1.
Kiss of Judas
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The kiss occurs in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper and leads directly to the arrest of Jesus by the police force of the Sanhedrin. More broadly, a Judas kiss may refer to an act appearing to be an act of friendship, the gospels of Matthew and Mark both use the Greek verb καταφιλέω, which means to kiss firmly, intensely, passionately, tenderly, or warmly. It is the verb that Plutarch uses to describe a famous kiss that Alexander the Great gave Bagoas. The compound verb has the force of an emphatic, ostentatious salute, according to Matthew 26,50, Jesus responded by saying, Friend, do what you are here to do. Elaine Pagels and Karen King have speculated that Jesus and Judas were actually in agreement with each other, john Dear notes that Luke 22,48 quotes Jesus saying, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Humanity with a kiss. Probably the best known is from Giottos cycle in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, there is also a version called The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio or one of his disciples. A sixth-century Byzantine Mosaic in Ravenna, a fresco by Barna da Siena. A sculpture representing the Kiss of Judas appears on the Passion façade of the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona, the kiss of Judas in art Bargain of Judas Chronology of Jesus Jesus predicts his betrayal Kiss of death Life of Jesus in the New Testament Grubb, Nancy. New York City, Abbeville Publishing Group, media related to Kiss of Judas at Wikimedia Commons
2.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
3.
Padua
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Padua is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic, the city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, which has a population of c. Padua stands on the Bacchiglione River,40 kilometres west of Venice and 29 km southeast of Vicenza, the Brenta River, which once ran through the city, still touches the northern districts. Its agricultural setting is the Venetian Plain, to the citys south west lies the Euganaean Hills, praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch, Ugo Foscolo, and Shelley. It hosts the University of Padua, founded in 1222, where Galileo Galilei was a lecturer, Padua is the setting for most of the action in Shakespeares The Taming of the Shrew. There is a play by the Victorian writer Oscar Wilde, titled The Duchess Of Padua, the original significance of the Roman name Patavium is uncertain. It may be connected with the ancient name of the River Po, additionally, the root pat-, in the Indo-European language may refer to a wide open plain as opposed to nearby hills. The ending -ium, signifies the presence of villages that have united themselves together, Padua claims to be the oldest city in northern Italy. According to a tradition dated at least to the time of Virgils Aeneid and to Livys Ab Urbe Condita, Padua was founded in around 1183 BC by the Trojan prince Antenor. After the Fall of Troy, Antenor led a group of Trojans and their Paphlagonian allies, the Eneti or Veneti, thus, when a large ancient stone sarcophagus was exhumed in the year 1274, officials of medieval commune declared the remains within to be those of Antenor. Nevertheless, archeological remains confirm a date for the foundation of the center of the town to between the 11th and 10th centuries BC. The Roman historian Livy records an invasion of the Spartan king Cleonimos around 302 BC. The Spartans came up the river but were defeated by the Veneti in a naval battle, still later, the Veneti of Padua successfully defended themselves against the aggression of Etruscans and Gauls. According to Livy and Silius Italicus, the Veneti, including those of Padua, formed an alliance with the Romans by 226 BC, against their common enemy, men from Padua fought and died besides the Romans at Cannae. As the Romans advanced northward, Padua was gradually assimilated into the Roman Republic, in 175 BC, Padua requested the aid of Rome in putting down a local civil war. In 91 BC, Padua, along with cities of the Veneti. Around 49 BC, Padua was made a Roman municipium under the Lex Julia Municipalis and its citizens ascribed to the Roman tribe, at that time the population of the city was perhaps 40,000. The city was reputed for its excellent breed of horses and the wool of its sheep, in fact, the poet Martial remarks on the thickness of the tunics made there
4.
Veneto
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Veneto or Venetia is one of the twenty regions of Italy. Its population is five million, ranking fifth in Italy. The regions capital and largest city is Venice, Veneto was part of the Roman Empire until the 5th century AD. Later, after a period, it was part of the Republic of Venice until 1797. Venice ruled for centuries one of the largest and richest maritime republics. The Statute of Veneto describes Venetians as a people, besides Italian, most inhabitants also speak Venetian. The region is home to a notable nationalist movement, the regions largest party is the Venetist/Padanist Liga Veneta, a founding member of Lega Nord. The current President of Veneto is Luca Zaia, elected in 2010 with 60. 2% of the vote and the support of Lega Nord, The People of Freedom, Veneto is the 8th largest region in Italy, with a total area of 18,398.9 km2. At its northernmost corner it borders also on Austria, the north-south extension of Veneto is 210 km from the Austrian border to the mouth of the River Po. By area, 29% of its surface is mountainous, the highest massif in the Dolomites is the Marmolada-massif at 3,342 m. Other dolomitic peaks are the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and the Pale di San Martino, the Venetian Prealps are not as high and range between 700 m and 2,200 m. Fossil deposits are abundant there. The plain itself is subdivided into the plain and the lower plain. The lower plain is both a mainstay of production and the most populated part of the region. Several rivers flow through the region, the Po, Adige, Brenta, Bacchiglione, Livenza, Piave, the eastern shore of the largest lake in Italy, Lake Garda, belongs to Veneto. The coastline covers approximately 200 km, of which 100 km are beaches, the coasts of the Adriatic Sea are characterised by the Venetian Lagoon, a flat terrain with ponds, marshes and islands. The Po Delta to the south features sandbars and dunes along the coastline, the inland portion contains cultivable land recently reclaimed by a system of canals and dykes. Fish ponds have been created there as well, the delta and the lagoon are a stopping-point for migratory birds
5.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
6.
Fresco
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Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting. Buon fresco pigment mixed with water of temperature on a thin layer of wet, fresh plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster. Because of the makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, after a number of hours, many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia, a name also used to refer to these under-paintings. Later, new techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of a drawing made on paper were pricked over with a point, the paper held against the wall, if the painting was to be done over an existing fresco, the surface would be roughened to provide better adhesion. This area is called the giornata, and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, if mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later, a secco. An indispensable component of this process is the carbonatation of the lime, the eyes of the people of the School of Athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark outlining of his central figures within his frescoes, in a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After five centuries, the giornate, which were nearly invisible, have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes. Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by an a secco painting, which has fallen off. One of the first painters in the period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist, a secco or fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster. The pigments thus require a medium, such as egg. Blue was a problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli. By the end of the century this had largely displaced buon fresco
7.
Giotto
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Giotto di Bondone, known mononymously as Giotto and Latinized as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. He is generally considered the first in a line of artists who contributed to the Renaissance. Giottos masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, also known as the Arena Chapel and this fresco cycle depicts the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ. It is regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Early Renaissance. That Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and that he was chosen by the Commune of Florence in 1334 to design the new campanile of Florences Cathedral are among the few certainties of his biography. Tradition holds that Giotto was born in a farmhouse, perhaps at Colle di Romagnano or Romignano, since 1850, a tower house in nearby Colle Vespignano has borne a plaque claiming the honor of his birthplace, an assertion commercially publicized. However, recent research has suggested that he was born in Florence. His fathers name was Bondone, and he is described in surviving records as a person of good standing. Most authors accept that Giotto was his name, but it is likely to have been an abbreviation of Ambrogio or Angelo. The year of his birth is calculated from the fact that Antonio Pucci, however, the word seventy fits into the rhyme of the poem better than would have a longer and more complex age, so it is possible that Pucci used artistic license. In his Lives, Giorgio Vasari states that Giotto was a shepherd boy, the great Florentine painter Cimabue discovered Giotto drawing pictures of his sheep on a rock. They were so lifelike that Cimabue approached Giotto and asked if he could take him on as an apprentice, Cimabue was one of the two most highly renowned painters of Tuscany, the other being Duccio, who worked mainly in Siena. Vasari recounts a number of stories about Giottos skill as a young artist. He tells of one occasion when Cimabue was absent from the workshop, later when Cimabue returned, he tried in vain several times to brush the fly off. The messenger departed ill pleased, not doubting that he had made a fool of. The messenger brought other artists drawings back to the Pope in addition to Giottos, many scholars today are uncertain about Giottos training, and consider Vasaris account that he was Cimabues pupil as legend, citing earlier sources which suggest that Giotto was not Cimabues pupil. About 1290, Giotto married Ciuta, the daughter of Lapo del Pela of Florence, the marriage produced four daughters and four sons, one of whom became a painter. By 1301, Giotto owned a house in Florence, and when he was not traveling he would return there and live in comfort with his family
8.
Art of Europe
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The art of Europe encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile rock, and cave painting art, written histories of European art often begin with the art of the Ancient Middle East, and the Ancient Aegean civilisations, dating from the 3rd millennium BC. Parallel with these significant cultures, art of one form or another existed all over Europe, wherever there were people, leaving signs such as carvings, decorated artifacts and huge standing stones. Before the 1800s, the Christian church was an influence upon European art. The history of the Church was very much reflected in the history of art, in the same period of time there was renewed interest in heroes and heroines, tales of mythological gods and goddesses, great wars, and bizarre creatures which were not connected to religion. Secularism has influenced European art since the Classical period, while most art of the last 200 years has produced without reference to religion. On the other hand, European art has often influenced by politics of one kind or another, of the state, of the patron. European art is arranged into a number of periods, which, historically. Broadly the periods are, Classical, Byzantine, Medieval, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, European prehistoric art is an important part of the European cultural heritage. Prehistoric art history is divided into four main periods, Stone age, Neolithic, Bronze age. Most of the artifacts of this period are small sculptures. The oldest European cave art dates back 40,800, rock painting was also performed on cliff faces, but fewer of those have survived because of erosion. One well-known example is the paintings of Astuvansalmi in the Saimaa area of Finland. When Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola first encountered the Magdalenian paintings of the Altamira cave, Cantabria, Spain in 1879, recent reappraisals and numerous additional discoveries have since demonstrated their authenticity, while at the same time stimulating interest in the artistry of Upper Palaeolithic peoples. Cave paintings, undertaken with only the most rudimentary tools, can also furnish valuable insight into the culture, the figures are generally rather sketchily depicted in thin paint, with the relationships between the groups of humans and animals more carefully depicted than individual figures. Other less numerous groups of art, many engraved rather than painted. The Iberian examples are believed to date from a period perhaps covering the Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic. There are human heads and some fully represented animals, but full-length human figures at any size are so rare that their absence may represent a religious taboo, the Minoan culture is regarded as the oldest civilization in Europe
9.
