1.
Venice
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Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
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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
3.
Painting
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Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, gesture, composition, narration, or abstraction, among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive, Paintings can be naturalistic and representational, photographic, abstract, narrative, symbolistic, emotive, or political in nature. A portion of the history of painting in both Eastern and Western art is dominated by motifs and ideas. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action, the term painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity, every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In practice, painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity, thus, the basic means of painting are distinct from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization, and symbols. In technical drawing, thickness of line is ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters. Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are the essence of music, color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover, the use of language is only an abstraction for a color equivalent, the word red, for example, can cover a wide range of variations from the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic, painters deal practically with pigments, so blue for a painter can be any of the blues, phthalocyanine blue, Prussian blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological and symbolical meanings of color are not, strictly speaking, colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this, the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in music is analogous to light in painting, shades to dynamics and these elements do not necessarily form a melody of themselves, rather, they can add different contexts to it. Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, as one example, collage, some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer, there is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required, rhythm is important in painting as it is in music
4.
Italians
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Italians are a nation and ethnic group native to Italy who share a common culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a native tongue. The majority of Italian nationals are speakers of Standard Italian. Italians have greatly influenced and contributed to the arts and music, science, technology, cuisine, sports, fashion, jurisprudence, banking, Italian people are generally known for their localism and their attention to clothing and family values. The term Italian is at least 3,000 years old and has a history that goes back to pre-Roman Italy. According to one of the common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú. 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 Etruscan civilization reached its peak about the 7th century BC, but by 509 BC, when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan monarchs, its control in Italy was on the wane. By 350 BC, after a series of wars between Greeks and Etruscans, the Latins, with Rome as their capital, gained the ascendancy by 272 BC, and they managed to unite the entire Italian peninsula. This period of unification was followed by one of conquest in the Mediterranean, in the course of the century-long struggle against Carthage, the Romans conquered Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. Finally, in 146 BC, at the conclusion of the Third Punic War, with Carthage completely destroyed and its inhabitants enslaved, octavian, the final victor, was accorded the title of Augustus by the Senate and thereby became the first Roman emperor. After two centuries of rule, in the 3rd century AD, Rome was threatened by internal discord and menaced by Germanic and Asian invaders. Emperor Diocletians administrative division of the empire into two parts in 285 provided only temporary relief, it became permanent in 395, in 313, Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity, and churches thereafter rose throughout the empire. However, he moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople. The last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476 by a Germanic foederati general in Italy and his defeat marked the end of the western part of the Roman Empire. During most of the period from the fall of Rome until the Kingdom of Italy was established in 1861, Odoacer ruled well for 13 years after gaining control of Italy in 476. Then he was attacked and defeated by Theodoric, the king of another Germanic tribe, Theodoric and Odoacer ruled jointly until 493, when Theodoric murdered Odoacer. Theodoric continued to rule Italy with an army of Ostrogoths and a government that was mostly Italian, after the death of Theodoric in 526, the kingdom began to grow weak
5.
Venetian school (art)
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From the later part of the 15th century, Venice had a distinctive, thriving and influential art scene. Beginning with the work of Giorgione, and the workshop of Giovanni Bellini, major artists of the Venetian school included Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and the Bassano. During the early-15th century, Venetian art was dominated by the earlier styles arising from its Byzantine links, another external factor was the visit by Leonardo da Vinci, who was particularly influential on Giorgione. During his long career, Bellini has been credited with creating the Venetian style, with such works he has been described as reaching the High Renaissance ideals, and certainly expresses the key distinctive factors of the Venetian school. Giorgione and Titian were both apprentices at Bellinis workshop and they collaborated on numerous paintings, and their styles could be so similar that it is difficult to conclusively assign authorship. This emphasis on nature as a setting was a contribution of the Venetian School. Titian, through his long and productive life, with a variety of themes and subjects was the most influential. His early Pesaro Madonna shows a new composition for such a traditional religious subject, putting the focal point of the Madonna off from the centre. Although pre-figured by the Sleeping Venus Titian is credited with establishing the female nude as an important subgenre in art. Using mythological subjects, works such as the Venus of Urbino richly depict the fabrics and other textures, and use a composition that is carefully controlled by organising colours. As an example, in painting the diagonal of the nude is matched by the opposite diagonal between the red of the cushions in the front with the red skirts of the woman in the background. With such paintings, readily transported by virtue of being oils on canvas, Titian became famous, although Tintoretto is sometimes classified as a Mannerist artist, he also incorporates Venetian and individualistic aspects. In his Miracle of the Slave, the Mannerist features include the scene, the twisting linking of figures. Following Tintoretto, were Veronese, and the Bassano and these are a few of the most outstanding in the great number of artists in the Venetian tradition, many originally from outside the Republics territory. List of painters and architects of Venice References Sources Gardners, Art Through the Ages—International Edition, Brace Harcourt Jovanovich, maria Dolores Jimenez-Blanco, Museo National Del Prado, English 2nd revised edition,2009. Federico Zeri, Elizabeth E. Gardner, Italian Paintings, Venetian School, A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
6.
Gentile Bellini
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Gentile Bellini was an Italian painter of the school of Venice. He came from Venices leading family of painters, and at least in the part of his career was more highly regarded than his younger brother Giovanni Bellini. In 1479 he was sent to Constantinople by the Venetian government when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II requested an artist, thereafter a number of his subjects were set in the East, and he is one of the founders of the Orientalist tradition in Western painting. His portrait of the Sultan was also copied in paintings and prints and he was christened Gentile after Jacopos master, Gentile da Fabriano. Gentile was taught painting in the workshop of his father, Gentiles earliest signed work is The Blessed Lorenzo Giustinian, one of the oldest surviving oil paintings in Venice. During the 1450s Bellini worked on a commission for the Scuola Grande di San Marco and painted in conjunction with his brother, from 1454 he was also the official portrait artist for the Doges of Venice. Much of Gentile Bellini’s surviving work consists of large paintings for public buildings. The commission was intended to celebrate the relic of the Holy Cross which the confraternity had received in 1369, Venice was, at that time, a very important point in which cultures and trade bordered on the eastern Mediterranean Sea and provided gateways to Asia and Africa. As noted, in his lifetime, Gentile was the most prestigious painter in Venice, therefore, in 1479, he was chosen by the government of Venice to work for Sultan Mehmed II in Constantinople. However, in addition to his work at the Ottoman Court, Gentiles work also responded to other aspects of the East, in September 1479 Gentile was sent by the Venetian Senate to the new Ottoman capital Istanbul as part of the peace settlement between Venice and the Turks. His role was not only as a painter in an exotic locale. This was important to Mehmed II, as he was interested in the art and culture of Italy. He finally reached his goal with Gentile, who is believed to have painted the portrait of Mehmed II now in the National Gallery, London. It has been noticed that the portrait is one of the figures in a painting by Marco Palmezzano. So the dating and authorship of the portrait by Bellini have been placed in question, subsequently, an Oriental flavour appears in several of his paintings, including the portrait of a Turkish artist and St. Mark Preaching at Alexandria. The last was completed by his brother, Giovanni Bellini, according to Carlo Ridolfi in his 1648 history of the Venetian artists, Bellini made a painting of the head of John the Baptist on a charger, the saint being revered by the Turks as a prophet. Gentile, fearful at such barbarities, immediately tried in every way to be released from his contract in one day he himself should be the victim of such a joke. This anecdote is likely apocryphal, as a story had been told by Seneca of Parrhasius
7.
Legend of Saint Ursula
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The Legend of Saint Ursula is a series of large wall-paintings on canvas by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio, originally created for the Scuola di SantOrsola in Venice. They are now in the Gallerie dellAccademia in Venice and this was not one of the six Scuole Grandi of Venice, but a similar confraternity. On her way home, at Cologne, she was martyred by Attila, King of the Huns, together with her following of 10,000 virgins. The first two paintings, despite depicting the first events of the cycle, were the last to be painted, the first painting is set in an open pavilion, and its scene, divided into three parts, is read from right to left. The scene is reminiscent of the drama of the period. On the right Ursula and her father are portrayed talking, sitting on the first step of a staircase leading to the interior is her nurse, the central scene portrays the meeting between the king and the ambassadors. In the background is a planned temple and other imaginary buildings. On the left, in the foreground under a loggia, is a marine panorama with a galleon, among the spectators are characters wearing the crest of the Compagnia della Calza, a Venetian confraternity which organized events and spectacles during Carnival and other religious celebrations. The second painting, smaller in size, depicts, in an interior, another court meeting. A scribe in the background is writing the reply for Ursulas prince, the third painting portrays the ambassadors of Brittany received in an open pavilion, with an imaginary city in the background, also resembling contemporary Venetian architecture. The painting is divided in two by a pennant, immediately at its left, sitting on a parapet, is Antonio Loredan, member of the Compagnia della Calza and commissioner of the work. In the background is the departure for the pilgrimage, with an imaginary Breton/British city characterized by Renaissance, the canvas illustrates the saint sleeping in the nuptial bed, alone, an allusion to the impossibility of the marriage. While she is sleeping, an angel enters the room while a rose sunray illuminates it, the angel is carrying the news of her upcoming martyrdom. The interior is portrayed with realism, such as in the furniture and the flowers, the latter, a myrtle. The inscription DIVA FAUSTA, located under Herculess statue, indicates the nature of the divine message. The angel brings purity and clears the saints mind, the prince respects the pact with St. Ursula, accompanying her in pilgrimage to Rome. Here, outside the walls, the pilgrims are welcomed by the Pope. Here too the ceremonial is reminiscent of the Venetian ones, and this painting is dated 1490, and is the first executed by Carpaccio for the cycle
8.
