medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
How about the artist himself? How much say did he have in the very specific details of the art he was creating? This is very much a rhetorical question as there is no possible definitive response. But I do wish art historians would speculate more on this point. Marcia Kupfer's book (Romanesque Wall Painting in Central France: The Politics of Narrative; Yale Publications in the History of Art) is the sort of work I'd like to see more of. She links the subjects with the hot-button theological topics of the day, one of which was simony (linked with Judas) and nicolaitism, both of which were huge problems at the time of the painting process. I'm ghastly tired of descriptions of column types and the measurements of the circumference of same, blah, blah...
MG
-- "John B. Dillon" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Christopher Crockett wrote:
> From: "John B. Dillon" <[log in to unmask]>
>>My thought, too. But to whom?
>
>
> at this date, and in that particular context, [visible to ] the patron, probably.
Well, to members of his family at least. The frescoes were commissioned
in Bartolomeo Bolognini's will of 1408.
<huge snip, having nothing to do with the intrinsic merits of the
material being snipped>
> if i may drift back to the point at hand, i wouldn't be at all surprised to
> find (in the literature devoted to the subject) that the choice of scenes and
> the specific iconography of the frescos in the Bolognini Chapel was *directly*
> related to the tastes and preferences of the very, very particular folks who
> commissioned them.
The choice of the Paradise, Inferno, and Journey of the Magi frescoes
was dictated by the will. Who decided that the bearded guy with the
Arab headgear should be labeled "Machomet" and who determined the
particular choice of scenes from Petronius' life, which are both
ecclesiastical and civic in reference, is neither clear to my unlearned
self nor evident from the following Grove outtake:
http://www.artnet.com/library/03/0324/T032494.asp
A guess would be the Chapter in consultation with the Bolognini family.
Or the Bolognini family in consultation with the Chapter. Depends (in
part, at least) on who actually controlled the funds. Who, apart from
the above (and from the cleaning staff), might have been expected to see
these frescoes is what interests me more.
Here's a scene from the Journey of the Magi (expandable jpeg):
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/giovanni/modena/returnma.html
Best again,
John
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