Life of Christ in art
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Most of the subjects forming the narrative cycles have also been the subjects of individual works, though with greatly varying frequency. The most common subjects were grouped around the birth and childhood of Jesus, many cycles covered only one of these groups, and others combined the Life of the Virgin with that of Jesus. Subjects showing the life of Jesus during his life as a teacher, before the days of the Passion, were relatively few in medieval art. Later sometimes the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, finding in the Temple, the last episode of Jesuss childhood in the Canonical Gospels. Baptism of Jesus Miraculous catch of fish, more often found in Lives of apostles, temptation of Christ, often divided into its three parts. Wedding at Cana, the first miracle recorded in the Gospels, instead the Three Marys or Myrrhbearers finding an empty tomb was shown, or the next three scenes. Of these, the Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony and the Meditations on the Life of Christ were two of the most popular from the 14th century onwards. Another influence, especially in churches, was liturgical drama. Devotional practices such as the Stations of the Cross also influenced selection, the miracles of Christ did not score well on any of these counts. It was around this time that miracle scenes, which had often been prominent in Early Christian art, paintings in hospitals were more likely to show scenes of the miraculous cures. An exception is St Marks Basilica in Venice where a 12th-century cycle of mosaics originally had 29 scenes of the miracles, by the Gothic period the selection of scenes was at its most standardized. Early Christian art contains a number of narrative scenes collected on sarcophagi, miracles are very often shown, but the Crucifixion is absent until the 5th century, when it originated in Palestine, soon followed by the Nativity in much the form still seen in Orthodox icons today. The Adoration of the Magi and the Baptism are both often found earlier, but the choice of scenes is very variable, santAppollinare Nuovo in Ravenna has cycles on opposite walls of the Works and Passion of Christ from the early 6th century. The Passion is notable for not containing, among its thirteen scenes, a Crucifixion. The period of Christs Works still seems relatively prominent compared to the High Middle Ages, scenes with miracles were more often found in cycles of the life of Saint Peter and other apostles, from late antique sarcophagi to the Raphael Cartoons. Such schemes were later called the Poor Mans Bible by art historians, after stained-glass became important in Gothic art, this medium was also used, usually with a small medallion for each scene, requiring a very compressed composition. The frescos on the walls of the Sistine Chapel showing the Lives of Christ, from the 15th century prints had first scenes, then whole cycles, which were also one of the most common subjects for blockbooks. Albrecht Dürer produced a total of three print cycles of the Passion of Christ, large and small cycles in woodcut, and these were distributed all over Europe, and often used as patterns by less ambitious painters
10.
Life of the Virgin
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In both cases the number of scenes shown varies greatly with the space available. The Finding in the Temple, the last episode in the childhood of Christ, when the Chora cycle resumes, it has become part of the Life of Christ beginning with his Incarnation, as has Giottos and many Western examples. The Giotto cycle is very full at 26 scenes, but in a small ivory only two scenes may be shown. The commonest pair in such a case is the Annunciation and the Nativity of Jesus, the Tornabuoni Chapel cycle has nine scenes. In this case, as often, other scenes, such as the Visitation. A Life of Christ has many scenes that overlap with the Life of Mary. Albrecht Dürer produced a popular and influential series of 19 scenes in woodcut. Seventeen of these scenes preceded the Birth of the Virgin and these apocryphal scenes became much more restricted in the later Middle Ages. Certain events from the Life were celebrated as feasts by the Church, and others were not, this greatly affected the frequency with which they were depicted. Other Marian devotional practices affected the length and composition of cycles, theological developments also influenced selection, especially those concerning the Death of the Virgin and the Assumption, with the latter gradually replacing the former in the West. The Nativity is always represented, but this may be done by the Nativity itself, ghirlandajo has large rectangular spaces to fill, and avoids scenes with only a few participants, except for the Annunciation. Christ taking leave of his Mother was a new in the 14th century. Early cycles tend to more scenes and details from the apocryphal Gospels, including the story of Marys parents, Saint Anne and Joachim. The influence of these stories never disappeared entirely, partly because the canonical Gospels give few details of Marys life before, in the West the Pseudo-Matthew was the dominant apocryphal source, slightly different versions, all equally deriving from the Protoevangelium of James, were preferred in the East. Cycles of the Life of Mary were less frequent in the West than the East until the Gothic period, the cycle of the Nativity in the tympanum of the right portal of Chartres Cathedral is the earliest Western monumental cycle to appear under a large enthroned Virgin and Child. Such cycles continued to appear in prominent positions, gradually becoming less common than scenes of the Passion of Christ, with the arrival of the old master print, series of the Life were popular, and were often among the most ambitious works of printmaking artists. Martin Schongauers Death of the Virgin was one of his most influential works, adapted into painting by a host of artists in Germany, schongauer apparently planned a large series, but only four scenes were produced. Israhel van Meckenems series of 12 scenes, and Francesco Rossellis series, Dürer largely eclipsed these at the beginning of the 16th century with his cycle, his Death of the Virgin essentially following Schongauers composition
11.
Grisaille
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Grisaille is a term for a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many grisailles in fact include a slightly wider range, like the Andrea del Sarto fresco illustrated. Paintings executed in brown are referred to as brunaille, and paintings executed in green are called verdaille, a grisaille may be executed for its own sake, as underpainting for an oil painting, or as a model for an engraver to work from. Rubens and his school sometimes use monochrome techniques in sketching compositions for engravers, originally these were the sides on display for most of the time, as the doors were normally kept closed except on feast days or at the request of tourists. However today these images are invisible in museums when the tryptych is displayed open. In these cases imitation of sculpture was intended, sculpture was still more expensive than a painting even by a top master. The ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel have portions of the design in grisaille, Grisaille, while less widespread in the 20th Century, continues as an artistic technique. Pablo Picassos painting Guernica is one contemporary example, hugo Bastidas is a contemporary American painter known for black and white paintings that imitate the effect of grisaille and often resemble black and white photographs. Bastidas’ paintings frequently reference architecture, water, vegetation and art history, and reflect his concern about the condition, globalization. After returning to New York from a Fulbright Fellowship in his native Ecuador in the early 1990s, Bastidas began using a color palette of black. His medium- and large-scale paintings allude to black-and-white photography, and feature contrasting zones of high, by making thousands of marks with a size No.1 hogs bristle brush on linen primed with rabbit-skin glue, Bastidas achieves a high level of image definition. He also works in photography, which informs his subject matter without rendering a photo-realistic effect. With the 20th centurys emphasis on painting, the grisaille technique lost favour with artists of the period. This historic method is still incorporated into the curriculum of some private ateliers, the term is also applied to monochrome painting in other media such as enamels, where an effect similar to a relief in silver may be intended. It is common in stained glass, where the need for sections in different colours was thereby greatly reduced, portions of a window may be done in grisaille — using, for example, silver stain or vitreous paint — while other sections are done in coloured glass. Sepia tone References A Watercolour Demonstration Using Grisaille Notes Jan Gossarts Saint Jerome Penitent using grisaille Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and workshop, Odalisque in Grisaille
12.
Feast of the Annunciation
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It is celebrated on 25 March each year. The Feast of the Annunciation is observed almost universally throughout Christianity, especially within Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Catholicism and it is a major Marian feast, classified as a solemnity in the Catholic Church, a Festival in the Lutheran Churches, and a Principal Feast in the Anglican Communion. Here is recorded the angelic salutation of Gabriel to Mary, Hail, full of grace, the LORD is with thee, and Marys response to Gods will, Let it be done to me according to thy word. The angelic salutation is the origin of the Hail Mary prayer and the Angelus, the Feast of the Annunciation was celebrated as early as the fourth or fifth century. A Synod of Worcester, England in 1240 forbade all work on the feast. As this feast celebrates the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity, many Church Fathers, including St. Athanasius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Augustine, have expounded on it. In the tradition of the Western Churches, the feast is moved if necessary to prevent it falling during Holy Week or Easter Week or on a Sunday on the liturgical calendars. To avoid a Sunday before Holy Week, the day would be observed instead. In years such as 2016 when 25 March fell within Holy Week or Easter Week, in the tradition of the Eastern churches, the feast of the Annunciation is never moved under any circumstance. They have special combined liturgies for those years when the Annunciation coincides with another feast, in these churches, even on Good Friday a Divine Liturgy is celebrated when it coincides with the Annunciation. The Knights of Columbus observe the Feast of the Annunciation as the International Day of the Unborn Child
13.