Renaissance humanism
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Renaissance humanism is the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The term Renaissance humanism is contemporary to that period — Renaissance, Renaissance humanism was a response to the utilitarian approach and what came to be depicted as the narrow pedantry associated with medieval scholasticism. This was to be accomplished through the study of the studia humanitatis, today known as the humanities, grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy. Humanism was a cultural mode and not the program of a small elite, a program to revive the cultural legacy, literary legacy. There were important centres of humanism in Florence, Naples, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Mantua, Ferrara, some of the first humanists were great collectors of antique manuscripts, including Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Coluccio Salutati, and Poggio Bracciolini. Of the four, Petrarch was dubbed the Father of Humanism because of his devotion to Greek, some of the highest officials of the Catholic Church were humanists with the resources to amass important libraries. Such was Cardinal Basilios Bessarion, a convert to the Catholic Church from Greek Orthodoxy, who was considered for the papacy, and was one of the most learned scholars of his time. There were several 15th-century and early 16th-century humanist Popes one of whom, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, was a prolific author and these subjects came to be known as the humanities, and the movement which they inspired is shown as humanism. They included Gemistus Pletho, George of Trebizond, Theodorus Gaza, budé was a royal absolutist who was active in civic life, serving as a diplomat for François I and helping to found the Collège des Lecteurs Royaux. Many humanists were churchmen, most notably Pope Pius II, Sixtus IV, and Leo X, humanity—with all its distinct capabilities, talents, worries, problems, possibilities—was the center of interest. It has been said that medieval thinkers philosophised on their knees, inevitably, the rediscovery of classical philosophy and science would eventually challenge traditional religious beliefs. Lorenzo Valla, however, puts a defense of epicureanism in the mouth of one of the interlocutors of one of his dialogues. And if it is names that bother us, no one deserves the name of Epicurean than the revered founder and head of the Christian philosophy Christ. Completely mistaken, therefore, are those who talk in their foolish fashion about Christs having been sad and gloomy in character, on the contrary, he alone shows the most enjoyable life of all and the one most full of true pleasure. This passage exemplifies the way in which the humanists saw pagan classical works, such as the philosophy of Epicurus, Renaissance Neo-Platonists such as Marsilio Ficino attempted to reconcile Platonism with Christianity, according to the suggestions of early Church fathers Lactantius and Saint Augustine. In this spirit, Pico della Mirandola attempted to construct a syncretism of all religions, historian Steven Kreis expresses a widespread view, when he writes that, The period from the fourteenth century to the seventeenth worked in favor of the general emancipation of the individual. The city-states of northern Italy had come into contact with the customs of the East. The writings of Dante, and particularly the doctrines of Petrarch and humanists like Machiavelli, emphasized the virtues of intellectual freedom, in the essays of Montaigne the individualistic view of life received perhaps the most persuasive and eloquent statement in the history of literature and philosophy
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Italian Renaissance painting
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The city of Florence in Tuscany is renowned as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and in particular of Renaissance painting. A detailed background is given in the companion articles Renaissance and Renaissance architecture, Italian Renaissance painting can be divided into four periods, the Proto-Renaissance, the Early Renaissance, the High Renaissance, and Mannerism. These dates are approximations rather than specific points because the lives of individual artists, the Proto-Renaissance begins with the professional life of the painter Giotto and includes Taddeo Gaddi, Orcagna and Altichiero. The Early Renaissance was marked by the work of Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, the High Renaissance period was that of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. The Mannerist period included Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Tintoretto, Mannerism is dealt with in a separate article. The influences upon the development of Renaissance painting in Italy are those also affected Philosophy, Literature, Architecture, Theology, Science, Government. The following is a summary of points dealt with more fully in the articles that are cited above. A number of Classical texts, that had been lost to Western European scholars for centuries and these included Philosophy, Poetry, Drama, Science, a thesis on the Arts and Early Christian Theology. The resulting interest in Humanist philosophy meant that mans relationship with humanity, a revived interest in the Classics brought about the first archaeological study of Roman remains by the architect Brunelleschi and sculptor Donatello. Simultaneous with gaining access to the Classical texts, Europe gained access to advanced mathematics which had its provenance in the works of Byzantine and Islamic scholars. The advent of movable type printing in the 15th century meant that ideas could be disseminated easily, the development of oil paint and its introduction to Italy had lasting effects on the art of painting. The establishment of the Medici Bank and the subsequent trade it generated brought unprecedented wealth to a single Italian city, Cosimo de Medici set a new standard for patronage of the arts, not associated with the church or monarchy. A similar heritage of artistic achievement occurred in Venice through the talented Bellini family, their influential inlaw Mantegna, Giorgione, Titian, much painting of the Renaissance period was commissioned by or for the Catholic Church. These works were often of large scale and were frequently painted in fresco of the Life of Christ. There were also many paintings on the theme of Salvation. Churches also commissioned altarpieces, which were painted in tempera on panel, apart from large altarpieces, small devotional pictures were produced in very large numbers, both for churches and for private individuals, the most common theme being the Madonna and Child. Throughout the period, civic commissions were also important, during the 15th century portraiture became common, initially often formalised profile portraits but increasingly three-quarter face, bust-length portraits. Portraiture was to become a subject for High Renaissance painters such as Raphael and Titian
10.
Antonello da Messina
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His work shows strong influences from Early Netherlandish painting although there is no documentary evidence that he ever travelled beyond Italy. Giorgio Vasari credited him with the introduction of oil painting into Italy, unusually for a south Italian artist of the Renaissance, his work proved influential on painters in northern Italy, especially in Venice. Antonello was born at Messina around 1429–1431, to Giovanni de Antonio Mazonus and this account of his training is accepted by most art historians. Antonello returned to Messina from Naples during the 1450s, in around 1455 he painted the so-called Sibiu Crucifixion, inspired by Flemish treatments of the subject, which is now in the Muzeul de Artǎ in Bucharest. A Crucifixion in the Royal Museum of Antwerp dates from the same period, in his biography of the artist, Giorgio Vasari remarked that Antonello saw an oil painting by Jan Van Eyck belonging to King Alfonso V of Aragon at Naples. Another theory, supported only by vague documentary evidence, suggests that in 1456 Antonello visited Milan, however, neither is known for certain to have been in Milan at the time. Between the years of 1456 and 1457, Antonello proved himself to be a painter in Messina. He also shared his home with Paolo di Ciacio, a student from Calabria, at this date, he was already married, and his son Jacobello had been born. In 1460, his father is mentioned leasing a brigantine to bring back Antonello, also from around 1460 are two small panels depicting Abraham Served by the Angels and St. Jerome Penitent now in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria. In 1461 Antonellos younger brother Giordano entered his workshop, signing a three-year contract, in that year Antonello painted a Madonna with Child for the Messinese nobleman Giovanni Mirulla, now lost. Historians believe that Antonello painted his first portraits in the late 1460s, john Pope-Hennessy described him as the first Italian painter for whom the individual portrait was an art form in its own right. In 1474, he painted the Annunciation, now in Syracuse, Antonello went to Venice in 1475 and remained there until the fall of 1476. His works of this begin to show a greater attention to the human figure. His most famous pictures from this include the Condottiero, the San Cassiano Altarpiece. While in Venice he was offered, but did not accept, Antonello had returned to Sicily by September 1476. Works from near the end of his include the famous Virgin Annunciate, now in the Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo. He died at Messina in 1479 and his testament dates from February of that year, and he is documented as no longer alive two months later. Some of his last works remained unfinished, but were completed by his son Jacobello, Antonellos style is remarkable for its union of Italian simplicity with Flemish concern for detail
11.
Early Netherlandish painting
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Their work follows the International Gothic style and begins approximately with Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck in the early 1420s. It lasts at least until the death of Gerard David in 1523, the major Netherlandish painters include Campin, van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Dieric Bouts, Petrus Christus, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes and Hieronymus Bosch. These artists made significant advances in natural representation and illusionism, and their subjects are usually religious scenes or small portraits, with narrative painting or mythological subjects being relatively rare. Landscape is often richly described but relegated as a background detail before the early 16th century, the painted works are generally oil on panel, either as single works or more complex portable or fixed altarpieces in the form of diptychs, triptychs or polyptychs. The period is noted for its sculpture, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass. Assisted by the system, panels and a variety of crafts were sold to foreign princes or merchants through private engagement or market stalls. A majority were destroyed during waves of iconoclasm in the 16th and 17th centuries, Early northern art in general was not well regarded from the early 17th to the mid-19th century, and the painters and their works were not well documented until the mid-19th century. Art historians spent almost another century determining attributions, studying iconography, attribution of some of the most significant works is still debated. These artists became a driving force behind the Northern Renaissance. In this political and art-historical context, the north follows the Burgundian lands which straddled areas that encompass parts of modern France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlandish artists have been known by a variety of terms. Late Gothic is a designation which emphasises continuity with the art of the Middle Ages. In the early 20th century, the artists were variously referred to in English as the Ghent-Bruges school or the Old Netherlandish school. In this context, primitive does not refer to a lack of sophistication. When the Burgundian dukes established centres of power in the Netherlands, in the 19th century the Early Netherlandish artists were classified by nationality, with Jan van Eyck identified as German and van der Weyden as French. Scholars were at times preoccupied as to whether the schools genesis was in France or Germany, in the 14th century, as Gothic art gave way to the International Gothic era, a number of schools developed in northern Europe. Early Netherlandish art originated in French courtly art, and is tied to the tradition. Modern art historians see the era as beginning with 14th-century manuscript illuminators and this patronage continued in the low countries with the Burgundian dukes, Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bold. The demand for illuminated manuscripts declined towards the end of the century, following van Eycks innovations, the first generation of Netherlandish painters emphasised light and shadow, elements usually absent from 14th-century illuminated manuscripts
12.
