Papers by Gili Shalom
2024
This article discusses the depictions of healings on the St. Honoré portal at Amiens Cathedral (p... more This article discusses the depictions of healings on the St. Honoré portal at Amiens Cathedral (post-1240) and the visual strategies by which its viewers were invited to participate in the saint’s cult. I contend that the carved figures who gaze or gesture beyond the borders of the tympanum invited the active participation of a broad audience of spectators: male and female, young and old, rich and poor, clerical and lay, and disabled and hale. Moreover, I argue that by referencing both the saint’s vita and more contemporary miracle accounts, the sculptures negotiated between the historical past and the Gothic present, allowing the viewers to share in the hope for a miraculous cure.
QSRM 26/1, 2023
The Church of Notre Dame d’Avioth (ca. 1260–15th century) is famous for its “La Recevresse” (i.e.... more The Church of Notre Dame d’Avioth (ca. 1260–15th century) is famous for its “La Recevresse” (i.e., “Receiving”) – a Gothic ciborium dated to the 15th century. While scholars have focused on the meaning of “La Recevresse” and its functions, none of them have considered the connection between the sculptural program on the south portal and the role of “La Recevresse” at the time of the program’s construction. As I will show, the iconography of the portal was influenced by regional historical events, as well as by the function of “La Recevresse” – all of which echoed the faith and laws of the local community. These factors explain certain deviations and expansions from the scriptural accounts of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt.
IKON, 2019
The martyrdom scenes in Notre Dame de Mouzon (c. 1240) in the Ardennes department stand out in th... more The martyrdom scenes in Notre Dame de Mouzon (c. 1240) in the Ardennes department stand out in their deviation from traditional representations in French-Gothic sculpture. While other images elsewhere stress the moment before the brutal act or its result, in Mouzon the concrete portrayal of the killing of no fewer than three different saints-the siblings St Victor and St Suzanne (5th century), and St Arnoul (8th century)-is monumentally represented. Moreover, while other images generally do not reveal either the pain or the actual violent acts performed against the martyrs (but rather their symbols), in Mouzon the three victims are depicted being spectacularly attacked with swords, stabbed in the neck or back, and physically responding to the pain being inflicted on their bodies. In addition to the martyrdom scenes the tympanum also offers key moments from the Life of the Virgin, which is again a rare combination that has no known precedents in French art. In this article I explore the unique iconographical deviations within the cultural practices through which the images were both conceived and viewed. I discuss the visual means by which the pain of the martyrs is expressed as well as the way by which the sculptures encouraged a somatic response in the beholders. Finally, I argue that the unique iconography of Mouzon should be considered in light of the devotional practices of the local recluses.
Convivium, 2017
The Martyrdom of St. Nicaise and the Baptism of King Clovis by St. Remi, (the local bishop) adorn... more The Martyrdom of St. Nicaise and the Baptism of King Clovis by St. Remi, (the local bishop) adorn the lintel in the Portal of the Saint in Reims dated to ca. 1220–1230, commemorations of formative moments of the fifth-century Church. Although remote from the thirteenth-century beholders, these events were revived and communicated through what I term a “historical inviting figure,” that is, a sculptured figure that gazes out from the relief towards the beholders. This stratagem introduced in Gothic tympana opens up the featured event to include the beholders and enables them to participate in the (sacred) history through points of reference to the current local history. I show that a similar introduction of communicating figures can be traced in the local Ordo of 1250, which renders the remote history tangible in both the text and the sculpture. Finally, I suggest that the notions of ductus and memoria can be applied to the portal, since this priming imagery prepared the devotees for the encounter with the actual sites where the historical events took place.
Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture, 2018
Mailan S. Doquang's The Lithic Garden. Nature and the Transformation of the Medieval Church is an... more Mailan S. Doquang's The Lithic Garden. Nature and the Transformation of the Medieval Church is an important book that focuses on foliate friezes and their various functions in French church design from the early twelfth to the fifteenth century. This unique study seeks to understand these functions through the system of values and practices of the Middle Ages, rather than through those of the nineteenth and early-twentieth-century, as has been the common approach. Following the Introduction, the book is divided into four interrelated chapters. In Chapter 1, The Foliate Frieze as Architectonic Framing Device, Doquang discusses the dual role of the foliate frieze as a delineator and indicator of the sacred space, using the foliate frieze in Amiens Cathedral as an exemplar.