Consecration
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Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word consecration literally means association with the sacred, persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups. A synonym for to consecrate is to sanctify, a distinct antonym is to desecrate, consecration is used in the Catholic Church as the setting apart for the service of God of both persons and objects. The ordination of a new bishop is called a consecration. While the term episcopal ordination is now common, consecration was the preferred term from the Middle Ages through the period including the Second Vatican Council. The Vatican II document Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy n.76 states, Both the ceremonies, the address given by the bishop at the beginning of each ordination or consecration may be in the mother tongue. When a bishop is consecrated, the laying of hands may be done by all the bishops present, the life of those who enter religious institutes and similar institutes is also described as Consecrated life. The rite of consecration of virgins can be traced back at least to the fourth century, by the time of the Second Vatican Council, the bestowal of the consecration was limited to cloistered nuns only. The Council directed that this should be revised, two similar versions were prepared, one for women living in monastic orders, another for consecrated virgins living in the world. An English translation of the rite for those living in the world is available on the web site of the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins, Chrism, an anointing oil, is olive oil consecrated by a bishop. Objects such as patens and chalices, used for the Sacrament of the Eucharist, also used to be consecrated by a bishop, using chrism. Before a new priest is ordained, the day there is a vigil. A more solemn rite exists for what used to be called the consecration of an altar, the rite is now called the dedication. Since it would be contradictory to dedicate to the service of God a mortgage-burdened building, to consecrate the bread and wine, the priest speaks the Words of Institution. It can also be used to describe the change of the bread and wine into the Body, the Chrism used at Chrismation and the Antimension placed on the Holy Table are also said to be consecrated. A person may be consecrated for a role within a religious hierarchy. In particular, the ordination of a bishop is called a consecration. In churches that follow the doctrine of succession, the bishops who consecrate a new bishop are known as the consecrators
14.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary
15.
Salvation
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Salvation is being saved or protected from harm or being saved or delivered from a dire situation. In religion, salvation is stated as the saving of the soul from sin, the academic study of salvation is called soteriology. In religion, salvation is the saving of the soul from sin and it may also be called deliverance or redemption from sin and its effects. Salvation is considered to be caused either by the grace of a deity, by free will and personal efforts through prayer and asceticism, religions often emphasize the necessity of both personal effort—for example, repentance and asceticism—and divine action. In contemporary Judaism, redemption, refers to God redeeming the people of Israel from their various exiles and this includes the final redemption from the present exile. Judaism holds that adherents do not need personal salvation as Christians believe, jews do not subscribe to the doctrine of original sin. In Judaism, salvation is related to the idea of redemption. God as the spirit and Creator of the World, is the source of all salvation for humanity. So redemption or salvation depends on the individual, Judaism stresses that salvation cannot be obtained through anyone else or by just invoking a deity or believing in any outside power or influence. The Messiah is not considered as a divine or supernatural being but as a dominating human influence in an age of universal peace. When examining Jewish intellectual sources throughout history, there is clearly a spectrum of opinions regarding death versus the afterlife, possibly an over-simplification, one source says salvation can be achieved in the following manner, Live a holy and righteous life dedicated to Yahweh, the God of Creation. Fast, worship, and celebrate during the appropriate holidays, by origin and nature, Judaism is an ethnic religion. Therefore, salvation has been conceived in terms of the destiny of Israel as the elect people of Yahweh. In the biblical text of Psalms, there is a description of death, the first reference to resurrection is collective in Ezekiels vision of the dry bones, when all the Israelites in exile will be resurrected. There is a reference to individual resurrection in the Book of Daniel and it was not until the 2nd century BCE that there arose a belief in an afterlife, in which the dead would be resurrected and undergo divine judgment. Before that time, the individual had to be content that his posterity continued within the holy nation, the salvation of the individual Jew was connected to the salvation of the entire people. This belief stemmed directly from the teachings of the Torah, in the Torah, God taught his people sanctification of the individual. However, he expected them to function together and be accountable to one another
16.
Motet
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In western music, a motet is a mainly vocal musical composition, of highly varied form and style, from the late medieval era to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music, according to Margaret Bent, a piece of music in several parts with words is as precise a definition of the motet as will serve from the 13th to the late 16th century and beyond. In the early 20th century, it was believed the name came from the Latin movere. The Medieval Latin for motet is motectum, and the Italian mottetto was also used, if the word is from Latin, the name describes the movement of the different voices against one another. Today, however, the French etymology is favoured by reference books, in fact, the troped clausulas that were the forerunner of the motet were originally called motelli, soon replaced by the term moteti. The earliest motets arose in the 13th century from the organum tradition exemplified in the Notre Dame school of Léonin and Pérotin, the motet probably arose from clausula sections, usually strophic interludes, in a longer sequence of organum, to which upper voices were added. Usually the clausula represented a sequence in Latin which was sung as a discant over a cantus firmus. The motet took a definite rhythm from the words of the verse, the main exception is the conductus motet, in which the parts proceed in essentially homophonic rhythms. The practice of discant over a cantus firmus marked the beginnings of counterpoint in Western music, from these first motets arose a medieval tradition of secular motets. It is suspected that, for the sake of intelligibility, in performance the cantus firmus, among the trouvères, Robert de Reins La Chievre and Richart de Fournival composed motets. While it grew out of the isorhythmic motet, the Renaissance composers of the motet generally abandoned the use of a repeated figure as a cantus firmus. During this time, however, the use of cantus firmi in works such as the parody mass tended to stretch the cantus firmus out to great lengths compared to the multivoice descant above it. This tended to obscure the rhythm supplied by the cantus firmus that had been apparent in the medieval isorhythmic motet. The cascading, passing chords created by the interplay between multiple voices, and the absence of a strong or obvious beat, are the features that distinguish medieval, the texts of antiphons were frequently used as motet texts. This is the sort of composition that is most familiarly designated by the term motet, in essence, these motets were sacred madrigals. The language of the text was the feature, if it is Latin, it is a motet, if the vernacular. Religious compositions in vernacular languages were often called madrigali spirituali, spiritual madrigals, secular motets continued to be written, however. These motets typically set a Latin text in praise of a monarch, commemorating some public triumph, nevertheless, the themes of courtly love often found in the medieval secular motet were banished from the Renaissance motet
17.
Enrico degli Scrovegni
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Enrico Scrovegni was a Paduan money-lender who lived around the time of Giotto and Dante. He may have been a member of the Cavalieri Gaudenti, Enrico is most famous as the patron of Giotto, commissioning the great painter to paint the famous Scrovegni Chapel, c. 1303-5, which he also commissioned. There is a tradition that he hired Giotto to atone for the sin of usury, in 1320 Enrico Scrovegni fled the wars and civil strife that plagued Padua at the time, and settled in Venice. He was formally banished from Padua in 1328, and died in Venice in 1336, new York, Time, Inc. p.109
18.
Amphitheatre
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An amphitheatre or amphitheater /ˈæmfᵻˌθiːətər/ is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον, from ἀμφί, ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium. In contrast both ancient Greek and ancient Roman theatres were built in a semicircle, with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area. In modern usage, amphitheatre is used to describe theatre-style stages with spectator seating on only one side, theatres in the round. Natural formations of similar shape are known as natural amphitheatres. Ancient Roman amphitheatres were major public venues, circular or oval in plan and they were used for events such as gladiator combats, chariot races, venationes and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire, the earliest Roman amphitheatres date from the middle of the 1st century BC, but most were built under Imperial rule, from the Augustan period onwards. Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman empire, the largest could accommodate 40, the most elaborate featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were elaborately decorated with marble, stucco and statuary. After the end of games in the 5th century and of staged animal hunts in the 6th. Their materials were mined or recycled, some were razed, and others were converted into fortifications. A few continued as convenient open meeting places, in some of these, in modern usage, an amphitheatre is a circular, semicircular or curved, acoustically vibrant performance space, particularly one located outdoors. Small-scale amphitheatres can serve to host outdoor local community performances, notable modern amphitheatres include the Shoreline Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl. The term amphitheatre is used for some indoor venues such as the Gibson Amphitheatre. The term amphitheatre can also be used to naturally occurring formations which would be ideal for this purpose. Arena Stadium Thingplatz List of Roman amphitheatres List of contemporary amphitheatres List of indoor arenas List of ancient Greek theatres Roman theatre Bomgardner, the Story of the Roman Amphitheatre
19.
Procession
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A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a form of public celebration, as forming an orderly. Connected with the triumph was the pompa circensis, or solemn procession that preceded the games in the circus and it first came into use at the Ludi Romani, when the games were preceded by a great procession from the Capitol to the Circus. The praetor or consul who appeared in the ponipa circensis wore the robes of a triumphing general, there were other local processions connected with the primitive worship of the country people, which remained unchanged, but they were eventually overshadowed by the popular piety of the Church. In this sense it appears to be used by Pope Leo I, as to public processions, these seem to have come into rapid vogue after the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the empire. Those at Jerusalem would seem to have long established when described by the author of the Peregrinatio Sylviae towards the end of the 4th century. Very early were the processions accompanied by hymns and prayers, known as litaniae and it is to such a procession that reference appears to be made in a letter of St Basil, which would thus be the first recorded mention of a public Christian procession. The first mention for the Western Church occurs in St Ambrose, in both these cases the litanies are stated to have been long in use. There is also mention of a procession accompanied by hymns, organized at Constantinople by St John Chrysostom in opposition to a procession of Arians, in Sozomen. In times of calamity litanies were held, in which the people walked in robes of penitence, fasting, barefooted, the cross was carried at the head of the procession and often the gospel and the relics of the saint were carried. So, too, Gregory the Great writes to the Sicilian bishops to hold processions to prevent an invasion of Sicily. A famous instance of these penitential litanies is the litania septiformis ordered by Gregory the Great in the year 590, when Rome had been inundated and pestilence had followed. In this litany seven processions, of clergy, laymen, monks, nuns, matrons, the poor and this litany has often been confused with the litania major, introduced at Rome in 598, but is quite distinct from it. From the time of the emperor Constantine I these processions were of great magnificence, Festivals involving processions were adopted by the Christian Church from the pagan calendar of Rome. The litaniae majores et minores, which are stated by Hermann Usener to have been first instituted by Pope Liberius and it is generally acknowledged that they are the equivalent of the Christian Church of the Roman lustrations of the crops in spring, the Ambarvalia, &c. The litania major, or great procession on St Marks day is shown to both in date and ritual with the Roman Robigalia, which took place ad. The litania major followed the route as far as the Milvian bridge, when it turned off and returned to St Peters. This was already established as a festival by 598, as is shown by a document of Gregory the Great that inculcates the duty of celebrating litaniam
20.