Giovanni Bellini
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Giovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini and he is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it towards a more sensuous and colouristic style. Through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, Giovanni created deep, rich tints and his sumptuous coloring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on the Venetian painting school, especially on his pupils Giorgione and Titian. Giovanni Bellini was born in Venice and he was brought up in his fathers house, and always lived and worked in the closest fraternal relation with his brother Gentile. Up until the age of nearly thirty we find in his work a depth of religious feeling and his paintings from the early period are all executed in the old tempera method, the scene is softened by a new and beautiful effect of romantic sunrise color. Giovannis early works have often been linked both compositionally and stylistically to those of his brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, none of the masters works of this kind, whether painted for the various schools or confraternities or for the ducal palace, have survived. As is the case with a number of his brother, Gentiles public works of the period, the still more famous altar-piece painted in tempera for a chapel in the church of S. Giovanni e Paolo, where it perished along with Titians Peter Martyr, after 1479–1480 much of Giovannis time and energy must also have been taken up by his duties as conservator of the paintings in the great hall of the Doges Palace. Of the other, the class of his work, including both altar-pieces with many figures and simple Madonnas, a considerable number have fortunately been preserved. The old intensity of pathetic and devout feeling gradually fades away and gives place to a noble, if more worldly, serenity, the full splendour of Venetian color invests alike the figures, their architectural framework, the landscape and the sky. An interval of years, no doubt chiefly occupied with work in the Hall of the Great Council, seems to separate the San Giobbe Altarpiece. Formally, the works are similar, so a comparison between serves to illustrate the shift in Bellinis work over the last decade of the 15th century. Both pictures are of the Holy Conversation type, both show the Madonna seated on a throne, between classicizing columns. Both place the holy figures beneath a golden mosaicked half dome that recalls the Byzantine architecture in the basilica of St. Mark. Stylistically, the lighting in the San Zaccaria piece has become so soft, Giovannis use of the oil medium had matured, and the holy figures seem to be swathed in a still, rarefied air. The San Zaccaria is considered perhaps the most beautiful and imposing of all Giovannis altarpieces, and is dated 1505, the last ten or twelve years of the masters life saw him besieged with more commissions than he could well complete. In 1505 she endeavoured through Cardinal Bembo to obtain from him another picture, what the subject of this piece was, or whether it was actually delivered, we do not know. In 1513 Giovannis position as master in charge of the paintings in the Hall of the Great Council was threatened by one of his former pupils
13.
Giorgione
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Giorgione was an Italian painter of the Venetian school in the High Renaissance from Venice, whose career was ended by his death at a little over 30. Giorgione is known for the poetic quality of his work. The uncertainty surrounding the identity and meaning of his work has made Giorgione one of the most mysterious figures in European art, what little is known of Giorgiones life is given in Giorgio Vasaris Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. The painter came from the town of Castelfranco Veneto,40 km inland from Venice. His name sometimes appears as Zorzo, the variant Giorgione may be translated Big George. Contemporary documents record that his gifts were recognized early, in 1500, when he was only twenty-three, he was chosen to paint portraits of the Doge Agostino Barbarigo and the condottiere Consalvo Ferrante. In 1504, he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece in memory of another condottiere, Matteo Costanzo, in the cathedral of his native town, Castelfranco. In 1507, he received, at the order of the Council of Ten, very little of this work survives today. Vasari mentions an important event in Giorgiones life, and one which influenced his work and he was very closely associated with Titian, while Vasari says Giorgione was Titians master, Ridolfi says that they both were pupils of Giovanni Bellini, and lived in his house. They worked together on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi frescoes, and Titian finished at least some paintings of Giorgione after his death, Giorgione also introduced a new range of subjects. In the Venetian mainland, Giorgionismo strongly influenced Morto da Feltre, Domenico Capriolo, Giorgione died, probably of the plague then raging, by October,1510. October 1510 is also the date of a letter by Isabella dEste to a Venetian friend, asking him to buy a painting by Giorgione, significantly, the reply a month later said the painting was not to be had at any price. His name and work continue to exercise a spell on posterity, for his home town of Castelfranco, Giorgione painted the Castelfranco Madonna, an altarpiece in sacra conversazione form—Madonna enthroned, with saints on either side forming an equilateral triangle. This gave the background an importance which marks an innovation in Venetian art. Giorgione began to use the very refined chiaroscuro called sfumato—the delicate use of shades of color to depict light, whether Vasari is correct in saying he learned it from Leonardos works is unclear—he is always keen to ascribe all advances to Florentine sources. Leonardos delicate color modulations result from the tiny disconnected spots of paint that he derived from Illuminated manuscript techniques. These gave Giorgiones works the magical glow of light for which they are celebrated, Most central and typical of all of Giorgiones extant works is the Sleeping Venus now in Dresden. It was first recognized by Giovanni Morelli, and is now accepted, as being the same as the picture seen by Marcantonio Michiel
14.
Saint Ursula
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Saint Ursula is a Romano-British Christian saint. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is October 21, after a miraculous storm brought them over the sea in a single day to a Gaulish port, Ursula declared that before her marriage she would undertake a pan-European pilgrimage. She headed for Rome with her followers and persuaded the Pope, Cyriacus, after setting out for Cologne, which was being besieged by Huns, all the virgins were beheaded in a massacre. The Huns leader fatally shot Ursula with a bow and arrow in about 383, the legend of Ursula is based on a 4th- or 5th-century inscription from the Church of St. Ursula, located on Ursulaplatz in Cologne. It states that the ancient basilica had been restored on the site where some holy virgins were killed, the Catholic Encyclopedia states that this legend, with its countless variants and increasingly fabulous developments, would fill more than a hundred pages. Various characteristics of it were regarded with suspicion by certain medieval writers. Neither Jerome nor Gregory of Tours refers to Ursula in their writings, Gregory of Tours mentions the legend of the Theban Legion, to whom a church that once stood in Cologne was dedicated. The most important hagiographers of the early Middle Ages also do not enter Ursula under October 21, her feast day. A legend resembling Ursulas appeared in the first half of the century, but it does not mention the name of Ursula. Pinnosas relics were transferred about 947 from Cologne to Essen, in 970, for example, the first Passio Ursulae was written naming Ursula rather than Pinnosa as the groups leader. This change might also be due in part to the discovery at this time of an epitaph speaking of Ursula the innocent virgin, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a 12th-century British cleric and writer, Ursula was the daughter of Dionotus, ruler of Cornwall. But this may have based on his misreading of the words Deo notus in the second Passio Ursulae. While there was a tradition of virgin martyrs in Cologne by the fifth century, yet the cleric Wandelbert of the Abbey of Prüm stated in his martyrology in 848 that the number of martyrs counted thousands of saints who were slaughtered on the boards of the River Rhine. M. V. as eleven thousand virgins rather than eleven martyred virgins and this was subsequently misread or misinterpreted as undicimila, thus producing the legend of the 11,000 virgins. In fact, however, the bearing the virgin Ursulas name states that she lived eight years. Another theory is there was only one virgin martyr, named Undecimilla. It has also suggested that cum militibus with soldiers was misread as cum millibus with thousands. Most contemporary sources, however, cling to the number 11,000, the Passio from the 970s tries to bridge conflicting traditions by stating that the eleven maidens each commanded a ship containing one thousand virgins
15.
Gallerie dell'Accademia
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The Gallerie dellAccademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the bank of the Grand Canal. The two institutions remained in the building until 2004, when the art school moved to the Ospedale degli Incurabili. The Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia was founded on 24 September 1750, the first director was Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Gianbattista Tiepolo became the first president after his return from Würzburg. It was one of the first institutions to study art restoration starting in 1777 with Pietro Edwards, in 1807 the academy was re-founded by Napoleonic decree. The collections of the Accademia were first opened to the public on 10 August 1817, the Gallerie dellAccademia became independent from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia in 1879. Like other state museums in Italy, it falls under the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, the Napoleonic administration had disbanded many institutions in Venice including some churches, convents and Scuole. The Scuola della Carità, the Convento dei Canonici Lateranensi and the church of Santa Maria della Carità thus became the home of the Accademia. The Scuola della Carità was the oldest of the six Scuole Grandi, the Convento dei Canonici Lateranensi was started in 1561 by Andrea Palladio, though it was never fully completed. The facade of Santa Maria della Carità was completed in 1441 by Bartolomeo Bon, the Gallerie dell’Accademia contains masterpieces of Venetian painting up to the 18th century, generally arranged chronologically though some thematic displays are evident. Media related to Gallerie dellAccademia at Wikimedia Commons
16.
