Destruição da arte tumular por um preço vil / Destruction of tomb art for a vile price

A arte tumular ou funerária representa o respeito dado a um indivíduo dentro do contexto histórico; acompanhada de grande carga emotiva, deve ser preservada para que este legado afetivo seja reverenciado. O bronze é uma liga metálica composta basicamente de cobre e estanho, contendo ainda outros elementos químicos, fusão que aumenta a resistência do cobre sem alterar sua capacidade de deformação, permitindo a realização de obras de arte. Infelizmente, o cobre presente em artefatos de bronze, desperta a ganância de vândalos, que por alguns trocados destroem a memória de pessoas ilustres e queridas, um quadro revoltante pelo descaso dos responsáveis pela preservação do patrimônio cultural abrigado nos cemitérios. Tanto as placas de bronze, vasos e portas dos jazigos levadas de vários cemitérios estão sendo substituídas por desgraciosas peças de granito, sem valor comercial, porém padronizadas, acabando com as referências que individualizam cada jazigo, denegrindo a memória dos que ali repousam. ABSTRACT Tomb or funerary art stands for the respect given to an individual within the historical context; coupled with a great emotional burden, it must be preserved so that this affective legacy is revered. Bronze is a metallic alloy basically composed of copper and tin, also containing some other chemical elements, and producing a fusion that increases the resistance of copper without altering its deformation capacity which allows the creation of art work. Unfortunately, the copper present in bronze artifacts awakens the greed of vandals who, for a few pennies, destroy the memory of distinguished and beloved people. This is a revolting consequence caused by the negligence of those responsible for preserving the cultural heritage housed in cemeteries. Either the bronze plates or vases and tomb doors taken from various cemeteries are being replaced by clumsy pieces of granite, with no commercial value, but standardized, putting an end to the references that individualize each tomb and disparaging the memory of those who rest there.

Frühbyzantinische Kreuzdiskurse des 6. und 7. Jahrhunderts und ihre Rezeption in Konstantinopel, Kappadokien und im Westen

The paper establishes connections between funerary art in the Eastern (Cappadocia) and the Western Mediterranean (Lombard kingdom in Northern Italy) during the seventh century. Jewelry pendants and gemstone decorations are also covered. The similarities of the image concepts suggest common design principles, with the cross as a symbol of the Son of Man when God returns on Judgment Day (Mt 24, 30). As celestial signs in the midst of stars and planets, these forms of the cross, which may also have influenced the Baiuvarian and Alemannic gold-leaf crosses, have a cosmic character. Under the sign of the concentric cross, according to Mt 24, 31, the angels gather together the elect (Christians) from the four directions of the world.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE FORMS OF SHANDONG PROVINCE'S STONE RELIEFS COMPOSITION OF THE HAN ERA

The stone reliefs of the Han era (206 BC – 220 AD) are a special type of funerary art with its own specific set of plots and art forms. Shandong Province takes the first place in China in terms of number of founding relief images. The peculiarity of the compositional construction of the Han's reliefs is that it isn’t based on the spatial principle of image transmission, but on the plastic-planar pictorial principle of a two-dimensional composition, which, with its thoughtful use, can carry the maximum emotional charge [Moshkov, Kuznetsov 1994]. Based on that, author’s own typology of the compositions of Han reliefs was built. Article the object of the study are stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty, Shandong Province, represented on stone sarcophagi, in stone tombs, temples of ancestors and steles, and passed the past two stages of its heyday. The purpose and objective of the study is to identify and study the laws of evolution of the composition of the stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty, Shandong Province, based on V.M. Moshkova’s principles of composition, using systemic and iconological research methods. Images on the stone reliefs of the Han tombs are distinguished by the peculiarity of the forms of compositional constructions, the process of development and evolution of which occurs in accordance with certain laws. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the starting point for the development of relief compositions of stone sarcophagi were two forms – symmetrical and nested (including several levels following the outlines and forms of stone material), which during the heyday of the Western Han Dynasty supplemented the “V”-shaped composition. Their further development is associated with the use of dispersed, zoned, irregular composition techniques, which spread around in turn of the CE. At the same time, a variety of compositional forms is also observed in the reliefs of tombs, temples of ancestors and stelae, in the reliefs of which during the period of the Eastern Han (25–220 CE) many different forms of compositional organization appear: for example, asymmetric, segmented, shingles wrong etc. The composition of combinations of geometric shapes, consisting, as a rule, of squares and circles, is also distributed. A variety of compositional forms is associated, on the one hand, with the complication of the architecture of burial structures and an increase in their scale. On the other hand, with the enrichment of the content and plots of reliefs, which is becoming more diverse and includes not only the image of Confucian’s symbols, but also narratives that reflect episodes from the lives of those buried. This indicates not only the process of improving art forms during the Han era, but also reflects a certain evolution of religious and philosophical thought, changes that took place in this period in the social structure of ancient Chinese society, and also, possibly, some external influences on the development of Chinese art.

Literary texts

Egyptian literary texts from the pharaonic period form a small corpus with no exclusive definition, principally made up of three broad genres: firstly ‘instructions’ or philosophy ascribed to named authors; secondly reports of fine speaking as a witness to truth; and finally, narratives of travel abroad. The problems of understanding this corpus are analogous to those of understanding funerary art-works, and indeed literary texts may well resemble the latter in terms of their use as well as in their narrative structures and meaning. The chapter concludes with discussion concerning the likely origins and functions of these texts, particularly with regard to the physical and cultural contexts of the original documents.