Giovanni Pisano
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Giovanni Pisano was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient Roman art. Henry Moore, referring to his statues for the facade of Siena Cathedral, Giovanni Pisano was the son of the famous sculptor Nicola Pisano. He received his training in the workshop of his father and in 1265–1268 he worked with his father on the pulpit in Siena Cathedral and his next major work with his father was the fountain Fontana Maggiore in Perugia. Nicola Pisano is thought to have died either around 1278 or in 1284 when Giovanni took up residence in Siena and these first works were made in Nicolas style and it is difficult to separate the contributions of the two artists. However the Madonna with Child can be attributed with certainty to Giovanni, giovannis next work was at Pisa Cathedral, sculpting the statues in the two rows of traceried gables at the exterior of the Baptistry. The vivacity of these statues is a new confirmation that he had left the style of his father behind. Between 1287 and 1296 he was appointed architect of Siena Cathedral. The architectural design and elegant sculptures for the facade of the cathedral in Siena show his tendencies to blend Gothic art with reminders of Roman art, the work was continued after his death, with still greater Gothic elaboration, by Memmo di Filippuccio. In 1296 he returned to Pisa to begin work on the Church of San Giovanni, in 1301 he continued his work on the Pulpit of Sant Andrea, Pistoia which he had already started in 1297. The pulpit has five reliefs, the Annunciation and Nativity, the Adoration, the Dream of the Magi and the Angel warning Joseph, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Crucifixion, and the Last Judgement. Giovannis work between 1302 and 1310 at the new pulpit for the Cathedral of Pisa shows his preference for animation in his characters. This pulpit with its dramatic scenes has become his masterwork and it shows nine scenes from the New Testament, carved in white marble with a chiaroscuro effect. It contains even a bold, naturalistic depiction of a naked Hercules and his figure Prudence in the pulpit may have been an inspiration for the Eve in the painting The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Masaccio. After the fire of 1595 it was packed away during the redecoration and was not rediscovered and re-erected until 1926, the church of San Nicola in Pisa was enlarged between 1297 and 1313 by the Augustinians, perhaps by the design of Giovanni Pisano. He was also responsible of the façade of San Paolo a Ripa dArno and his last major work dates probably from 1313 when he made a monument in memory of Margaret of Brabant at the request of her husband emperor Henry VII. One of his pupils was Giovanni di Balduccio, who became a famous sculptor. He also had an influence on the painter Pietro Lorenzetti, giorgio Vasari included a biography of Pisano in his book Le vite dei più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architetti The asteroid 7313 Pisano was named to honour Nicola and Giovanni Pisano
21.
Assisi
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Assisi is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. The 19th-century Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi, around 1000 BC a wave of immigrants settled in the upper Tiber valley as far as the Adriatic Sea, and also in the neighborhood of Assisi. These were the Umbrians, living in fortified settlements on high ground. From 450 BC these settlements were taken over by the Etruscans. The Romans took control of central Italy after the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC and they built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Monte Subasio. Roman remains can still be found in Assisi, city walls, the forum, a theatre, an amphitheatre, in 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well-preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in a condition rarely found outside sites such as Pompei. In 238 AD Assisi was converted to Christianity by bishop Rufino, according to tradition, his remains rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino in Assisi. The Ostrogoths of king Totila destroyed most of the town in 545, Assisi then came under the rule of the Lombards as part of the Lombard and then Frankish Duchy of Spoleto. The thriving commune became an independent Ghibelline commune in the 11th century, the city, which had remained within the confines of the Roman walls, began to expand outside these walls in the 13th century. In this period the city was under papal jurisdiction, the city went into a deep decline through the plague of the Black Death in 1348. The city came again under papal jurisdiction under the rule of Pope Pius II, in 1569 construction was started of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. During the Renaissance and in later centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, as the 17th-century palazzi of the Bernabei, now the site of many a pilgrimage, Assisi is linked in legend with its native son, St. Francis. The gentle saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honors with St. Catherine of Siena as the saint of Italy. He is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature, Assisi was hit by two devastating earthquakes, that shook Umbria in September 1997. But the recovery and restoration have been remarkable, although much remains to be done, massive damage was caused to many historical sites, but the major attraction, the Basilica di San Francesco, reopened less than 2 years later. UNESCO collectively designated the Franciscan structures of Assisi as a World Heritage Site in 2000, the Basilica of San Francesco dAssisi. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253. The Basilica was badly damaged by an earthquake on 26 September 1997, during part of the vault collapsed, killing four people inside the church
22.
Rimini
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Rimini is a city of 146,606 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa and it is one of the most famous seaside resorts in Europe, thanks to its 15-kilometre-long sandy beach, over 1,000 hotels, and thousands of bars, restaurants and discos. The first bathing establishment opened in 1843, an art city with ancient Roman and Renaissance monuments, Rimini is the hometown of the famous film director Federico Fellini as well. In the 19th century, Rimini was one of the most active cities in the revolutionary front, hosting many of the movements aimed at Italian unification. In the course of World War II, the city was the scene of clashes and bombings, finally, in recent years it has become one of the most important sites for trade fairs and conferences in Italy. The total approximate population of the Rimini urban area is 225,000, in 268 BC at the mouth of the Ariminus, the Roman Republic founded the colonia of Ariminum. The city was involved in the wars but remained faithful to the popular party and to its leaders, firstly Gaius Marius. After crossing the Rubicon, the made his legendary appeal to the legions in the Forum of Rimini. Ariminum was seen as a bastion against invaders from Gaul and also as a springboard for conquering the Padana plain, remains of the amphitheater that could seat 12000 people, and a five-arched bridge of Istrian stone completed by Tiberius are also still visible. Later Galla Placidia built the church of San Stefano, when the Ostrogoths conquered Rimini in 493, Odoacer, besieged in Ravenna, had to capitulate. During the Gothic War, Rimini was taken and retaken many times, in its vicinity the Byzantine general Narses overthrew the Alamanni. Under the Byzantine rule, it belonged to the Pentapolis, part of the Exarchate of Ravenna, in 728, it was taken with many other cities by Liutprand, King of the Lombards but returned to the Byzantines about 735. Pepin the Short gave it to the Holy See, but during the wars of the popes, in the 13th century, it suffered from the discords of the Gambacari and Ansidei families. The city became a municipality in the 14th century and with the arrival of the orders, numerous convents and churches were built. In fact, Giotto inspired the 14th-century School of Rimini, which was the expression of cultural ferment. The House of Malatesta emerged from the struggles between municipal factions with Malatesta da Verucchio, who in 1239 was named podestà of the city, despite interruptions, his family held authority until 1528. In 1312 he was succeeded by Malatestino Malatesta, first signore of the city and Pandolfo I Malatesta, ferrantino, son of Malatesta II, was opposed by his cousin Ramberto and by Cardinal Bertrand du Pouget, legate of Pope John XXII. Malatesta II was also lord of Pesaro and he was succeeded by Malatesta Ungaro and Galeotto I Malatesta, uncle of the former, lord also of Fano, Pesaro, and Cesena
23.
Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua
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The basilica is known locally as il Santo. It is one of the eight international shrines recognized by the Holy See, construction of the Basilica probably began around 1232, just one year after the death of St. Anthony. It was completed in 1310 although several structural modifications took place between the end of the 14th and the mid 15th century. The Saint, according to his will, had buried in the small church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, probably dating from the late 12th century. This church was incorporated into the present basilica as the Cappella della Madonna Mora, santAntonio is a giant edifice without a precise architectural style. Over the centuries, it has grown under a variety of different influences as shown by the exterior details, the exterior style is a mixing of mainly Romanesque and Byzantine elements, with some Gothic features. Later in the 13th century, the aisles were added in a more Gothic style, the eastern apse was also extended in the Gothic style, receiving a ribbed vault and nine radiating chapels in the French manner. Later also, the Treasury chapel was built in 1691 in the Baroque style by Filippo Parodi, the domes, like the domes of St. Marks Basilica, were raised in height externally, giving a Byzantine appearance to the building, externally, at the main roof line each section of the building is marked by a low gable decorated with blind arcading in brick. These gables combine with the domes, the buttresses and the little towers to create a massive sculptural form. The interior of the church contains numerous monuments, some of noteworthy artistic value. The Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, in the aisle, houses the tomb of the famous condottiero Gattamelata. The bronze tabernacle is made by Girolamo Campagna and this highly theatrical work was created by Lodovico Pogliaghi between 1927–36. Relics of St Anthony are to be found in the ornate baroque Treasury Chapel, the third relief Saint bringing back to life a man who had been murdered is a masterpiece by Girolamo Campagna. The late-16th century statues are by Tiziano Aspetti The Basilica contains several important images of the Madonna, the Madonna Mora is a statue of the Madonna with the Christ Child by the French sculptor Rainaldino di Puy-lEvéque, dating from 1396. Her name refers to her hair and olive skin tone. The Madonna del Pilastro is a fresco by Stefano da Ferrara. Among other sculptural work is the magnificent Easter candelabrum in the apse, finished in 1515 by Andrea Briosco, altichieros Crucifixion is one of the most significant paintings of the late 14th century
24.