Torcello
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Torcello is a sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon, in north-eastern Italy. It is the oldest continuously populated region of Venice, and once held the largest population of the Republic of Venice. In 638, Torcello became the bishop’s official see for more than a thousand years, in pre-Medieval times, Torcello was much a more powerful trading center than Venice. It now has a population of 10 people, including the parish priest. Torcello is the background for Daphne du Mauriers short story, Dont Look Now, torcellos numerous palazzi, its twelve parishes and its sixteen cloisters have almost disappeared since the Venetians recycled the useful building material. The only remaining medieval buildings form an ensemble of four edifices, todays main attraction is the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, founded in 639. It is of basilica-form with side aisles but no crossing, and has much 11th and 12th century Byzantine work, another noteworthy sight for tourists is an ancient stone chair, known as Attila’s Throne. It has, however, nothing to do with the king of the Huns, Torcello is also home to a Devils Bridge, known as the Ponte del Diavolo or alternatively the Ponticello del Diavolo. Ernest Hemingway spent some time there in 1948, writing parts of Across the River, the novel contains representations of Torcello and its environs. In addition, numerous famous artists, musicians, and movie stars have spent time on the island, a quiet refuge. Torcello is the background for Daphne du Mauriers short story, Dont Look Now
17.
Lazzaro Bastiani
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Lazzaro Bastiani was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He is first recorded as a painter in Venice by 1460 in a payment for an altarpiece of San Samuele, in 1462 he was paid at the same rate as Giovanni Bellini. In 1470, he was a member of the Scuola di San Girolamo in Venice, in the 1480s he worked with Gentile Bellini for the Scuola Grande di San Marco. He painted a Coronation of the Virgin, a Nativity, in 1508 he was called upon, with his pupil Vittore Carpaccio, to estimate paintings of Giorgione for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Grove Encyclopedia of Art entry Getty museum biography A Guide to the Paintings of Venice, Karl Karoly, dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical
18.
Antonio Vivarini
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Antonio Vivarini was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance-late Gothic period, who worked mostly in the Republic of Venice. He is probably the earliest of a family of painters, which was descended from a family of glassworkers active in Murano, the painting dynasty included his younger brother Bartolomeo and Antonios son Alvise Vivarini. He initially trained with Andrea da Murano, and his works show the influence of Gentile da Fabriano. The earliest known date of a picture of his, an altar-piece in the Accademia is 1440, the latest, in the Vatican Museums,1464, but he appears to have been alive in 1470. He collaborated with his brother in law, Giovanni dAlemagna (also known as Joannes de Alemania, no trace of this painter exists of a date later than 1447. After 1447 Antonio painted either alone or in combination with his younger brother Bartolommeo, the works of Antonio are well drawn for their epoch, with a certain noticeable degree of softness, and with good flesh and other tints. He was probably influenced by Mantegna, and worked with him in the Ovetari Chapel in 1450-1451 and it is sometimes difficult to assign authorship for works from the Vivarini studio. Three of his paintings are the Enthroned Madonna Virgin with the Four Doctors of the Church. The first two are in the Venetian academy, the third in the National Gallery, London and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed. Media related to Antonio Vivarini at Wikimedia Commons Italian Paintings, Venetian School, a collection catalog containing information about Vivarini and his works
19.
Lion of Saint Mark
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It appears also in both merchant and military naval flags of the Italian Republic. The Lion of Saint Mark is also the symbol of the award of the Venice Film Festival, the Golden Lion, other elements often included in depictions of the lion include a halo over his head, a book, and a sword in its paws. Venetian tradition states that when St. Mark was traveling through Europe, he arrived at a lagoon in Venice, where an angel appeared to him and said Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus. St Mark, represented as a lion, is a typical Christian iconography derived from the prophetic visions contained in the verse of the Apocalypse of St John 4,7. The lion is one of the four living creatures described in the book as a place around the throne of the Almighty and these beings were previously described by the prophet Ezekiel. Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way, the voice of the one who cries in the wilderness, Prepare Ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. The lion also symbolizes the power of the Evangelists word, the wings symbolize the spiritual elevation, however, the lion symbols express also the significance of majesty and power, while the book expresses the concepts of wisdom and peace and the halo gives an image of religious piety. However, these interpretations are not universally accepted as the Republic of Venice never codified its symbols, rare, but are presented, are also depictions of the lion without a book or a sword and sometimes without the halo. In some depictions the lion rests his front paws on the ground, often in cities with rivers or in close to water, indicating the Venetian balanced power on land. The Venetian lion appears in two distinct forms, one is as a winged animal resting on water, to symbolise dominance over the seas, holding St. Mark’s Gospel under a front paw and you can see these mighty animals all round the Mediterranean, usually on top of a classical stone column. The other form is known as the lion “in moleca”, in the form of a crab, here the lion is depicted full-faced with its wings circled around the head resembling the claws of a crustacean. Of Lions and Books, an article about iconography of Lion of St Mark, explaining different meanings of open
20.
Doge's Palace
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The Doges Palace is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the authority of the former Republic of Venice. Today, it is one of the 11 museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. In 810, Doge Angelo Partecipazio moved the seat of government from the island of Malamocco to the area of the present-day Rialto, when it was decided a palatium duci, a ducal palace, should be built. However, no remains of that 9th-century building as the palace was partially destroyed in the 10th century by a fire. The following reconstruction works were undertaken at the behest of Doge Sebastiano Ziani, a great reformer, he would drastically change the entire layout of the St. The new palace was built out of fortresses, one façade to the Piazzetta, political changes in the mid-13th century led to the need to re-think the palaces structure due to the considerable increase in the number of the Great Councils members. The new Gothic palaces constructions started around 1340, focusing mostly on the side of the building facing the lagoon, in 1483, a violent fire broke out in the side of the palace overlooking the canal, where the Doges Apartments were. Once again, an important reconstruction became necessary and was commissioned from Antonio Rizzo, another huge fire in 1547 destroyed some of the rooms on the second floor, but fortunately without undermining the structure as a whole. However, there are some classical features — for example, since the 16th century, as well as being the ducal residence, the palace housed political institutions of the Republic of Venice until the Napoleonic occupation of the city in 1797, when its role inevitably changed. Venice was subjected first to French rule, then to Austrian, over this period, the palace was occupied by various administrative offices as well as housing the Biblioteca Marciana and other important cultural institutions within the city. In 1923, the Italian State, owner of the building, since 1996, the Doge’s Palace has been part of the Venetian museums network, which has been under the management of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia since 2008. The ground floor arcade and the loggia above are decorated with 14th- and 15th-century capitals, in 1438–1442, Giovanni Bon and Bartolomeo Bon built and adorned the Porta della Carta, which served as the ceremonial entrance to the building. In the space above the cornice, there is a portrait of the Doge Francesco Foscari kneeling before the St. This is, however, a 19th-century work by Luigi Ferrari, nowadays, the public entrance to the Doges Palace is via the Porta del Frumento, on the waterfront side of the building. The north side of the courtyard is closed by the junction between the palace and St, mark’s Basilica, which used to be the Doge’s chapel. At the center of the courtyard stand two well-heads dating from the mid-16th century, in 1485, the Great Council decided that a ceremonial staircase should be built within the courtyard. Since 1567, the Giants’ Staircase is guarded by Sansovino’s two colossal statues of Mars and Neptune, which represents Venice’s power by land and by sea, members of the Senate gathered before government meetings in the Senator’s Courtyard, to the right of the Giants’ Staircase
21.
Palazzo Pitti
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The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the side of the River Arno. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the residence of Luca Pitti. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry. In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a base by Napoleon. The palace and its contents were donated to the Italian people by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1919, the palazzo is now the largest museum complex in Florence. The principal palazzo block, often in a building of design known as the corps de logis, is 32,000 square metres. It is divided into several principal galleries or museums detailed below, the construction of this severe and forbidding building was commissioned in 1458 by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, a principal supporter and friend of Cosimo de Medici. The early history of the Palazzo Pitti is a mixture of fact, Pitti is alleged to have instructed that the windows be larger than the entrance of the Palazzo Medici. Besides obvious differences from the architects style, Brunelleschi died 12 years before construction of the palazzo began. The design and fenestration suggest that the architect was more experienced in utilitarian domestic architecture than in the humanist rules defined by Alberti in his book De Re Aedificatoria. Though impressive, the original palazzo would have no rival to the Florentine Medici residences in terms of either size or content. Whoever the architect of the Palazzo Pitti was, he was moving against the flow of fashion. The rusticated stonework gives the palazzo a severe and powerful atmosphere, reinforced by the series of seven arch-headed apertures. The Roman-style architecture appealed to the Florentine love of the new style allantica, work stopped after Pitti suffered financial losses following the death of Cosimo de Medici in 1464. Luca Pitti died in 1472 with the building unfinished, the building was sold in 1549 by Buonaccorso Pitti, a descendant of Luca Pitti, to Eleonora di Toledo. Raised at the court of Naples, Eleonora was the wife of Cosimo I de Medici of Tuscany
22.
