A Study of the Martyrdom Altarpiece

"This paper will explore an unstudied fifteenth-century English alabaster altarpiece referred to as the Martyrdom Altarpiece. Based on dated and current scholarship, this analysis postulates two scenarios of the object's history. The first scenario postulates the Martyrdom Altarpiece as being commissioned by the Carthusian order. This position is based on stylistic and iconographic readings of the object that correlate with Carthusian analogs. These interpretations are strengthened by documentation sold with the Martyrdom Altarpiece during its 1978 auction sale. Scenario two argues that the Martyrdom Altarpiece's origins are not Carthusian, furthermore suggesting that the object is a composite or truncated piece"

The Minoans and their interpretations of nature in comparison with succeeding cultures

"Some of the finest interpretations ot nature ever to be expressed by an were painted by the Minoan fresco artists of Crete. Discovered only since the turn of the 20th century, the Kinoan Bronze Age civilization was amazingly progressive and notably modern. Apparently, the Minoans gained their high standard of living mainly through economic prosperity and secarity provided by a great navy. Arts, architecture and craft relice uncovered have been numerous, well-preserved and invaluable sources of historical knowledge"

The presence of a woman : images of La Malinche in el Lienzo de Tlaxcala

La Malinche’s serene face and beautifully dressed figure dominates the first half of the lost sixteenth century manuscript El Lienzo de Tlaxcala, which exists today in the form of a copy made after the original. In this paper I propose an expanded study of these twenty-one representations of La Malinche as they offer insight into the Tlaxcalan’s reverence, respect, and spiritual belief in La Malinche. The Tlaxcalan leaders recognized her influence on both the Spanish and indigenous leaders during the conquest and cleverly designed a painted narrative to reinforce their connection with La Malinche to enhance their position with the Spanish. Through a multi layered study that consists of a detailed account of her biography in contrast to gender roles in Pre-Hispanic America, as well as formal and iconographic analysis of rarely examined images from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala that link La Malinche to the Virgin Mary, and a review of the ethnographic research on religious beliefs among contemporary Tlaxcalans, I will demonstrate that the mutable history of this woman made her the ideal supernatural protagonist for the people of Tlaxcala.

Academie to atelier : the artistic education of American women in nineteenth-century Paris

This paper puts forth an alternate reading of the artistic climate in late nineteenth-century Paris than that which has traditionally been suggested. I propose that the expansion of creative opportunity during this time reveals a climate of communal support, consent, and progressive reform for women artists, rather than a struggle to undermine central (masculine) control, as many scholars have claimed. Specifically, I explore the work of American expatriates living in Paris, including but not limited to Cecilia Beaux, Anna Klumpke, Alice Kellogg, and Ellen Day Hale. The birth of the private academy in Paris offered women the chance to develop their artistic ability and assert their independence. The Académie Julian in particular provided a comparatively accepting and progressive environment where American women studying abroad could study from the nude model, receive proper training, and explore their full creative potential. Through an examination of a) these women’s self-portraits, and b) depictions of them painted by their contemporaries – both male and female – I further investigate the artistic education of American women in the highly-gendered cultural milieu of late nineteenth-century France.

Goya's late masterpiece : head of a monk

Francisco Goya painted few canvases during the last four years of his life spent in France. Several of his late masterpieces have fallen under scrutiny over the past ten years, their authenticity questioned by internationally respected scholars. Goya’s Head of a Monk can be counted among this group of disputed canvases. However, a comparison of the Monk with the artist’s sketchbooks, miniatures and murals created during his time in France as well as his last few years in Madrid indicate that this image as well as its underpainting were created by the master himself toward the end of his career.

Recolonization of mortars by endolithic organisms on the walls of San Roque church in Campeche (Mexico): A case of tertiary bioreceptivity

San Roque church (Campeche, Mexico) was built at the end of the 17th century with a micritic limestone and lime mortar in baroque style. In 2005 the church exhibited heavy biodeterioration associated with the development of extensive dark green phototrophic-based biofilms. Several cyanobacteria belonging to the order Chroococcales and lichenized fungi (Toninia nordlandica, Lobaria quercizans, Lecanora subcarnea, Cystocoleus ebeneus) were predominant in the dark biofilm samples, as revealed by DNA-based molecular techniques. In 2009, a cleaning and restoration intervention was adopted; however, after few months, microbial recolonization started to be noticeable on the painted church walls, representing an early phototrophic-based recolonization. According to molecular analysis, scanning electron microscopy observations and digital image analysis of cross sections, new phototrophic-based colonization, composed of cyanobacteria and bryophytes, developed mainly beneath the restored mortars. The intrinsic properties of the mortars, the tropical climate of Campeche and the absence of a biocide treatment in the restoration protocol influenced the recolonization of the church façades and enhanced the overall rate of deterioration in a short-term period.

Effect of water vapour condensation on the radon content in subsurface air in a hypogeal inactive-volcanic environment in Galdar cave, Spain

Fluctuations of trace gas activity as a response to variations in weather and microclimate conditions were monitored over a year in a shallow volcanic cave (Painted Cave, Galdar, Canary Islands, Spain). 222Rn concentration was used due to its greater sensitivity to hygrothermal variations than CO2 concentration. Radon concentration in the cave increases as effective vapour condensation within the porous system of the rock surfaces inside the cave increases due to humidity levels of more than 70%. Condensed water content in pores was assessed and linked to a reduction in the direct passage of trace gases. Fluctuations in radon activity as a response to variations in weather and microclimate conditions were statistically identified by clustering entropy changes on the radon signal and parameterised to predict radon concentration anomalies. This raises important implications for other research fields, including the surveillance of shallow volcanic and seismic activity, preventive conservation of cultural heritage in indoor spaces, indoor air quality control and studies to improve understanding of the role of subterranean terrestrial ecosystems as reservoirs and/or temporary sources of trace gases.

Steel Pedestrian Bridge to Protect a Unique Tree

This paper describes the “Variation Guggenheim 3: Mirador de la palmera” project, situated in Daya Vieja (Alicante-Spain). This structure is inspired by the Guggenheim museum of New York and is designed to protect a land-mark palm-tree from wind loads. This six – trunk palm tree was declared monument by the Valencian government in 2012. The structure that now protect it appears to fly around de palm tree creating a helicoidally skywalk made of steel, while retrofitting the lateral trunks of the tree to protect them from collapse. An 18 m. long straight beam starts on the top of this helix, and stretches towards a lookout point that offers a view of the whole village and its surroundings. The reduction of the visual impact of the structure on the tree was a major aim for the project design. The structural elements are as slender as possible to avoid the visual obstruction of tree. They are painted white, while the walkway steel corrugated plate is painted green in order to highlight its neat shape among the blur created by the apparent mess of bars of the supporting structure. The two main piles of this pedestrian bridge were designed in steel and geometrically resemble trees. A Ground Penetrating Radar analysis was performed to detect the palm root location and to decide the best foundation system. Slender cast in-situ steel-concrete micropiles along with a concrete pile-cap, raised some centimeters above the ground level, were used to reduce the damage to the roots. The projected pile-cap is a slender, continuous, circular ring; which geometry resembles a concrete bench. This structure has been a finalist in the Architecture Awards for the 2010-2014 best construction projects, held by the Diputación de Alicante.

Sculptures by Herbert Haseltine of champion domestic animals of Great Britain / Presented to Field Museum by trustee Marshall Field.

no.13(1934)

Kitāb-i Ṭūṭīʹnāmah : manuscript, 1778

Title from colophon (f. 233r).