Annunciation
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Gabriel told Mary to name her son Yehoshua, meaning YHWH is salvation. According to Luke 1,26, the Annunciation occurred in the month of Elizabeths pregnancy with John the Baptist. Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, an approximation of the vernal equinox nine full months before Christmas. In England, this came to be known as Lady Day and it marked the new year until 1752. The 2nd-century writer Irenaeus of Lyon regarded the conception of Jesus as 25 March coinciding with the Passion, the Annunciation has been a key topic in Christian art in general, as well as in Marian art in the Catholic Church, particularly during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A work of art depicting the Annunciation is sometimes called an Annunciation. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured,29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary,31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible,38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her,19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS,35 In answer the angel said to her, Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason the one who is born will be called holy, manuscript 4Q246 of the Dead Sea Scrolls reads, shall be great upon the earth. O king, all people shall make peace, and all shall serve him and he shall be called the son of the Great God, and by his name shall he be hailed as the Son of God, and they shall call him Son of the Most High. It has been suggested that the similarity in content is such that Lukes version may in some way be dependent on the Qumran text, the Annunciation is described in the Quran, in Sura 003,045 verses 45–51,45 Behold. Muslim tradition holds that the Annunciation took place during the month of Ramadan, in Greek, the Annunciation is known as the Good Tidings or Evangelism. In the Orthodox Churches that use a new style Calendar, the feast is celebrated on March 25, in churches using the old style Julian calendar, the feast day is April 7. The traditional hymn for the feast of the Annunciation goes back to St Athanasius, indeed, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Great and Holy Friday only when the latter coincides with the feast of the Annunciation
25.
Pope Benedict XI
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Pope Benedict XI, born Nicola Boccasini, was Pope from 22 October 1303 to his death on 7 July,1304. He was also a member of the Order of Preachers, among the events of his brief pontificate was his revocation of Pope Boniface VIIIs papal bull, Unam Sanctam, on papal supremacy. He was beatified with his cultus confirmed by Pope Clement XII in 1736 and he is a patron of Treviso. Niccolò Boccasini was born in Treviso to Boccasio, a notary, whose brother was a priest, and Berarda. The family lived outside the walls of Treviso, in a suburb called S. Bartolommeo, in 1246, a Dominican friar left a sum of money in his will to Bernarda and her children, recently orphaned. A condition was that if Niccolò were to enter the Dominican Order he would receive half of the entire legacy, from the age of six, it seems, Niccolò was destined for the monkish life. His first teacher was his uncle, the priest of S. Andrea and he entered the Order of Preachers in 1254, at the age of fourteen, taking the habit of a novice in his native Treviso. He was taken to Venice by his Prior and presented to the Provincial, for the next seven years or so, Niccolò pursued his basic education in Venice. Toward the end of period, he served as tutor to the young sons of Romeo Quirini of Venice. In 1262, Niccolò was transferred to Milan, to the new studium of S. Eustorgio and he spent the next six years at S. Eustorgio. By the end of his term at S. Eustorgio he must have become a member of the Order of Preachers. As a professed brother he served in the position as a Lecturer in the studium in Venice. He served as lector for fourteen years, from 1268 to 1282, in 1276 he is attested as being lector at the Dominican convent in his native Treviso, a post he was still holding in 1280. In February,1282, he is found at Genoa, again as lector and he was not a professor, since he had never taken a university degree. In 1286, at the meeting of the Provincial Chapter, which took place that year in Brescia, Niccolò was elected Provincial Prior of Lombardy. Instead of being attached to a single convent for years, he would instead become peripatetic, moving from one convent to another on visits of inspection, encouragement. In Lombardy at the time there were some fifty-one convents and he also had responsibility as an Inquisitor, a task for which popes considered Franciscans and Dominicans especially suited. He also had the responsibility of convening the Provincial Chapters, in 1287, the Chapter was at Venice, in 1288, it was at Rimini, in 1289 at the General Chapter, which was held at Trier, Fr
26.
Indulgence
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In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, an indulgence is a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins. It may reduce the temporal punishment after death, in the state or process of purification called Purgatory and this temporal punishment would not be considered time, as Purgatory, like Heaven and Hell, is said to exist outside of time. The recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it and this is most often the saying of a specified prayer, but may also include the visiting of a particular place, or the performance of specific good works. They draw on the Treasury of Merit accumulated by Christs superabundantly meritorious sacrifice on the cross and they are granted for specific good works and prayers in proportion to the devotion with which those good works are performed or prayers recited. By the late Middle Ages, the abuse of indulgences, mainly through commercialization, had become a problem which the Church recognized but was unable to restrain effectively. Indulgences were from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation a target of attacks by Martin Luther, eventually the Catholic Counter-Reformation curbed the excesses, but indulgences continue to play a role in modern Catholic religious life. Reforms in the 20th century largely abolished the quantification of indulgences and these days or years were meant to represent the equivalent of time spent in penance, although it was widely taken to mean time spent in Purgatory. The reforms also reduced the number of indulgences granted for visiting particular churches. When a person sins, he acquires certain liabilities, the liability of guilt, a mortal sin is equivalent to refusing friendship with God and communion with the only source of eternal life. The loss of life with God, and the eternal death of hell that is the effect of this rejection, is called the eternal punishment of sin. The Sacrament of Penance removes the guilt and the liability of eternal punishment related to mortal sin, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the punishment of sin. The process of sanctification and interior renewal requires not only forgiveness from the guilt of sin and this purification process gives rise to temporal punishment, because, not involving a total rejection of God, it is not eternal and can be expiated. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer, the temporal punishment that follows sin is thus undergone either during life on earth or in purgatory. Indulgences are a help towards achieving this purification, an indulgence does not forgive the guilt of sin, nor does it provide release from the eternal punishment associated with unforgiven mortal sins. Similarly, an indulgence is not a permit to commit sin, ordinarily, forgiveness of mortal sins is obtained through Confession. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The treasury of the Church is the value, which can never be exhausted
27.
Church of the Eremitani
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The Church of the Eremitani, or Church of the Hermits, is an Augustinian church of the 13th century in Padua, northern Italy. It was built in 1276 and dedicated to the saints Philip and James, it is however best known as degli Eremitani from the old monastery. James and Christopher, formerly illustrated by Mantegnas frescoes, was destroyed by the Allies in World War II. There are more than 88000 fragments covering only 77 m2, while the area covered several hundreds. Other artists whose frescoes are preserved in the church include Guariento, the church contains the tombs of Jacopo II da Carrara and Ubertino da Carrara da Carrara, lords of Padua, both by Andriolo de Santi and others. They were formerly in the church of SantAgostino, but were moved here after that church was razed in 1819
28.
Apse
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In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an Exedra. Smaller apses may also be in other locations, especially shrines, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault. Commonly, the apse of a church, cathedral or basilica is the semicircular or polygonal termination to the choir or sanctuary, in relation to church architecture it is generally the name given to where the altar is placed or where the clergy are seated. An apse is occasionally found in a synagogue, e. g. Maoz Haim Synagogue, the apse is separated from the main part of the church by the transept. Smaller apses are sometimes built in other than the east end. The domed apse became a part of the church plan in the early Christian era. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the apse is known as diaconicon. Various ecclesiastical features of which the apse may form part are drawn here, The chancel, directly to the east beyond the choir contains the High Altar. This area is reserved for the clergy, and was formerly called the presbytery. Hemi-cyclic choirs, first developed in the East, came to use in France in 470, famous northern French examples of chevets are in the Gothic cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais and Reims. The word ambulatory refers to an aisle in the apse that passes behind the altar and choir. An ambulatory may refer to the passages that enclose a cloister in a monastery, or to other types of aisles round the edge of a church building
29.
Transept
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A transept is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the edifice. In churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a building within the Romanesque. Each half of a transept is known as a semitransept, the transept of a church separates the nave from the sanctuary, apse, choir, chevet, presbytery or chancel. The transepts cross the nave at the crossing, which belongs equally to the main nave axis, upon its four piers, the crossing may support a spire, a central tower or a crossing dome. Since the altar is located at the east end of a church. The north and south end walls often hold decorated windows of stained glass, such as rose windows, occasionally, the basilicas and the church and cathedral planning that descended from them were built without transepts, sometimes the transepts were reduced to matched chapels. More often, the transepts extended well beyond the sides of the rest of the building, forming the shape of a cross and this design is called a Latin cross ground plan, and these extensions are known as the arms of the transept. A Greek cross ground plan, with all four extensions the same length, when churches have only one transept, as at Pershore Abbey, there is generally a historical disaster, fire, war or funding problem, to explain the anomaly. At Beauvais only the chevet and transepts stand, the nave of the cathedral was never completed after a collapse of the daring high vaulting in 1284. At St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, only the choir, in a metro station or similar construction, a transept is a space over the platforms and tracks of a station with side platforms, containing the bridge between the platforms. Placing the bridge in a rather than an enclosed tunnel allows passengers to see the platforms. Aisle Apse Cathedral architecture Cathedral diagram Glossary of the Catholic Church Transom
30.