Ferrara
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Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 kilometres north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, the town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, when it hosted the court of the House of Este. For its beauty and cultural importance it has qualified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Modern times have brought a renewal of industrial activity, Ferrara is on the main rail line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna, Poggio Rusco and Codigoro. Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, Desiderius pledged a Lombard ducatus ferrariae in 757 to Pope Stephen II. Obizzo II dEste was proclaimed ruler of Ferrara five hundred years later. He also became seignior of nearby Modena in 1288 and of Reggio in 1289, in 1452 the Este rulers were created Dukes of Modena and Reggio, and in 1471 Ferrara also became a duchy. In 1597, when Alfonso II died without heirs, the House of Este lost Ferrara to the Papal States. Ferrara remained a part of the Papal States from 1598 to 1859, with an interruption during the Napoleonic period, in 1859 it became part of the Kingdom of Italy. A fortress was constructed by Pope Paul V on the site of the castle called Castel Tedaldo, at the south-west angle of the town, all of the fortress was dismantled following the birth of the Kingdom of Italy and the bricks used for new constructions all over the town. On August 23,1944, the Ferrara synthetic rubber plant was a target of Strategic bombing during World War II, the town is still surrounded by more than 9 kilometres of ancient walls, mainly built in the 15th and 16th-centuries. Along with those of Lucca, they are the best preserved Renaissance walls in Italy, the imposing brick Castello Estense sited in the very centre of the town is iconic of Ferrara. The castle, erected in 1385, is surrounded by a moat, the pavilions on the top of the towers date from the 16th-century refurbishment. The City Hall, renovated in the 18th century, was the residence of the Este family. Close by it is the former Cathedral of San Giorgio, The Romanesque lower part of the main façade, according to a now lost inscription the church had been commissioned by Guglielmo I of Adelardi. The sculpture of the portal was signed by a Nicholaus. The upper part of the main façade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates from the 13th century, the recumbent lions guarding the entrance are copies of the originals, now in the narthex of the church. An elaborate 13th-century relief depicting the Last Judgement is found in the story of the porch
23.
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
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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
25.
Altarpiece
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An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing behind the altar of a Christian church. Altarpieces were one of the most important products of Christian art especially from the late Middle Ages to the era of the Counter-Reformation. Large number of altarpieces are now removed from their settings, and often their elaborate sculpted frameworks. Altarpieces seem to have begun to be used during the 11th century, the reasons and forces that led to the development of altarpieces are not generally agreed upon. The habit of placing decorated reliquaries of saints on or behind the altar, as well as the tradition of decorating the front of the altar with sculptures or textiles, an elaborate example of such an early altarpiece is the Pala dOro in Venice. The appearance and development of these first altarpieces marked an important turning point both in the history of Christian art and Christian religious practice, the autonomous image now assumed a legitimate position at the centre of Christian worship. Painted panel altars emerged in Italy during the 13th century, in the 13th century, it is not uncommon to find frescoed or mural altarpieces in Italy, mural paintings behind the altar function as visual complements for the liturgy. These altarpieces were influenced by Byzantine art, notably icons, which reached Western Europe in greater numbers following the conquest of Constantinople in 1204. During this time, altarpieces began to be decorated with an outer. Vigoroso da Sienas altarpiece from 1291 display such an altarpiece and this treatment of the altarpiece would eventually pave the way for the emergence, in the 14th century, of the polyptych. The sculpted elements in the emerging polyptychs often took inspiration from contemporary Gothic architecture, in Italy, they were still typically executed in wood and painted, while in northern Europe altarpieces were often made of stone. The early 14th century saw the emergence, in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the Baltic region, by hinging the outer panels to the central panel and painting them on both sides, the motif could be regulated by opening or closing the wings. The pictures could thus be changed depending on liturgical demands, the earliest often displayed sculptures on the inner panels, i. e. displayed when open, and paintings on the back of the wings, displayed when closed. With the advent of winged altarpieces, a shift in imagery also occurred, instead of being centred on a single holy figure, altarpieces began to portray more complex narratives linked to the Christian concept of salvation. As the Middle Ages progressed, altarpieces began to be commissioned more frequently, in Northern Europe, initially Lübeck and later Antwerp would develop into veritable export centres for the production of altarpieces, exporting to Scandinavia, Spain and northern France. By the 15th century, altarpieces were often commissioned not only by churches but also by individuals, families, guilds, the 15th century saw the birth of Early Netherlandish painting in the Low Countries, henceforth panel painting would dominate altarpiece production in the area. In Germany, sculpted wooden altarpieces were instead generally preferred, while in England alabaster was used to a large extent, in England, as well as in France, stone retables enjoyed general popularity. In Italy both stone retables and wooden polyptychs were common, with painted panels and often with complex framing in the form of architectural compositions
26.
Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista
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The Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista is a confraternity building located in the San Polo sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. Founded in the 13th century by a group of flagellants it was later to one of the five Scuole Grandi of Venice. These organisations provided a variety of functions in the city as well as becoming patrons of the arts. No longer in the school, these came into public ownership during the Napoleonic era and are now housed in the Gallerie dellAccademia, the scuola is open to visitors on a limited number of days, detailed on the official website. Founded in 1261, San Giovanni Evangelista is the second oldest scuola in Venice, though scuola developed a primary meaning of school, in Venice these organisations retain their medieval Latin meaning of confraternities, social organisations founded on spiritual principles. Their main buildings were used as meeting and assembly halls. The founders of San Giovanni were a confraternity of flagellants who took part in ceremonies, whipping their backs. This practice was outlawed in the city of Venice in the year the scuola was founded. In 1369 Philip de Mezières, the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a reliquary was constructed to house the relic and this was soon after connected with a miracle that reportedly took place in Venice during the period 1370-82. According to contemporary accounts, when dropped into a canal during a congested procession the relic did not sink but hovered over the water. This continued until Andrea Vendramin dived in and retrieved it and this was the same Andrea who, as head of the scuola, had been presented with the relic in 1369. This miracle was later depicted by Vittorio Carpaccio, Gentile Bellini, nearly 200 years later the reliquary was the focal point of the Vendramin family portrait by Titian, now in the National Gallery, London, showing the prestige the events had given to the family. During the Renaissance period the scuola was made into a Scuola Grande under the control of Venices Council of Ten, in 1485 the architect Pietro Lombardo completed the schools most distinctive architectural feature, the outdoor atrium and gateway which separate the complex from the campo to which it adjoins. Shortly after, in 1498, the architect Mauro Codussi completed work on a staircase linking the upper and lower halls. It is illuminated by a window on the landing between the two flights of stairs, an element common to much of Codussis work. The final major changes were made during the 18th century. Following the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797 the schools were suppressed by a Napoleonic edict, however, during the 19th century San Giovanni Evangelista was one of the ones re-constituted. The school is defined externally by the open air atrium or courtyard, though appearing harmonious the courtyard is the work of several different periods
27.
St. Augustine in His Study (Carpaccio)
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St. Augustine in His Study is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio housed in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni of Venice, northern Italy. The works dates to Carpaccios mature period, when he was called by the scuola of the Schiavoni to executed a cycle of seven paintings on the stories of patron saints, the work began in 1502 and was completed in 1507. The work portrays the episode of Saint Jerome appearing to St. Augustine to announce his imminent death. Carpaccio portrayed the African saint in his studio, in the moment in which he is distracted from his reading by the voice of Jerome, the room is that typical of an acculturated humanist of the painters age, depicted with his usual attention to details. The room is rectangular, with a painted ceiling. Augustine sits on a bench over a pad, covered with cloth and lined with studs. Some of the books show musical lines, under the window are a file and an hourglass. Other elements depicted include measurement instruments, precious caskets, a bell, a shell, an armillary sphere, vases, bottles and others. In the center is a niche with an altar, where, as shown by the curtain moved aside, are Augustines liturgic objects, a vest, a mitre, the crosier, at the side of the altars are two twin portals, with fine decorations in Renaissance style. Jerome in His Study, which Carpaccio could perhaps observe and study. On the left two long shelves, housing more books with gaudy covers, a series of antiques, a candle basement shaped as a paw and, below, large volumes, a seat. In the center of the room is a dog and, nearby, a cartouche with the artists signature. Details St. George and the Dragon Valcanover, Francesco
28.
