forschungsbericht november 2008 – juli 2012 - Kunsthistorisches ...

136 | DURCH DRITTMITTEL GEFÖRDERTE FORSCHUNGEN
the first cycles of paintings depicting her life appeared in Italy. The Angevin dynasty of
Naples, along with the Franciscan and Dominican Orders, has been credited with promoting
the Magdalen cult and its spread into Italy, yet there has been little inquiry into their
use of visual imagery in this endeavor, or indeed into the visual imagining of the Magdalen
during this formative period when she emerged as a subject of narrative painting
cycles. My dissertation, investigating the iconography and patronage of the earliest central
and southern Italian painted cycles of her life, provides the first exploration of the use
of narrative imagery to aid in the construction and development of the identity of Mary
Magdalen. The visual expression of this identity, as created in these critically important cycles
in Naples, Assisi, and Florence, played a vital role in her cult's expansion. I contend that
these cycles, all connected to the key advocates of her cult, were not merely illustrating the
Magdalen's life as described in textual accounts, but rather, through the choices of scenes and
their juxtaposition, consciously crafting the identity of the saint. Instead of presenting simple,
straightforward narratives, the cycles visualize mendicant and Angevin interpretations of the
Magdalen, emphasizing her penitent nature and her associations with the Angevin family.
Insculpta imago – Das Siegel als Paradigma eines Bildkonzepts des
Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit
Ruth Wolff |Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Das Projekt nimmt das Siegel als Paradigma eines Bildkonzepts des Mittelalters und der Frühen
Neuzeit in den Blick. Dieses Bildkonzept ist die insculpta imago, deren zentrale Rolle im
Bilddiskurs des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit in den Bereichen Literatur, Theologie,
Recht, Philosophie, Geschichte und Kunst dargestellt werden soll. Die sich dabei herauskristallisierenden
Themenfelder wie Schönheit, Materialität, Authentizität, Sinne und Format
sind grundlegend auch für andere Medien. Die Untersuchung will so einen wesentlichen
Beitrag zur kunst- und bildwissenschaftlichen Diskussion um das Bild vom Mittelalter bis
zur Frühen Neuzeit leisten, die bislang größtenteils auf der Prämisse des zweidimensionalen
Bildes beruht. Am Beginn des Projekts stand die Analyse relevanter Bibelstellen und
ihrer theologischen Auslegung. Hier hat die Untersuchung der Schriften Bonaventuras gezeigt,
dass seine Bildtheologie ein ikonisches Zeichen voraussetzt, dessen reale bzw. fiktive
Plastizität wesentlich in der Zusammenschau von imago und sigillum begründet ist, während
Thomas von Aquin imago vorwiegend als verbum interpretiert. Die notarielle Ekphrasis
individueller Siegelbilder profitiert dagegen vom Siegel als mobilem und isoliert betrachtbaren
Artefakt, wobei plastische Elemente vordergründig keine Rolle zu spielen scheinen.
Siegel des Galeotto de´Malatesta
(Stempel), letztes Viertel 14. Jh.,
Florenz, Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Art and Observance in Renaissance Venice. The Dominicans and their Artists
(1391–1545 ca.)
Denise Zaru | Schweizerischer Nationalfonds
This broad artistic and historical study aims to shed light on a neglected aspect of the Italian
Renaissance studies: the contribution of the reform movements of mendicant orders – the
so-called Observance – and their forms of devotion to the visual culture of the early modern
period. Focusing on Dominican Observance in Venice, my work explains its role in the
transformation of the religious painting from an iconographical and formal point of view,
namely the development and promotion of a more realistic image in which the viewer is
actively involved. Based on archival research, the study gives for the first time an overview
of the lost artistic and historical heritage of the four Dominican churches in Venice –
SS. Giovanni e Paolo, S. Domenico di Castello, the Corpus Domini, and S. Pietro Martire in
Murano. By comparing the works created for these four convents I am able to demonstrate
the crucial importance of visual forms and themes, which, in a first instance, were promoted
for a feminine audience and then were used for everyone. This approach opens new perspectives
on the pioneering role played by Dominican Observance in the artistic precepts of
the Counter-Reformation.