Triumphal arch
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A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. The main structure is decorated with carvings, sculpted reliefs. More elaborate triumphal arches may have multiple archways, Triumphal arches are one of the most influential and distinctive types of architecture associated with ancient Rome. The survival of great Roman triumphal arches such as the Arch of Titus inspired many states and rulers, up to the present day. Triumphal arch is also the given to the arch above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church where a rood can be placed. The origins of the Roman triumphal arch are unclear, Triumphal arch look similar to Mesopotamian Arch entrances like the Ishtar Gate but there is no evidence to support that the Romans got their influence from there. The development of the arch is often associated with ancient Roman architecture. To fully understand this development however it is important to understand the importance of basic arches in Roman civilization, the Romans had learned how to construct effective arches from the Etruscans, who lived in central Italy. This knowledge had a impact on the architecture of Roman civilization. As a result, the Romans used arches for things such as aqueducts, amphitheaters, bridges and they had effectively used the arch in various aspects of their civilization and city structure. Since the Romans had effectively perfected this architectural structure, one could conclude that the arch symbolized perfection, monumental gateways had already been in use for hundreds of years by civilizations such as the Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians and Myceneans. There were precursors to the arch within the Roman world, in Italy. Surviving examples of Etruscan arches can still be seen at Perugia, the two key elements of the triumphal arch – a round-topped arch and a square entablature – had long been in use as separate architectural elements in ancient Greece. Entablatures were a part of the structural fabric of such buildings. The great innovation of the Romans was to combine a round arch, the first recorded Roman triumphal arches were set up in the time of the Roman Republic. Generals who were granted a triumph were termed triumphators and would erect fornices or honorific arches bearing statues to commemorate their victories, a number of fornices were built in Rome during the Republican era. Lucius Steritinus erected two in 196 BC to commemorate his victories in Hispania, another fornix was built on the Capitoline Hill by Scipio Africanus in 190 BC, and Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus constructed one in the Roman Forum in 121 BC. None of them today and little is known about their appearance
31.
Catherine of Alexandria
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According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, and converted hundreds of people to Christianity. She was martyred around the age of 18, over 1,100 years following her martyrdom, Saint Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counselled her. The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates her as a Great Martyr, in the Catholic Church she is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. In 1969 the Catholic Church removed her feast day from the General Roman Calendar, however, in 2002, her feast was restored to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial. According to the narrative, Catherine was the daughter of Constus. From a young age she devoted herself to study, a vision of the Madonna and Child persuaded her to become a Christian. When the persecutions began under Maxentius, she went to the emperor, the emperor summoned fifty of the best pagan philosophers and orators to dispute with her, hoping that they would refute her pro-Christian arguments, but Catherine won the debate. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death, upon the failure of Maxentius to make Catherine yield by way of torture, he tried to win the beautiful and wise princess over by proposing marriage. The saint refused, declaring that her spouse was Jesus Christ, the furious emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered. A tradition dating to about 800 states that carried her corpse to Mount Sinai. Her body was discovered around the year 800 at Mount Sinai, with hair still growing, in the 6th century, the Eastern Emperor Justinian had established what is now Saint Catherines Monastery in Egypt. Although Eusebius did not name the woman, she had identified with Dorothea of Alexandria. It is also referred to as Saint Helens Chapel, the main church was built between 548 and 565, and the monastery became a major pilgrimage site for devotees of Catherine and the other relics and sacred sites there. Saint Catherines Monastery survives, and is a repository of early Christian art, architecture and illuminated manuscripts that remains open to tourists. The site is sacred to Christianity and Islam, there is no evidence that Katherine herself was a historical figure and she may well have been a composite drawn from memories of women persecuted for their faith. Many aspects of her Passio are clearly legendary and conform to well-known hagiographical topoi, rufinus states that her first name was Dorothea, and that at her christening she acquired the name Aikaterina, a name that signifies her pure, clean and uncontaminated nature. There are several pilgrimage narratives that chronicle the journey to Mount Sinai, most notably those of John Mandeville, however, the monastery at Mount Sinai was the best-known site of Catherine pilgrimage, but was also the most difficult to reach. The most prominent Western shrine was the monastery in Rouen that claimed to house Catherines fingers and it was not alone in the west, however, accompanied by many, scattered shrines and altars dedicated to Catherine, which existed throughout France and England
32.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych
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The Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych is a painting by the Italian medieval artist Simone Martini, dating to 1320. Originally placed at the altar of the church of Santa Caterina in Pisa. The work is signed SYMON DE SENIS ME PINXIT in the panel with the Madonna. According to the original convents annals, the polyptych was placed at the altar in 1320 and it was thus completed by that year, having been likely begun in 1319. The polyptych is Martinis largest work, and includes numerous sub-panels, aside from the seven main ones, there are 15 predella figures, an upper row with other 14 figures and seven cusps with other characters. There is a total of 43 figures, all these figures are enclosed within three foiled cusped arches. Above the Madonna are the two archangels Gabriel and Michael and, above them, the Blessing Christ, the six saints panel are surmounted by, also in couples, the Twelve Apostles, with the exception of St. John the Evangelist, replaced by St. Paul. The predella shows, at the center, Christ in the Sepulchre with the Madonna and St
33.
Lunette
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In architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either filled with recessed masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, if a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the arch above the door, masonry or glass, is a lunette. If the door is an access, and the lunette above is massive and deeply set. The term is employed to describe the section of interior wall between the curves of a vault and its springing line. A system of intersecting vaults produces lunettes on the surfaces above a cornice. The lunettes in the structure of the Sistine Chapel inspired Michelangelo to come up with compositions for the spaces. In neoclassical architecture of Robert Adam and his French contemporaries, like Ange-Jacques Gabriel, the lunettes above lent themselves to radiating motifs, a sunburst of bellflower husks, radiating fluting, a low vase of flowers, etc. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc taken from an oval, a lunette is commonly called a half-moon window, when the space is used as a window. Fanlight Media related to Lunettes at Wikimedia Commons
34.
Gethsemane
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Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, most famous as the place where Jesus prayed and his disciples slept the night before his crucifixion. Gethsemane appears in Greek of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark as Γεθσημανή, the name is derived from the Aramaic ܓܕܣܡܢ, meaning oil press. Matthew and Mark call it χωρἰον, a place or estate, the Gospel of John says Jesus entered a garden with his disciples. According to the New Testament it was a place that Jesus and his disciples customarily visited, there are four locations claimed to be the place where Jesus prayed on the night he was betrayed. The Church of All Nations overlooking a garden with the Rock of the Agony, the location near the Tomb of the Virgin to the north. The Greek Orthodox location to the east, the Russian Orthodox orchard, next to the Church of Maria Magdalene by an orchard. The Latins, however, have within the last few years succeeded in gaining sole possession, the Greeks have invented another site a little to the north of it. My own impression is that both are wrong, I am inclined to place the garden in the secluded vale several hundred yards to the north-east of the present Gethsemane. All of the foregoing is based on tradition and the conflating of the synoptic accounts of Mark. Mark and Matthew record that Jesus went to a called the oil press. Modern scholarship acknowledges that the location of Gethsemane is unknown, according to Luke 22, 43–44, Jesus anguish on the Mount of Olives was so deep that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. According to the Eastern Orthodox Church tradition, Gethsemane is the garden where the Virgin Mary was buried and was assumed into heaven after her dormition on Mount Zion, the Garden of Gethsemane became a focal site for early Christian pilgrims. It was visited in 333 by the anonymous Pilgrim of Bordeaux, in his Onomasticon, Eusebius of Caesarea notes the site of Gethsemane located at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and he adds that the faithful were accustomed to go there to pray. Eight ancient olive trees growing in the Latin site of the garden may be 900 years old, a study conducted by the National Research Council of Italy in 2012 found that several olive trees in the garden are amongst the oldest known to science. Dates of 1092,1166 and 1198 AD were obtained by carbon dating from older parts of the trunks of three trees, DNA tests show that the trees were originally planted from the same parent plant. This could indicate attempt to keep the lineage of an older species intact, then again the three trees tested could have been sprouts reviving from the older roots. However Bernabei writes, “All the tree trunks are hollow inside so that the central, in the end, only three from a total of eight olive trees could be successfully dated. The dated ancient olive trees do, however, not allow any hypothesis to be made with regard to the age of the five giant olive trees. ”Babcox said that the roots of the oldest trees are possibly much older
35.