Orientalism
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In particular, Orientalist painting, representing the Middle East, was a genre of Academic art in the 19th century. Orientalism refers to the Orient, in reference and opposition to the Occident, the East, the word Orient entered the English language as the Middle French orient. In the “Monks Tale”, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, “That they conquered many regnes grete / In the orient, with many a fair citee. ”The term “orient” refers to countries east of the Mediterranean Sea and Southern Europe. In Place of Fear, Aneurin Bevan used an expanded denotation of the Orient that comprehended East Asia, “the awakening of the Orient under the impact of Western ideas”. Edward Said said that Orientalism “enables the political, economic, cultural and social domination of the West, not just during colonial times, but also in the present. ”In art history, the term Orientalism refers to the works of the Western artists who specialized in Oriental subjects, produced from their travels in Western Asia, during the 19th century. In that time, artists and scholars were described as Orientalists, especially in France, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the term Orientalist identified a scholar who specialized in the languages and literatures of the Eastern world. Among such scholars is the philologist William Jones, whose studies of Indo-European languages established modern philology, additionally, Hebraism and Jewish studies gained popularity among British and German scholars in the 18th and 19th century. The academic field of Oriental studies, which comprehended the cultures of the Near East, the thesis of Orientalism develops Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, and Michel Foucaults theorisation of discourse to criticise the scholarly tradition of Oriental studies. Said criticised contemporary scholars who perpetuated the tradition of outsider-interpretation of Arabo-Islamic cultures, especially Bernard Lewis, the analyses are of Orientalism in European literature, especially French literature, and do not analyse visual art and Orientalist painting. In that vein, the art historian Linda Nochlin applied Said’s methods of analysis to art. In the academy, the book Orientalism became a text of post-colonial cultural studies. Early architectural use of motifs lifted from the Indian subcontinent is known as Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, one of the earliest examples is the façade of Guildhall, London. The style gained momentum in the west with the publication of views of India by William Hodges, examples of Hindoo architecture are Sezincote House in Gloucestershire, built for a nabob returned from Bengal, and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Venice, the trading partner of the Ottomans, was the earliest centre. Chinoiserie is the term for the fashion for Chinese themes in decoration in Western Europe, beginning in the late 17th century and peaking in waves, especially Rococo Chinoiserie. From the Renaissance to the 18th century, Western designers attempted to imitate the technical sophistication of Chinese ceramics with only partial success, Early hints of Chinoiserie appeared in the 17th century in nations with active East India companies, England, Denmark, the Netherlands and France. Tin-glazed pottery made at Delft and other Dutch towns adopted genuine Ming-era blue, Early ceramic wares made at Meissen and other centers of true porcelain imitated Chinese shapes for dishes, vases and teawares. Pleasure pavilions in Chinese taste appeared in the formal parterres of late Baroque and Rococo German palaces, Thomas Chippendales mahogany tea tables and china cabinets, especially, were embellished with fretwork glazing and railings, ca 1753–70
29.
Narrative art
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Narrative art is art that tells a story, either as a moment in an ongoing story or as a sequence of events unfolding over time. Some of the earliest evidence of art suggests that people told stories with pictures. Static images in any artistic medium do not naturally lend themselves to telling stories as stories are told over time, although there are some common features to all narrative art, different cultures have developed idiosyncratic ways to discern narrative action from pictures. Prior to the advent of literacy most narrative art was done in a narrative style with very little overarching organization. Once literacy developed in different parts of the world began to be organized along register lines, like lines on a page. This method of linking scenes together led to ways of telling stories in the 20th century, namely the newspaper, comic strips. In painting in traditional Western art since the Renaissance, the concept of history painting covers most narrative scenes, though it requires sophisticated conventions to make the narrative clear, narrative art occurs very early in the history of art. One of the earliest works of Ancient Egyptian art is the Narmer Palette relief in the Louvre Museum, Narrative art was employed extensively in the Neo-Assyrian Period. Most significantly, the walls of the major Assyrian royal palaces were lined orthostats sculpted in low relief scenes depicting the activitives of the king. Sometimes, scenes were depicted on glazed bricks or wall paintings. Bronze bands decorating the doors of Assyrian temples and palaces were also decorated with scenes of the kings activities in narrative style. Trajans Column is an example of Imperial Roman narrative art. Book illustrations are found from ancient times in several cultures, and are often narrative in nature. Narratives occur in a space and unfold in time, in narrative art, the artist chooses how to portray the story, represent the space, and how to shape time within the artwork. Narrative art can be categorized into types, also known as modes or styles. A piece of artwork is not limited to one type of narrative. An artwork may have a type as a whole, as well as portions of the artwork itself that depict separate types of narratives. Several of these types are covered below, a depicted action in itself can suggest a scene or setting, You can imagine the Trojan War taking place at Troy without having to depict the actual city of Troy
30.
Dalmatia
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Dalmatia is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea. The hinterland ranges in width from fifty kilometres in the north, to just a few kilometres in the south,79 islands run parallel to the coast, the largest being Brač, Pag and Hvar. The largest city is Split, followed by Zadar, Dubrovnik, the name of the region stems from an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae, who lived in the area in classical antiquity. Later it became a Roman province, and as result a Romance culture emerged, along with the now-extinct Dalmatian language, later largely replaced with related Venetian. With the arrival of Croats to the area in the 8th century, who occupied most of the hinterland, Croatian and Romance elements began to intermix in language and the culture. During the Middle Ages, its cities were conquered by, or switched allegiance to. The longest-lasting rule was the one of the Republic of Venice, between 1815 and 1918, it was as a province of Austrian Empire known as the Kingdom of Dalmatia. It was the Romans who first gave Dalmatia its name, inspired by the Illyrian word “delmat”, meaning a proud and its Latin form Dalmatia gave rise to its current English name. In the Venetian language, once dominant in the area, it is spelled Dalmàssia, the modern Croatian spelling is Dalmacija, pronounced. Dalmatia is referenced in the New Testament at 2 Timothy 4,10 so its name has been translated in many of the worlds languages. In antiquity the Roman province of Dalmatia was much larger than the present-day Split-Dalmatia County, Dalmatia is today a historical region only, not formally instituted in Croatian law. Its exact extent is uncertain and subject to public perception. According to Lena Mirošević and Josip Faričić of the University of Zadar, simultaneously, the southern part of Lika and upper Pounje, which were not a part of Austrian Dalmatia, became a part of Zadar County. From the present-day administrative and territorial point of view, Dalmatia comprises the four Croatian littoral counties with seats in Zadar, Šibenik, Split, Dalmatia is therefore generally perceived to extend approximately to the borders of the Austrian Kingdom of Dalmatia. The Encyclopædia Britannica defines Dalmatia as extending to the narrows of Kotor, other sources, however, such as the Treccani encyclopedia and the Rough Guide to Croatia still include the Bay as being part of the region. This definition does not include the Bay of Kotor, nor the islands of Rab, Sveti Grgur and it also excludes the northern part of the island of Pag, which is part of the Lika-Senj County. However, it includes the Gračac Municipality in Zadar County, which was not a part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia and is not traditionally associated with the region, the inhabitants of Dalmatia are culturally subdivided into two or three groups
31.
Jerome
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Jerome was a priest, confessor, theologian and historian. He was the son of Eusebius, born at Stridon, a village near Emona on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia and he is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin, and his commentaries on the Gospels. His list of writings is extensive, the protégé of Pope Damasus I, who died in December of 384, Jerome was known for his teachings on Christian moral life, especially to those living in cosmopolitan centers such as Rome. In many cases, he focused his attention to the lives of women and this focus stemmed from his close patron relationships with several prominent female ascetics who were members of affluent senatorial families. He is recognised as a Saint and Doctor of the Church by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and his feast day is 30 September. Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus was born at Stridon around 347 A. D and he was of Illyrian ancestry and his native tongue was the Illyrian dialect. He was not baptized until about 360–366 A. D. when he had gone to Rome with his friend Bonosus to pursue rhetorical and philosophical studies and he studied under the grammarian Aelius Donatus. There Jerome learned Latin and at least some Greek, though not the familiarity with Greek literature he would later claim to have acquired as a schoolboy. As a student in Rome, he engaged in the superficial escapades and wanton behaviour of students there, to appease his conscience, he would visit on Sundays the sepulchres of the martyrs and the Apostles in the catacombs. Here and there the light, not entering in through windows, but again, as soon as you found yourself cautiously moving forward, the black night closed around and there came to my mind the line of Vergil, Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent. Jerome used a quote from Virgil—On all sides round horror spread wide, although initially skeptical of Christianity, he was eventually converted. Next came a stay of at least several months, or possibly years, with Rufinus at Aquileia, some of these accompanied him when he set out about 373 on a journey through Thrace and Asia Minor into northern Syria. At Antioch, where he stayed the longest, two of his companions died and he himself was seriously ill more than once, during one of these illnesses, he had a vision that led him to lay aside his secular studies and devote himself to God. Seized with a desire for a life of penance, he went for a time to the desert of Chalcis, to the southeast of Antioch, known as the Syrian Thebaid. During this period, he seems to have time for studying and writing. He made his first attempt to learn Hebrew under the guidance of a converted Jew, Jerome translated parts of this Hebrew Gospel into Greek. Returning to Antioch in 378 or 379, he was ordained by Bishop Paulinus, apparently unwillingly, soon afterward, he went to Constantinople to pursue a study of Scripture under Gregory Nazianzen. He seems to have spent two years there, then left, and the three he was in Rome again, as secretary to Pope Damasus I and the leading Roman Christians
32.
