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The present chapter investigates the construction of Mary’s Presentation to the Temple as reflected in visual material pertaining mostly to thirteenth-sixteenth-century French illuminated manuscripts in relation to fresco representations. Beginning with the analysis of Mary’s Presentation to the Temple in textual sources, the core of the article highlights the contribution and use of various iconographies in building relatively new Marian imagery. One of these influences is the iconography of Christ’s entrance to the Temple, hence, the use of canonical iconography for non-canonical/apocryphal visual material. This section builds on the argument of Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne that Mary’s Presentation is visually modeled on that of Christ’s, an assertion that needs further demonstration in order to determine the amount of such influence. The present research also highlights the contribution of other iconographies, besides that of Christ’s, in the construction of Mary’s Presentation such as that of child oblation into monastic space. The research concludes by emphasizing the use of common iconographic patterns, placed in the context of specific hagiographic tendencies in the late middle ages, and the emergence of new religious feasts in relation to liturgical developments.

Nella tradizione miniata della Commedia, le illustrazioni riguardano quasi costantemente la narrazione del viaggio di Dante nei tre regni dell'Aldilà. Tra le deroghe più interessanti, però, esistono casi in cui gli autori dei programmi iconografici provano ad andare oltre e a mettere in immagine alcune delle numerose figure retoriche del testo dantesco. Lo Yates Thompson 36, grazie al suo ricchissimo apparato figurativo, è uno degli esemplari che lo fa in maniera piuttosto frequente, dando sostanza fisica a singole parole o a concetti più complessi che ispirano composizioni che senza utilizzare i versi o gli antichi commenti come "libretto" non sembrerebbero avere nessuna connessione con la Commedia. En la tradició de les Comèdies miniades, les il·lustracions es refereixen gairebé sempre a la narració del viatge de Dante als tres regnes del més enllà. Entre les excepcions més interessants, però, hi ha casos en què els autors dels programes iconogràfics intenten anar més enllà i posar en imatge algunes de les nombroses figures retòriques del text de Dante. El Yates Thompson 36, gràcies al seu ric aparell figuratiu, és un dels exemplars que ho fa amb força freqüència, donant substància física a paraules individuals o conceptes més complexos que inspiren composicions que sense utilitzar els versos o els comentaris antics com a "llibret" no sembla tenir cap connexió amb la Comèdia. In the illuminated tradition of the Commedia, illustrations are often dedicated to visualize the narration of Dante's journey into the three realms of the Afterlife. Among the most interesting exceptions, however, there are cases in which the authors of the illuminations try to go one step further and put into images some of the numerous rhetorical figures in Dante's text. The manuscript Yates Thompson 36, thanks to its very rich figurative apparatus, is an example of this attempt. Its illuminations give a sort of essence to single words or to more complex concepts that, neither referring to the verses of the poem nor to its comments, would wrongly appear as not having any connection with the Comedy. En la tradición miniada de la Comedia, las ilustraciones se refieren casi constantemente a la narración del viaje de Dante a los tres reinos de la otra vida. Entre las excepciones más interesantes, sin embargo, hay casos en los que los autores de los programas iconográficos intentan ir más allá y poner en imagen algunas de las numerosas figuras retóricas del texto de Dante. El Yates Thompson 36, gracias a su rico aparato figurativo, es uno de los ejemplares que lo hace con bastante frecuencia, dando sustancia física a palabras sueltas o conceptos más complejos que inspiran composiciones que sin utilizar los versos o los comentarios antiguos como "libreto" no parecerían tener ninguna conexión con la Comedia. Dans la tradition enluminée de la Comédie, les illustrations concernent presque constamment la narration du voyage de Dante dans les trois royaumes de l'au-delà. Parmi les exceptions les plus intéressantes, cependant, il y a des cas dans lesquels les auteurs des programmes iconographiques tentent d'aller plus loin et de mettre en image certaines des nombreuses figures rhétoriques du texte de Dante. Le Yates Thompson 36, grâce à son riche appareil figuratif, est l'un des spécimens qui le fait assez fréquemment, donnant une substance physique à des mots simples ou à des concepts plus complexes qui inspirent des compositions qui, sans utiliser les versets ou les commentaires anciens comme « livret », ne semblent pas avoir de lien avec la Comédie.

The Nkaragrutʻiwn Tnōrinakan tełeacʻ is the name given to the collection of manuscripts containing descriptions of monuments located in Palestine, primarily those considered Christian holy places. Closely resembling modern travel books or tourist guides to archeological sites, these manuscripts were compiled with the intent of acquainting Armenian pilgrims with the Sacred Shrines in the Holy Land during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One particular Armenian manuscript, housed in the monastic library of the Mekhitarist Fathers in Vienna, is a very interesting and important “guidebook”, richly illustrated and written by the monk Eremia of Adana at the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem in 1697. The manuscript contains travel information regarding 80 sites, complete with 81 pictorial compositions. Most of the depictions are of Christian holy places, but there are also a number of representations of Jewish and Muslim sites. Eremia offers a comprehensive guided tour of each of these monuments which during his time were scattered over the territory of Palestine, with many still being in existence today. The proposed subject has tremendous significance for Armenologists and Byzantinologists in the fields of miniature art, iconography, geography, topography, archeology, and history of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Cet article présente un manuscrit rédigé et richement illustré par le moine Eremia d’Adana à Jérusalem à la fin du 17e siècle, et qui était destiné à l’usage des pèlerins en route pour la Terre sainte. Il contient des informations sur 80 lieux saints majoritairement chrétiens, mais aussi juifs et musulmans, accompagnés de 81 représentations picturales.