Flagellation of Christ
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It is the fourth station of the modern alternate Stations of the Cross, and a Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary. The column to which Christ is normally tied, and the rope, scourge, the Basilica di Santa Prassede in Rome, claimed to possess the original column. From the 15th century the subject is also painted in individual works, the most-discussed single work is the enigmatic treatment on a small panel in Urbino by Piero della Francesca, whose precise meaning has eluded generations of art historians. At the same time Christ at the Column or Christ at the Stake developed as an image of Christ alone tied to a column or stake. This was most popular in Baroque sculpture, and also related to the subject, not found in the canonical Gospels and it is often difficult to distinguish between these two, and between Christ at the Column and a Flagellation. The Church of the Flagellation, at what was supposed to be the site in Jerusalem of the event was rebuilt in 1839, and again in 1929. Flagellation at the hands of the Romans is mentioned in three of the four canonical Gospels, John 19,1, Mark 14,65, and Matthew 27,26, none of three accounts are more detailed than Johns Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. Lukes comparable account, Luke 22, 63-65 is of the High Priests guards beating and mocking Jesus, in the Passion of Christ the episode precedes the Mocking of Christ and the Crowning with thorns, which the Gospels happened at the same time or immediately after. Unlike the flogging, these were not part of the normal Roman judicial process and it first appears in art in the West in the 9th century. It is almost never found in Byzantine art, and remains rare in Eastern Orthodox art at any date. Initially found in illuminated manuscripts and small ivories, there are surviving monumental wall-paintings from around 1000 in Italy, from the start there are most often three figures, Christ and two servants of Pontius Pilate who whip him. In early depictions Christ may be naked, or wearing a robe, facing out or seen from behind, from the 12th century it is standard that Christ wears a loincloth. Christs face is visible, giving artists the technical problem of showing him receiving the strokes on his back - the usual place - while at the same time leaving his face visible. Often he appears to be receiving the strokes on the front of his body, sometimes another figure, who may be Herod, is present. These were presumably sometimes followed in processions by flagellants, who could see Christ suffering in front of them, in modern times, filmmakers have depicted Christ being flogged. It is a significant scene in Mel Gibsons 2004 The Passion of the Christ, in Kubricks A Clockwork Orange, Alex imagines himself as a Roman soldier flogging Jesus
36.
Chancel
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In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary, at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse and it is generally the area used by the clergy and choir during worship, while the congregation is in the nave. Direct access may be provided by a door, usually on the south side of the church. In smaller churches, where the altar is backed by the outside east wall and there is no distinct choir, in churches with a retroquire area behind the altar, this may only be included in the broader definition of chancel. In a cathedral or other large church there may be a choir area at the start of the chancel, before reaching the sanctuary. All these may be included in the chancel, at least in architectural terms, in churches with less traditional plans the term may not be useful in either architectural or ecclesiastical terms. The chancel may be a step or two higher than the level of the nave, and the sanctuary is often raised still further and this is an arch which separates the chancel from the nave and transept of a church. As well as the altar, the sanctuary may house a credence table, in some churches, the congregation may gather on three sides or in a semicircle around the chancel. In some churches, the pulpit and lectern may be in the chancel, the word chancel derives from the French usage of chancel from the Late Latin word cancellus. This refers to the form of rood screens. The chancel was formerly known as the presbytery, because it was reserved for the clergy, a large chancel made most sense in monasteries and cathedrals where there was a large number of singing clergy and boys from a choir school to occupy the choir. These usually sat in the nave, with any lay congregation, however the screen enjoyed a small revival in the 19th century, after the passionate urgings of Augustus Pugin, who wrote A Treatise on Chancel Screens and Rood Lofts, and others. After the Reformation Protestant churches generally moved the forward, typically to the front of the chancel. The rear of deep chancels became little used in churches surviving from the Middle Ages, with the emphasis on sermons, and their audibility, some churches simply converted their chancels to seat part of the congregation. Fleming, John, Honour, Hugh, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Dictionary of Architecture,1980, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Priscilla Metcalf, The Cathedrals of England, Southern England,1985, Viking White, James F. The Cambridge Movement, The Ecclesiologists and the Gothic Revival,1962, Wipf and Stock Publishers, ISBN1592449379,9781592449378, google books Chancel
37.
Dante Alighieri
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Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages, the majority of poetry was written in Latin. In De vulgari eloquentia, however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature, as a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, Dante has been called the Father of the Italian language and one of the greatest poets of world literature. In Italy, Dante is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta and il Poeta, he, Petrarch, Dante was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, present-day Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in the Divine Comedy, in 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11. Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans, but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei, born no earlier than about 1100. Dantes father, Alaghiero or Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the middle of the 13th century. Dantes family had loyalties to the Guelphs, an alliance that supported the Papacy and which was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines. The poets mother was Bella, likely a member of the Abati family and she died when Dante was not yet ten years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. When Dante was 12, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati, contracting marriages at this early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. But by this time Dante had fallen in love with another, Beatrice Portinari, years after his marriage to Gemma he claims to have met Beatrice again, he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. The exact date of his marriage is not known, the certain information is that, before his exile in 1301. Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino and this victory brought about a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take any part in life, one had to enroll in one of the citys many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians. In the following years, his name is recorded as speaking or voting in the various councils of the republic. A substantial portion of minutes from meetings in the years 1298–1300 was lost, however
38.
Thomas Aquinas
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Saint Thomas Aquinas O. P. was an Italian Dominican friar, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. He was an influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the Doctor Angelicus. The name Aquinas identifies his ancestral origins in the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio and he was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and the father of Thomism, of which he argued that reason is found in God. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy developed or opposed his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, the works for which he is best known are the Summa Theologiae and the Summa contra Gentiles. His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle form an important part of his body of work, furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Churchs liturgy. Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Churchs greatest theologians, Pope Benedict XV declared, This Order. Acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the praises of the Pontiffs. The English philosopher Anthony Kenny considers Aquinas to be one of the dozen greatest philosophers of the western world, Thomas was most probably born in the castle of Roccasecca, located in Aquino, old county of the Kingdom of Sicily, c.1225. According to some authors, he was born in the castle of his father, though he did not belong to the most powerful branch of the family, Landulf of Aquino was a man of means. As a knight in the service of King Roger II, he held the title miles, Thomass mother, Theodora, belonged to the Rossi branch of the Neapolitan Caracciolo family. Landulfs brother Sinibald was abbot of the first Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and it was here that Thomas was probably introduced to Aristotle, Averroes and Maimonides, all of whom would influence his theological philosophy. There his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music was Petrus de Ibernia, at the age of nineteen Thomas resolved to join the recently founded Dominican Order. Thomass change of heart did not please his family, in an attempt to prevent Theodoras interference in Thomass choice, the Dominicans arranged to move Thomas to Rome, and from Rome, to Paris. Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomass release, which had the effect of extending Thomass detention, Thomas passed this time of trial tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order. Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans, at one point, two of his brothers resorted to the measure of hiring a prostitute to seduce him. According to legend Thomas drove her away wielding a fire iron and that night two angels appeared to him as he slept and strengthened his determination to remain celibate. By 1244, seeing all of her attempts to dissuade Thomas had failed, Theodora sought to save the familys dignity. In her mind, an escape from detention was less damaging than an open surrender to the Dominicans
39.
Usury
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Usury is, as defined today, the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. Originally, usury meant interest of any kind, a loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors. Historically in Christian societies, and still in many Islamic societies today, someone who practices usury can be called a usurer, but a more common term in contemporary English is loan shark. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning, taking advantage of others misfortunes—or in a legal sense where interest rates may be regulated by law, historically, some cultures have regarded charging any interest for loans as sinful. Some of the earliest known condemnations of usury come from the Vedic texts of India, similar condemnations are found in religious texts from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. At times, many nations from ancient China to ancient Greece to ancient Rome have outlawed loans with any interest, though the Roman Empire eventually allowed loans with carefully restricted interest rates, the Christian church in medieval Europe banned the charging of interest at any rate. Banking during Roman times was different from modern banking, during the Principate, most banking activities were conducted by private individuals, not by large banking firms like the ones that exist today. Since almost all moneylenders in the Empire were private individuals, anybody that had any additional capital and wished to lend it out could easily do so. The annual rates of interest on loans varied in the range of 4–12 percent, the apparent absence of intermediate rates suggests that the Romans may have had difficulty calculating the interest due on anything other than mathematically convenient rates. They quoted them on a basis, and the most common rates were multiples of twelve. Monthly rates tended to range from simple fractions to 3–4 percent, moneylending during this period was largely a matter of private loans advanced to persons short of cash, whether persistently in debt or temporarily until the next harvest. Mostly, it was undertaken by exceedingly rich men who were prepared to take on a risk if the profit looked good. Investment was always regarded as a matter of seeking personal profit, Banking was of the small, back-street variety, run by the urban lower-middle class of petty shopkeepers. By the 3rd century, acute currency problems in the Empire drove them into decline and it was evident that usury meant exploitation of the poor. The First Council of Nicaea, in 325, forbade clergy from engaging in usury, at the time, usury was interest of any kind, and the canon forbade the clergy to lend money at interest rates even as low as 1 percent per year. Later ecumenical councils applied this regulation to the laity, Lateran III decreed that persons who accepted interest on loans could receive neither the sacraments nor Christian burial. Pope Clement V made the belief in the right to usury a heresy in 1311, pope Sixtus V condemned the practice of charging interest as detestable to God and man, damned by the sacred canons and contrary to Christian charity. Theological historian John Noonan argues that the doctrine was enunciated by popes, certain negative historical renditions of usury carry with them social connotations of perceived unjust or discriminatory lending practices
40.