Saint George
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Saint George, according to legend, was a Roman soldier of Syrian origin and officer in the Guard of Roman emperor Diocletian, who ordered his death for failing to recant his Christian faith. As a Christian martyr, he became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity. In hagiography, as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalised in the myth of Saint George and his memorial, Saint Georges Day, is traditionally celebrated on April 23. Numerous countries, cities, professions and organisations claim Saint George as their patron, accounts differ regarding whether George was born in Cappadocia or Syria Palaestina, but agree that he was raised at least partly in Lydda. There is little information on the life of Saint George. Two stories tell of his possible origins, one says that he was born in the region of Cappadocia, which is now located in central Turkey. Georges parents were both Christian, and they brought him up to be a Christian and his father died when he was fourteen, and his mother took George back to her homeland of Palestine. At seventeen, he joined the Roman army, a second story says that Georges father came from Cappadocia. His mother was from Lydda, in Palestine, and George was born in Lydda, both of his parents were from noble Syrian families and gave him the Greek name of Georgios. Georges father had been an officer in the Roman army, so George joined the Roman army as soon as he could, an earlier work by Eusebius, Church history, written in the 4th century, contributed to the legend but did not name George or provide significant detail. A critical edition of a Syriac Acta of Saint George, accompanied by an annotated English translation, was published by E. W. Brooks in 1925. Pope Gelasius I stated that George was among those whose names are justly reverenced among men. The traditional legends have offered a narration of Georges encounter with a dragon. The modern legend that follows below is synthesised from early and late hagiographical sources, chief among the legendary sources about the saint is the Golden Legend, which remains the most familiar version in English owing to William Caxtons 15th-century translation. At the age of 14, George lost his father, a few years later, George then decided to go to Nicomedia and present himself to Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with arms, as he had known his father. By his late twenties, George was promoted to the rank of military tribune, however, George objected, and with the courage of his faith, approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was upset, not wanting to lose his best tribune, but George loudly renounced the Emperors edict, and in front of his fellow soldiers and tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian
33.
Levant
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The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean. The term Levant entered English in the late 15th century from French and it derives from the Italian Levante, meaning rising, implying the rising of the sun in the east. As such, it is equivalent to the Arabic term Mashriq. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine, in 1581, England set up the Levant Company to monopolize commerce with the Ottoman Empire. The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and this is probably the reason why the term Levant has come to be used synonymously with Syria-Palestine. Some scholars misunderstood the term thinking that it derives from the name of Lebanon, today the term is typically used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. It does not include Anatolia, the Caucasus Mountains, or any part of the Arabian Peninsula proper, the Sinai Peninsula is sometimes included. The Levant has been described as the crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and northeast Africa, the populations of the Levant share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and a very long history. They are often referred to as Levantines, the term Levant, which appeared in English in 1497, originally meant the East in general or Mediterranean lands east of Italy. It is borrowed from the French levant rising, referring to the rising of the sun in the east, the phrase is ultimately from the Latin word levare, meaning lift, raise. Similar etymologies are found in Greek Ἀνατολή, in Germanic Morgenland, in Italian, in Hungarian Kelet, in Spanish and Catalan Levante and Llevant, most notably, Orient and its Latin source oriens meaning east, is literally rising, deriving from Latin orior rise. The notion of the Levant has undergone a process of historical evolution in usage, meaning. While the term Levantine originally referred to the European residents of the eastern Mediterranean region, it came to refer to regional native. The English Levant Company was founded in 1581 to trade with the Ottoman Empire, at this time, the Far East was known as the Upper Levant. In early 19th-century travel writing, the term sometimes incorporated certain Mediterranean provinces of the Ottoman empire, in 19th-century archaeology, it referred to overlapping cultures in this region during and after prehistoric times, intending to reference the place instead of any one culture. The French mandate of Syria and Lebanon was called the Levant states, today, Levant is the term typically used by archaeologists and historians with reference to the history of the region. Scholars have adopted the term Levant to identify the region due to it being a wider, yet relevant, archaeologists seeking a neutral orientation that is neither biblical nor national have used terms such as Levantine archaeology and archaeology of the Southern Levant. Two academic journals were launched, Journal of Levantine Studies, published by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and The Levantine Review
34.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
35.
Bible
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The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans. Many different authors contributed to the Bible, what is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups, a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint, the New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek. These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives, letters, among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups and this concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the book of all time. It has estimated sales of 100 million copies, and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West. The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin. Medieval Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra holy book, while biblia in Greek and it gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe. Latin biblia sacra holy books translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, the word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book. It is the diminutive of βύβλος byblos, Egyptian papyrus, possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece, the Greek ta biblia was an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books. Christian use of the term can be traced to c.223 CE, bruce notes that Chrysostom appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10th-century Masoretes to record the verse divisions used in oral traditions. The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the Vatican Library, the oldest copy of the Tanakh in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus and he states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that, Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, the period of transmission is short, less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Marks Gospel. This means that there was time for oral traditions to assume fixed form
36.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
37.
Vulgate
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The Vulgate is a late fourth-century Latin translation of the Bible that became, during the 16th century, the Catholic Churchs officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible. The translation was largely the work of St. Jerome, who, in 382 AD, was commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Vetus Latina collection of biblical texts in Latin then in use by the Church. Once published, it was adopted and eventually eclipsed the Vetus Latina and, by the 13th century, was known as the versio vulgata or, more simply. The Catholic Church affirmed it as its official Latin Bible at the Council of Trent, the Vulgate has a compound text that is not entirely the work of Jerome. Its components include, Jeromes independent translation from the Hebrew, the books of the Hebrew Bible, usually not including his translation of the Psalms. Translation from the Greek of Theodotion by Jerome, The three additions to the Book of Daniel, Song of the Three Children, Story of Susanna, and The Idol Bel and the Dragon. The Song of the Three Children was retained within the narrative of Daniel, translation from the Septuagint by Jerome, the Rest of Esther. Jerome gathered all these additions together at the end of the Book of Esther, translation from the Hexaplar Septuagint by Jerome, his Gallican version of the Book of Psalms. Jeromes Hexaplaric revisions of other books of Old Testament continued to circulate in Italy for several centuries, free translation by Jerome from a secondary Aramaic version, Tobias and Judith. Revision by Jerome of the Old Latin, corrected with reference to the oldest Greek manuscripts available, Old Latin, more or less revised by a person or persons unknown, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah,3 Esdras, Acts, Epistles, and the Apocalypse. Old Latin, wholly unrevised, Epistle to the Laodiceans, Prayer of Manasses,4 Esdras, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. Jerome did not embark on the work with the intention of creating a new version of the whole Bible, how much of the rest of the New Testament he then revised is difficult to judge today, but little of his work survived in the Vulgate text. Jerome first embarked on a revision of the Psalms, translated from the revised Septuagint Greek column of the Hexapla and he also appears to have undertaken further new translations into Latin from the Hexaplar Septuagint column for other books. But from 390 to 405, Jerome translated anew from the Hebrew all 39 books in the Hebrew Bible, including a further version of the Psalms. This new translation of the Psalms was labelled by him as iuxta Hebraeos, the Vulgate is usually credited as being the first translation of the Old Testament into Latin directly from the Hebrew Tanakh, rather than the Greek Septuagint. Moreover, Augustine in that passage demonstrates his own preference for the Greek thus eliminating any possibility that Saint Jerome translated the OT from Greek. In these letters, Jerome described those books or portions of books in the Septuagint that were not found in the Hebrew as being non-canonical, Jeromes views did not, however, prevail, and all complete manuscripts and editions of the Vulgate include some or all of these books. Their style is markedly distinguishable from Jeromes
38.
Saint George and the Dragon
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The legend gradually became part of the Christian traditions relating to Saint George and was used in many festivals thereafter. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the city of Lasia. The town had a lake with a plague-bearing dragon living in it. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene fed it two sheep every day, when they ran out of sheep they started feeding it their children, chosen by lottery. One time the lot fell on the kings daughter, the king, in his grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared, the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess tried to send him away, but he vowed to remain, the dragon emerged from the lake while they were conversing. Saint George made the Sign of the Cross and charged it on horseback and he then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragons neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash, the princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the populace. Saint George offered to kill the dragon if they consented to become Christians, fifteen thousand men including the king of Silene converted to Christianity. George then killed the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. The king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George on the site where the dragon died, eastern The oldest icons depicting the saint as a horseman killing the dragon date to the 12th century. Older icons from Georgia show George as a horseman slaying an enemy rather than a dragon. The motif becomes popular especially in Georgian and Russian tradition, the saint is depicted in the style of a Roman cavalryman in the tradition of the Thracian Heros. In Russian tradition, the icon is known as Чудо Георгия о змие, i. e. the miracle of George, the saint is mostly shown on a white horse, facing right, but sometimes also on a black horse, or facing left. The princess is not included. Some icons show George killing the dragon on foot, another motif shows George on horseback with the youth of Mytilene sitting behind him. Icons of Saint George killing the dragon on foot, Western The motif of Saint George as a knight on horseback slaying the dragon first appears in art in the second half of the 13th century
39.