From Grief to Superbia: the Myth of Niobe in Greek and Roman Funerary Art

The Greek myth of Niobe was known in the ancient world both by literary sources and visual representations. Both in Ancient Greece and in Ancient Rome, the myth was represented, alongside a variety forms of art, in funerary art, but in a different manner during each period of time. In Ancient Greece, the myth was represented on Apulian and South Italian vases, portraying the finale scene of the myth: Niobe’s petrification. In Ancient Rome, a shift is visible: the portrayal of the scene of the killing of Niobe’s children on sarcophagi reliefs. The aim of this paper is to follow the iconography of each culture and to understand the reason for the shift in representation, while comparing the two main media forms.

Stone materials applied in funerary art in historical cemeteries in Brazil

<p>In cemeteries dating back to the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth and forming part of the cultural heritage of Brazil is a great variety of stone materials applied. Integrating cultural tourism routes, these spaces can also be used for the dissemination of geological information. To study these applications, three were chosen and the most iconic being the Campo Santo Cemetery in the city of Salvador, State of Bahia, which dates from 1844. From the state of Minas Gerais, two were chosen. The oldest belongs to the Third Order of San Francisco, from the city of São João Del Rey and was opened in the first half of the nineteenth, while the youngest, the Bom Fim located in Belo Horizonte, dates from the early twentieth century. Among the applied materials, those of national origin and others imported were identified. In the first group stand out the green schists, granites and gneisses, while in the second marbles and limestones represent the most used rocks. From the group of marble and limestone applied stand out materials of Italian and Portuguese origin, which will be considered in this work. Of the Italians, the Carrara marbles are the most frequent, while of the Portuguese predominate the Lioz type, followed by Encarnadão and, more rarely, the Sintra Blue and Negrais Yellow, all from the Lisbon-Sintra region. In the studied cemeteries, the use of marble from Carrara predominates in the tombs of the Bonfim cemetery, while Lioz marble was the most used type in the production of tomb art in the other two, which often brings records confirming its production in companies located in Lisbon or in the city of Porto. For Lioz some of its main characteristics were confirmed, such as the frequent presence of rudist fossils and their calcitic composition, typical of types historically extracted in the regions of Pero Pinheiro and Sintra. It was generally identified as a microcrystalline limestone, bioclastic, with slight chromatic variations ranging from white to beige, rosy or pink cream, with the presence of yellowish stains. Following the Lioz, another Portuguese limestone called Encarnadão appears. For this type there are chromatic variations ranging from pinkish to reddish tones, passing through shades of salmon. The Lameiras type is identified by the reddish hues. Other features found, such as the presence of stylolites, were used to identify subtypes described in the literature, such as Encarnadão Chainette present in Salvador tombs, and more rarely in São João del Rey. Other Portuguese limestones, such as Negrais yellow and Sintra blue, extracted in the Lisbon / Sintra region, were observed in ornamental applications on tombs, mainly from Campo Santo Cemetery in Salvador. While the first one is characterized by the golden yellow coloration, the second one is distinguished by the bluish-gray coloration. With very rare presence can be mentioned the use of other limestone materials, such as the Arrábida breccia, present in ornamental details.</p>

A message from beyond the grave: Hercules rescuing Hesione on a Stojnik funerary monument

The research of this study is dedicated to a unique iconographical scene in the territory of the Central Balkan Roman provinces, of Hercules rescuing Hesione from a sea-monster (ketos), depicted on a funerary monument found in 1931 at the site of Stojnik, in the vicinity of Belgrade, antique Singidunum, and now displayed in the lapidarium of the National Museum in Belgrade. The funerary monument was erected for the deceased, a veteran of cohors II Aurelia nova, Publius Aelius Victorinus, by his wife Aurelia Rufina and their son Publius Aelius Acutianus. The rich iconography of the monument makes it a very important example of funerary art in the period from the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd century - the eschatological symbolism of the presented scenes and motifs is more than clear and underlines not only the hope of the deceased?s family for his eternal and blessed life after death, but also the deceased?s victory over death and presents him as a symbol of courage and virtue. The architectural scheme of the monument, along with its iconography, suggests strong artistic influences from Noricum and both the Pannonian provinces, while the the mythical tale of Hercules and Hesione was chosen, it is argued, not only because Hercules was one of the most favoured gods in the Roman army, but also because he was a protector of miners and mines.

Transmission of Han Pictorial Motifs into the Western Periphery

This paper examines the ways in which Fuxi and Nüwa were depicted inside the mural tombs of the Wei-Jin dynasties along the Hexi Corridor as compared to their Han counterparts from the Central Plains. Pursuing typological, stylistic, and iconographic approaches, it investigates how the western periphery inherited the knowledge of the divine pair and further discusses the transition of the iconographic and stylistic design of both deities from the Han (206 BCE–220 CE) to the Wei and Western Jin dynasties (220–316). Furthermore, examining the origins of the migrants on the basis of historical records, it also attempts to discuss the possible regional connections and migration from different parts of the Chinese central territory to the western periphery. On the basis of these approaches, it reveals that the depiction of Fuxi and Nüwa in Gansu area was modelled on the Shandong regional pattern and further evolved into a unique pattern formed by an iconographic conglomeration of all attributes and other physical characteristics. Accordingly, the Shandong region style not only spread to surrounding areas in the central Chinese territory but even to the more remote border regions, where it became the model for funerary art motifs. Based on both approaches, it reveals that the depiction of Fuxi and Nüwa in Gansu area was modelled on the Shandong regional pattern and further evolved into a unique pattern of an iconographic conglomeration of all attributes and other physical characteristics. Accordingly, the Shandong region style not only spread to surrounding areas in the central Chinese territory but even to the more remote border regions, where it became the model for funerary art motifs.