Peninsula. Full article