Inferno (Dante)
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Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieris 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso, the Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, Canto I The poem begins on the night of Maundy Thursday on March 241300 A. D. shortly before dawn of Good Friday. The narrator, Dante himself, is years old. The poet finds himself lost in a wood, astray from the straight way of salvation. He sets out to climb directly up a mountain. The three beasts, taken from the Jeremiah 5,6, are thought to symbolize the three kinds of sin that bring the unrepentant soul into one of the three divisions of Hell. According to John Ciardi, these are incontinence, violence and bestiality, and fraud and malice, Dorothy L. Sayers assigns the leopard to incontinence and it is now dawn of Good Friday, April 8, with the sun rising in Aries. The beasts drive him back despairing into the darkness of error, however, Dante is rescued by a figure who announces that he was born sub Iulio and lived under Augustus, it is the shade of the Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid, a Latin epic. Canto II On the evening of Good Friday, Dante is following Virgil but hesitates, Virgil explains how he has sent by Beatrice. Beatrice has been sent with prayers from the Virgin Mary and of Saint Lucia, rachel, symbolic of the contemplative life, also appears in the heavenly scene recounted by Virgil. The two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Dante and his guide hear the screams of the Uncommitted. These are the souls of people who in life took no sides, the opportunists who were for neither good nor evil, among these Dante recognizes a figure implied to be Pope Celestine V, whose cowardice served as the door through which so much evil entered the Church. Mixed with them are outcasts who took no side in the Rebellion of Angels and these souls are forever unclassified, they are neither in Hell nor out of it, but reside on the shores of the Acheron. Naked and futile, they race around through the mist in eternal pursuit of an elusive, wavering banner while relentlessly chased by swarms of wasps and hornets, who continually sting them. Loathsome maggots and worms at the sinners feet drink the putrid mixture of blood, pus and this symbolizes the sting of their guilty conscience and the repugnance of sin. This may also be seen as a reflection of the spiritual stagnation they lived in, after passing through the vestibule, Dante and Virgil reach the ferry that will take them across the river Acheron and to Hell proper
41.
Nicodemus
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Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John, He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus teachings. The second time Nicodemus is mentioned, he reminds his colleagues in the Sanhedrin that the law requires that a person be heard before being judged. Finally, Nicodemus appears after the Crucifixion of Jesus to provide the customary embalming spices, an apocryphal work under his name—the Gospel of Nicodemus—was produced in the mid-4th century, and is mostly a reworking of the earlier Acts of Pilate, which recounts the harrowing of Hell. The first time Nicodemus is mentioned, he is identified as a Pharisee who comes to see Jesus at night, John places this meeting shortly after the Cleansing of the Temple and links it to the signs which Jesus performed in Jerusalem during the Passover feast. Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him. Then follows a conversation with Nicodemus about the meaning of being born again or born from above, Nicodemus explores the notion of being literally born again from ones mothers womb, but most theologians recognise that Nicodemus knew Jesus was not speaking of literal rebirth. Theologian Charles Ellicott wrote that after the method of Rabbinic dialogue, presses the impossible meaning of the words in order to exclude it and you cannot mean that a man is to enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born. What is it, then, that you do mean, Jesus expresses surprise, perhaps ironically, that a teacher of Israel does not understand the concept of spiritual rebirth. James F. Driscoll describes Nicodemus as a learned and intelligent believer, in Chapter 7, Nicodemus advises his colleagues among the chief priests and the Pharisees, to hear and investigate before making a judgment concerning Jesus. Their mocking response argues that no prophet comes from Galilee, nonetheless, it is probable that he wielded a certain influence in the Sanhedrin. Finally, when Jesus is buried, Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh, Nicodemus must have been a man of means, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, Holy Week, Pope Benedict XVI observes that, The quantity of the balm is extraordinary and exceeds all normal proportions. Nicodemus is venerated as a saint in the various Eastern Churches, the traditional Roman Catholic liturgical calendar lists the same feast of the finding of their relics on the following day, August 3. In the current Roman Martyrology of the Catholic Church, Nicodemus is commemorated along with Saint Joseph of Arimathea on August 31, the Franciscan Order erected a church under the patronage of Saints Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea in Ramla. Nicodemus figures prominently in medieval depictions of the Deposition in which he and Joseph of Arimathea are shown removing the dead Christ from the cross, like Joseph, Nicodemus became the object of various pious legends during the Middle Ages, particularly in connection with monumental crosses. He was reputed to have carved both the Holy Face of Lucca and the Batlló Crucifix, receiving angelic assistance with the face in particular and thus rendering the works instances of acheiropoieta. Both of these date from at least a millennium after Nicodemus life. In the Lutheran prescribed readings of the 18th century, the text of the meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus at night was assigned to Trinity Sunday. Ernst Pepping composed in 1937 an Evangelienmotette Jesus und Nikodemus, in popular music, Nicodemus name was figuratively used in Henry Clay Works 1864-written Civil-War-Aera piece Wake Nicodemus, which at that time was popular in minstrel shows
42.
Golden Legend
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The Golden Legend is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus da Varagine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived and it was likely compiled around the year 1260, although the text was added to over the centuries. Initially entitled Legenda sanctorum, it gained its popularity under the title by which it is best known. Over eight hundred manuscript copies of the work survive, and when printing was invented in the 1450s, editions appeared quickly, not only in Latin, among incunabula, printed before 1501, Legenda aurea was printed in more editions than the Bible. It was one of the first books William Caxton printed in the English language, Caxtons version appeared in 1483 and his translation was reprinted, in 1900, the Caxton version was translated by Frederick Startridge Ellis, and published in seven volumes. Jacobus da Varagines original was translated into French around the time by Téodor de Wyzewa. The book sought to compile traditional lore about all of the saints venerated at the time of its compilation, Jacobus da Varagine typically begins with an etymology for the saints name. An example shows his method, Silvester is said of sile or sol which is light, and of terra the earth, as who saith the light of the earth, that is of the church. Or Silvester is said of silvas and of trahens, that is to say he was drawing wild men and hard unto the faith. Or as it is said in glossario, Silvester is to say green, that is to wit, green in contemplation of heavenly things, and that is to say he was cold and refrigate from all concupiscence of the flesh, full of boughs among the trees of heaven. As a Latin author, Jacobus da Varagine must have known that Silvester, the correct derivation is alluded to in the text, but set out in parallel to fanciful ones that lexicographers would consider quite wide of the mark. Even the correct explanations are used as the basis for an allegorical interpretation, Jacobus da Varagines etymologies had different goals from modern etymologies, and cannot be judged by the same standards. Jacobus etymologies have parallels in Isidore of Sevilles Etymologiae, in which linguistically accurate derivations are set out beside allegorical, the chapter conveys the limited medieval Christian understanding of the beliefs of Saracens and other Muslims. Many of the stories also conclude with miracle tales and similar wonderlore from accounts of those who called upon that saint for aid or used the saints relics, such a tale is told of Saint Agatha, Jacobus da Varagine has pagans in Catania repairing to the relics of St. Then ran the paynims to the sepulchre of S. Agatha, many of his stories have no other known source. A typical example of the sort of story related, also involving St, then sent the emperor for S. Silvester and asked counsel of him of this matter. S. Silvester answered that by the might of God he promised to make him cease of his hurt, then S Silvester put himself to prayer, and S. Then thou shalt bind his mouth with a thread, and seal it with thy seal, then thou and the two priests shall come to me whole and safe, and such bread as I shall make ready for you ye shall eat
43.
Jacobus da Varagine
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Jacopo De Fazio, best known as the blessed Jacobus da Varagine was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. Jacobus was born in Varagine, on the Ligurian coast between Savona and Genoa and he entered the Dominican order in 1244, and became the prior at Como, Bologna and Asti in succession. Besides preaching with success in parts of Italy, he also taught in the schools of his own fraternity. He was provincial of Lombardy from 1267 till 1286, when he was removed at the meeting of the order in Paris and he also represented his own province at the councils of Lucca and Ferrara. In 1288 Nicholas empowered him to absolve the people of Genoa for their offence in aiding the Sicilians against Charles II, early in 1292 the same pope, himself a Franciscan, summoned Jacobus to Rome, intending to consecrate him archbishop of Genoa. Jacobus reached Rome on Palm Sunday, only to find his patron ill of a deadly sickness, the cardinals, however, propter honorem Communis Januae, determined to carry out this consecration on the Sunday after Easter. He was a bishop, and especially distinguished himself by his efforts to appease the civil discords of Genoa among Guelfs. He died in 1298 or 1299, and was buried in the Dominican church at Genoa and he was beatified by Pius VII in 1816. Jacobus da Varagine left a list of his own works, speaking of himself in his Chronicon januense, he says, While he was in his order, and after he had been made archbishop, he wrote many works. For he compiled the legends of the saints in one volume, adding many things from the Historia tripartita et scholastica, the other writings he claims are two anonymous volumes of Sermons concerning all the Saints whose yearly feasts the church celebrates. Of these volumes, he adds, one is very diffuse, maria compositus, consisting of about 160 discourses on the attributes, titles, etc. of the Virgin Mary. In the same work the claims to have written his Chronicon januense in the second year of his episcopate. Jacobus is also said by Sixtus of Siena to have translated the Old, the Golden Legend, one of the most popular religious works of the Middle Ages, is a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medieval church. The preface divides the year into four periods corresponding to the various epochs of the worlds history. The saints lives are full of fanciful legend, and in not a few cases contain accounts of 13th century miracles wrought at special places, particularly with reference to the Dominicans. The penultimate chapter, De Sancto Pelagio Papa, contains a history from the point of view of Lombardy, or Historia Lombardica. The last is a somewhat allegorical disquisition on the dedication of churches, the Golden Legend was translated into Catalan in the 13th century and a first dated version was published in Barcelona in 1494. A French version was made by Jean Belet de Vigny in the 14th century, a Latin edition is assigned to about 1469, and a dated one was published at Lyon in 1473
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Giotto's Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel - Part 1 Overview (4:57), Smarthistory[8]