Mediaevistik, 2018
This paper will discuss the representation of the Judgment of Solomon in Chartres dated to 1220 t... more This paper will discuss the representation of the Judgment of Solomon in Chartres dated to 1220 through the method of reception and involved spectatorship. I will argue that the beholders are invited to participate actively in the narrative through what I term ‘The Inviting Figure’ – a sculptured figure who frontally addresses the beholders with a gesture or a direct look and presents the moral dilemma of the story. As I will contend, this stratagem of involved spectatorship can also be traced in contemporary literature and theatre. Finally, I will show that the Judgment of Solomon is staged as a contemporary law lesson known as Questiones disputatae that were held at the contemporary universities.
Mediaevistik, 2018
This paper will discuss the representation of the Judgment of Solomon in Chartres dated to 1220 t... more This paper will discuss the representation of the Judgment of Solomon in Chartres dated to 1220 through the method of reception and involved spectatorship. I will argue that the beholders are invited to actively participate in the narrative through what I term 'The Inviting Figure'-a sculptured figure who frontally address the beholders a gesture or a direct look and presents the moral dilemma of the story. As I will content that this stratagem of involved spectatorship can also be traced in the contemporary literature and theatre. Finally, I will show that Judgment of Solomon is staged as a contemporary law lesson known as Questiones disputatae as they were held at the contemporary universities.
IKON Vol. 12, 2019
The martyrdom scenes in Notre Dame de Mouzon (c. 1240) in the Ardennes department stand out in th... more The martyrdom scenes in Notre Dame de Mouzon (c. 1240) in the Ardennes department stand out in their deviation from traditional representations in French-Gothic sculpture. While other images elsewhere stress the moment before the brutal act or its result, in Mouzon the concrete portrayal of the killing of no fewer than three different saints-the siblings St Victor and St Suzanne (5th century), and St Arnoul (8th century)-is monumentally represented. Moreover, while other images generally do not reveal either the pain or the actual violent acts performed against the martyrs (but rather their symbols), in Mouzon the three victims are depicted being spectacularly attacked with swords, stabbed in the neck or back, and physically responding to the pain being inflicted on their bodies. In addition to the martyrdom scenes the tympanum also offers key moments from the Life of the Virgin, which is again a rare combination that has no known precedents in French art. In this article I explore the unique iconographical deviations within the cultural practices through which the images were both conceived and viewed. I discuss the visual means by which the pain of the martyrs is expressed as well as the way by which the sculptures encouraged a somatic response in the beholders. Finally, I argue that the unique iconography of Mouzon should be considered in light of the devotional practices of the local recluses.
Convivium, 2017
The Martyrdom of St. Nicaise and the Baptism of King Clovis by St. Remi, (the local bishop) adorn... more The Martyrdom of St. Nicaise and the Baptism of King Clovis by St. Remi, (the local bishop) adorn the lintel in the Portal of the Saint in Reims dated to ca. 1220–1230, commemorations of formative moments of the fifth-century Church. Although remote from the thirteenth-century beholders, these events were revived and communicated through what I term a “historical inviting figure,” that is, a sculptured figure that gazes out from the relief towards the beholders. This stratagem introduced in Gothic tympana opens up the featured event to include the beholders and enables them to participate in the (sacred) history through points of reference to the current local history. I show that a similar introduction of communicating figures can be traced in the local Ordo of 1250, which renders the remote history tangible in both the text and the sculpture. Finally, I suggest that the notions of ductus and memoria can be applied to the portal, since this priming imagery prepared the devotees for the encounter with the actual sites where the historical events took place.
Book Reviews by Gili Shalom
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Papers by Gili Shalom
Book Reviews by Gili Shalom