Μεταξύ των τοιχογραφιών που ανακαλύφθηκαν πρόσφατα στο ναό της Μεταμορφώσεως του Σωτήρος στη μονή της Ευφροσύνης στο Polοtsk της Λευκορωσίας, απεικονίζονται δύο σκηνές της μετάδοσης της Θείας Σοφίας σε αγίους ιεράρχες. Οι τοιχογραφίες που απεικονίζουν τον άγιο Ιωάννη τον Χρυσόστομο και τον άγιο Γρηγόριο τον Ναζιανζηνό ή Θεολόγο είναι τα παλαιότερα σωζόμενα παραδείγματα του θέματος στη μνημειακή βυζαντινή τέχνη. Οι συνθέσεις με τα πολλαπλά μηνύματα συμβολισμών, εκτός του ότι αποτελούν μέρος ενός πολυπρόσωπου εικονογραφικού προγράμματος με απεικονίσεις μοναχών, συμβολίζουν επίσης τις πηγές της αιώνιας ζωής, κάτι που συνάδει με την κύρια χρήση της εκκλησίας ως ταφικού παρεκκλησίου της πριγκίπισσας Ευφροσύνης και της οικογέ- νειάς της στα μέσα του 12ου αιώνα (περί το 1161)., Two recently-recovered frescoes in the Transfiguration church of the monastery of Euphrosynia in Polotsk, Belarus, depict scenes of transition of Divine Wisdom to bishop Saints. These frescoes, which feature Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Gregory of Nazianzos or the Theologian, represent the earliest surviving examples of the inclusion of this theme in church fresco decoration. The compositions possess multiple layers of meaning: besides being part of the multi-figure program depicting monks, they symbolize the sources of eternal life – something perfectly in tune with the main function of the church as the burial chapel of the princess Eu- phrosynia and her family during the mid-12th century (ca. 1161).

Las miniaturas en los manuscritos ilustrados de Chrétien de Troyes se valen de elementos pictóricos como los colores, los gestos o la posición y el tamaño de los objetos, así como de figuras y símbolos que aluden a lo sobrenatural, lo maravilloso o lo extraordinario, para representar los distintos sentidos de la aventura en los romans artúricos del autor. El artículo se propone mostrar cómo se lleva a cabo ese traslado a imágenes, mediante el análisis de una selección de miniaturas que aluden a la aventura como prueba, la aventura como evento que altera el curso natural de la existencia y la aventura como diálogo con el mundo, en el cual se descubre e interpreta el destino., The miniatures in the illustrated manuscripts of Chrétien de Troyes make use of pictorial elements such as colours, gestures, positions and sizes of objects, as well as symbols and figures related to the supernatural, the marvellous and the extraordinary, to represent the different meanings of adventure that the author develops through his romances. The paper presents the analysis of a selection of miniatures that refer to the notions of adventure as test or challenge, adventure as an event that changes the normal course of life and adventure as a dialogue with the world, through which one may discover and interpret fate. Such analysis will show the process by which those ideas are translated into images.

Με αφορμή μικρογραφική παράσταση που απεικονίζει τον Βίο μέσα σε πρωτόγραμμα του κώδικα Urbani (11ος αιώνας) της βιβλιοθήκης Francoziana που βρίσκεται στη Γένοβα, γίνεται μια αναδρομή στις λογοτεχνικές και εικαστικές απεικονίσεις του Καιρού, το αρχαίο αντίστοιχο του Βίου. Μέσα από την αναδρομή αυτή επισημαίνονται τα κοινά εικονογραφικά στοιχεία αυτής της ιδέας που ως μορφή μεταπλασμένη από την αρχαιότητα γνωρίζει παραλλαγές, αλλά στην ουσία της διατηρείται σχεδόν ανέπαφη σε όλη τη διάρκεια της βυζαντινής και μεταβυζαντινής περιόδου., The Price of Pleasure; Bios and the Resurgence of Kairos in Byzantine ArtThe miniature representation of the Bios in the codex Urbani (11th century) held at the Francoziana Library in Genova is the departure point for a discussion pertinent to both literary and visual representations of the idea of time, which in Antiquity was personified as Kairos. The latter’s avatar during the medieval period was reshaped to Bios. This discussion highlights the shared iconographic elements, which were maintained almost intact from the Antiquity to the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine periods respectively.