Libya
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The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya, the other large city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya. Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age, the Phoenicians established trading posts in western Libya, and ancient Greek colonists established city-states in eastern Libya. Libya was variously ruled by Carthaginians, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks before becoming a part of the Roman Empire, Libya was an early center of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century, in the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli, until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation of Libya resulted in the temporary Italian Libya colony from 1911 to 1943. During the Second World War Libya was an important area of warfare in the North African Campaign, the Italian population then went into decline. Libya became an independent kingdom in 1951, a military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I, beginning a period of sweeping social reform. Since then, Libya has experienced a period of instability, the European Union is involved in an operation to disrupt human trafficking networks exploiting refugees fleeing from wars in Africa for Europe. At least two political bodies claim to be the government of Libya, the Council of Deputies is internationally recognized as the legitimate government, but it does not hold territory in the capital, Tripoli, instead meeting in the Cyrenaica city of Tobruk. Parts of Libya are outside of either governments control, with various Islamist, rebel, the United Nations is sponsoring peace talks between the Tobruk and Tripoli-based factions. An agreement to form an interim government was signed on 17 December 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, a nine-member Presidency Council, the leaders of the new government, called the Government of National Accord, arrived in Tripoli on 5 April 2016. Since then the GNC, one of the two governments, has disbanded to support the new GNA. The name Libya was introduced in 1934 for Italian Libya, reviving the name for Northwest Africa. The name was based on use in 1903 by Italian geographer Federico Minutilli. It was intended to supplant terms applied to Ottoman Tripolitania, the region of what is today Libya having been ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911
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Dragon
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A dragon is a legendary creature, typically scaled or fire-spewing and with serpentine, reptilian or avian traits, that features in the myths of many cultures around world. The two most well-known cultural traditions of dragon are The European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Balkans, most are depicted as reptilian creatures with animal-level intelligence, and are uniquely six-limbed. The Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan, Korea and other East Asian, most are depicted as serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence, and are quadrupeds. The two traditions may have evolved separately, but have influenced each other to a certain extent, the English word dragon and Latin word draco derives from Greek δράκων, dragon, serpent of huge size, water-snake. The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological, a dragon is a mythological representation of a reptile. In antiquity, dragons were mostly envisaged as serpents, but since the Middle Ages, it has become common to them with legs. Dragons are usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard, the European dragon has bat-like wings growing from its back. A dragon-like creature with wings but only a pair of legs is known as a wyvern. The association of the serpent with a monstrous opponent overcome by a deity has its roots in the mythology of the Ancient Near East, including Canaanite, Hittite. Humbaba, the fire-breathing dragon-fanged beast first described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, is described as a dragon with Gilgamesh playing the part of dragon-slayer. The folk-lore motif of the dragon guarding gold may have come from earlier Bronze Age customs of introducing serpents to village granaries to deter rats or mice. Although dragons occur in many legends around the world, different cultures have varying stories about monsters that have been grouped together under the dragon label, some dragons are said to breathe fire or to be poisonous, such as in the Old English poem Beowulf. They are commonly portrayed as serpentine or reptilian, hatching from eggs and they are sometimes portrayed as hoarding treasure. Some myths portray them with a row of dorsal spines, European dragons are more often winged, while Chinese dragons resemble large snakes. Dragons can have a number of legs, none, two, four, or more when it comes to early European literature. Dragons are often held to have spiritual significance in various religions. In many Asian cultures, dragons were, and in some still are, revered as representative of the primal forces of nature, religion. They are associated with wisdom—often said to be wiser than humans—and longevity and they are commonly said to possess some form of magic or other supernatural power, and are often associated with wells, rain, and rivers
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Paganism
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Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, elsewhere, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, first, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
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Baptism
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Baptism is a Christian sacrament of admission and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally. The canonical Gospels report that Jesus was baptized—a historical event to which a degree of certainty can be assigned. Baptism has been called a sacrament and an ordinance of Jesus Christ. In some denominations, baptism is also called christening, but for others the word christening is reserved for the baptism of infants, Baptism has also given its name to the Baptist churches and denominations. The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to be immersed, in v.16, Matthew will speak of Jesus coming up out of the water. The traditional depiction in Christian art of John the Baptist pouring water over Jesus head may therefore be based on later Christian practice, other common forms of baptism now in use include pouring water three times on the forehead, a method called affusion. Martyrdom was identified early in Church history as baptism by blood, later, the Catholic Church identified a baptism of desire, by which those preparing for baptism who die before actually receiving the sacrament are considered saved. Today, some Christians, particularly Christian Scientists, Quakers, The Salvation Army, and Unitarians, do not see baptism as necessary, among those that do, differences can be found in the manner and mode of baptizing and in the understanding of the significance of the rite. Most Christians baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, much more than half of all Christians baptize infants, many others hold that only believers baptism is true baptism. Some insist on submersion or at least partial immersion of the person who is baptized, others consider that any form of washing by water, as long as the water flows on the head, is sufficient. The term baptism has also used to refer to any ceremony, trial, or experience by which a person is initiated, purified. The Greek verb baptō, dip, from which the verb baptizo is derived, is in turn hypothetically traced to a reconstructed Indo-European root *gʷabh-, the Greek words are used in a great variety of meanings. John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, the apostle Paul distinguished between the baptism of John, and baptism in the name of Jesus, and it is questionable whether Christian baptism was in some way linked with that of John. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism, though whether Jesus intended to institute a continuing, the earliest Christian baptisms were probably normally by immersion, complete or partial. Though other modes may have also been used, at the hour in which the cock crows, they shall first pray over the water. When they come to the water, the water shall be pure and flowing, that is, then they shall take off all their clothes. The children shall be baptized first, all of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, after this, the men will be baptized
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Turban
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A turban is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear primarily by Sikh men, wearing turbans is common among Sikhs, including women, who refer to it as a Dastar. In certain other faith communities, the headgear also serves as a religious observance, including among Shia Muslims, greeks, in ancient times, wore a distinctive style of turbans. Additionally, turbans have often been worn by nobility, regardless of religious background and they are also sometimes donned to protect hair or as a headwrap for women following cancer treatments. The origins of turbans are uncertain, an early attestation for knowledge of the turban is found in the Roman author Ovids Metamorphoses, dating to the 1st century BC. Ovid recounts the myth that Midas king of the Phrygians, an Indo-European people of central Turkey, the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, who lived 570–632, is believed to have worn a turban in white, the most holy colour. Many Muslim men choose to wear green, because it represents paradise, in parts of North Africa, where blue is common, the shade of a turban can signify the tribe of the wearer. Contemporary turbans come in shapes, sizes and colours. Turban wearers in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, the cloth is usually under five meters in length. Some elaborate South Asian turbans may also be formed and sewn to a foundation. Turbans can be large or quite modest depending upon region, culture. Traditionally, turban has been the name of a type of headwear worn by women in Western countries, the wearing of such turbans by women in Western societies is less common than it was earlier in the 20th century. They are usually sewn to a foundation, so that they can be donned or removed easily, Turbans are commonly worn in the Horn of Africa by Muslim clerics, as well as Ethiopian Orthodox Christian priests. The headwrap has a presence in the region, where it was frequently sported by Sultans, Wazirs. Prominent historical Islamic leaders in the region that are known to have worn turbans include Sheikh Abadir Umar Ar-Rida. The colored turban, Ghabanah, is an inherited cultural turban in the regions of Hijaz. The Hijazi turbans with different shapes are the extension of the turban of Islamic prophet Muhammad who lived in Mecca and Madinah. There are several types of Ghabanah, perhaps the most famous is the yellow, that made in Aleppo, that characterized by different inscriptions, colorful turbans are the national costume in Oman, and also are common in some regions in south of Yemen and Hadhramaut
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Sacrament
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A sacrament is a Christian rite recognised as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites, many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the reality of God, as well as a means by which God enacts his grace. Sacraments signify Gods grace in a way that is observable to the participant. The Catholic Church recognises seven sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, many Protestant denominations, such as those within the Reformed tradition, identify two sacraments instituted by Christ, the Eucharist and Baptism. The Lutheran sacraments include these two, often adding Confession as a third sacrament, the English word sacrament is derived indirectly from the Ecclesiastical Latin sacrāmentum, from Latin sacrō, from sacer. This in turn is derived from the Greek New Testament word mysterion and these seven sacraments were codified in the documents of the Council of Trent, which stated, CANON I. During the Middle Ages, sacraments were recorded in Latin, even after the Reformation, many ecclesiastical leaders continued using this practice into the 20th century. On occasion, Protestant ministers followed the same practice, since W was not part of the Latin alphabet, scribes only used it when dealing with names or places. In addition, names were modified to fit a Latin mold, for instance, the name Joseph would be rendered as Iosephus or Josephus. The Catholic Church indicates that the sacraments are necessary for salvation, the Church applies this teaching even to the sacrament of baptism, the gateway to the other sacraments. It states that Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed, catechumens and all those who, even without knowing Christ and the Church, still sincerely seek God and strive to do his will can also be saved without Baptism. The Church in her liturgy entrusts children who die without Baptism to the mercy of God, in the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, the sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions, the Church teaches that the effect of the sacraments comes ex opere operato, by the very fact of being administered, regardless of the personal holiness of the minister administering it. The sacraments presuppose faith and through their words and ritual elements, nourish, strengthen, through each of them, Christ bestows that sacraments particular grace, such as incorporation into Christ and the Church, forgiveness of sins, or consecration for a particular service. The Eastern Orthodox tradition does not limit the number of sacraments to seven, however it recognizes these seven as the major sacraments, which are completed by many other blessings and special services. Some lists of the sacraments taken from the Church Fathers include the consecration of a church, monastic tonsure, more specifically, for the Eastern Orthodox the term sacrament is a term which seeks to classify something that may, according to Orthodox thought, be impossible to classify. According to Orthodox thinking God touches mankind through material means such as water, wine, bread, oil, incense, candles, altars, icons, how God does this is a mystery
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Carpaccio, Vittorio". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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