Death and Afterlife in the Pages of Gregory of Tours: Religion and Society in Late Antique Gaul. By Allen E. Jones. Social Worlds of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages 6. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2020. 324 pp. €109.00 hardcover.

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 660-661
Author(s):  
A. E. T. McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Early Middle Ages

scholarly journals TO THE QUESTION OF SPACE ORGANIZATION OF BOOK ILLUMINATION OF LATE ANTIQUITY AND EARLY MIDDLE AGES (IV – VII CENTURY)

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-48
Author(s):  
Mikhail S. Bankov
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Medieval Manuscripts ◽  
Space Organization ◽  
Miniature Painting

The article focuses on peculiarities of spatial organization of book miniature paintings of late antique and early medieval manuscripts (IV – VII centuries). The author analyses the problem of conveying illusion of depth in illustration in context of gradual transmission from roll to codex, which took place in antique book culture between the II and the V centuries. By analyzing survived fragments of illuminated rolls author displays characteristic features of their spatial organization and observes influence which had tradition of roll illustration on the development of codex. Nevertheless, precisely the miniatures of the codices that have come down to our time are in focus of the author’s attention. The stages of development of the text page, the peculiarities of interaction of text and images in codices are compared with the principles of space organization in miniatures. The article makes an attempt, relying on the monuments that have survived to our time, to consider the development of spatial constructions in the period of late Antiquity and early Middle Ages as a continuous process of evolution of the language of book painting. The author assumes that the development of spatial constructions in miniature painting does not imply sharp breaks or regression. Each new stage of the evolution arises from the previous one and makes it possible to expand the arsenal of artistic means which are necessary for solving artistic problems of the time. In accordance with this approach, the article concentrates not only on compositions in which a spatial illusion is created, but also miniatures that are in character more plane. As a result, the author reveals the main types of spatial constructions, considering all surviving monuments of miniature painting of that time. For each type of space organization, the author identifies the basic principles and artistic techniques that allow the artist to convey a sense of depth on the plane of page. The author pays special attention to the comparison of illusionistic tendencies in the late antique book miniature and “reverse perspective”, features of which are present in the monuments of the era. The author casts doubt on the need for a sharp contrast between these two approaches to space organization in the monuments of book miniatures of the era. He analyzes the reasons for the appearance of such features of space organization in miniature paintings of late antique and early medieval manuscripts, which are so important for the formation of artistic language of medieval book illumination.

Roman North Africa: Environment, society and medical contribution [Book Review]

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 210-212
Author(s):  
Geoffrey D. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Early Middle Ages

Review(s) of: Roman North Africa: Environment, Society and Medical Contribution, by Cilliers, Louise, Social Worlds of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019) hardcover, 256 pages, b and w illustrations, RRP euro99; ISBN: 9789462989900.

scholarly journals Urban Landscapes of Power in the Iberian Peninsula from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages (ULP.PILAEMA Project)

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Sánchez Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Term Change ◽  
Main Components

Debates surrounding late antique societies have attracted renewed interest from an archaeological perspective. Attention given to this period between the fifth and the eighth centuries reflects present-day issues closely related to urban landscapes and long-term change in the human occupation of space. The aim of the ULP.PILAEMA Project is to examine the interaction of new elites on urban life between the late Roman and early Middle Ages through the study of the main components of townscape. The project is articulated around a series of key Spanish case studies selected on the basis of the quality of their architecture and topography and the reconstructions that this evidence facilitates for late antiquity. Taken together, the examples chosen present a coherent and up-to-date perspective of how cities transformed as symbolic places. The goal of the project is to explore ways in which topographies of governance were configured and to identify urban patterns to compare with other places and regions in Western Europe. Understanding the rise of bishoprics, monasteries and official buildings and their built environment as an expression of social interactions has allowed us to explain the origins and development of early medieval centres of power in Spain.

scholarly journals Piety, Power, or Presence? Strategies of Monumental Visualization of Patronage in Late Antique Ravenna

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Carile
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Visual Communication ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Architectural Space ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Church Decoration ◽  
Communicative Power

Between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, lay and cleric alike felt the need to be remembered in the monuments they sponsored. Accordingly, specific elements of the décor were designed as means capable of bearing the patron’s memory. The late antique churches of Ravenna offer an extraordinary field to understand how patrons left their mark on decorative programs of ancient buildings. There, portraits, inscriptions, and monograms emerge as the primary instruments used in a complex strategy of visual communication. However, each had its own communicative power and peculiar use. Either separately or in connection, they were able to convey strong messages of patronship to the viewer. By focusing on each of these elements in its context and on the ways they all interacted with the surrounding architecture and church decoration, this paper will highlight their value as visual objects capable to immortalize the piety, power, or presence of the patron. Indeed, the silent dialogue enacted into the architectural space with the beholder will allow us to reconstruct the hidden messages that individuals or groups meant to communicate to posterity.

Rural churches and settlements in late-antique and Early Mediaeval Tuscany

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 223-247
Author(s):  
Gabriele Castiglia
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Rural Churches ◽  
Spatial Changes ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between Roman villas and their re-use as ecclesiastical buildings in late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages has been much investigated in recent years. This topic is now integrated into the debate about the end of the villas and of rural settlements more generally. Since the bibliography is extensive, I shall highlight only the main interpretative and more recent studies. As is argued in a series of studies focusing on the Italian peninsula, Roman villas underwent structural, functional and spatial changes from the end of the 4th c. despite their continued use. The most striking modification is the erection of churches on rural settlements. The chronology and nature of this Christianisation of the countryside are still subject to debate. I will examine the best-known villas in the territory corresponding to northern Tuscany, paying close attention to those of the late-antique period. I will then proceed to an analysis of those villas where the foundation of churches can be identified during the transition from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages.

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