Pietà

The pietà from the church of St. Michael the Archangel in Domachowo, a former bishop’s village, has not been studied separately so far. It has been mentioned in two exhibition catalogues during reflections on the most important pietàs associated with the style of the late 14th and early 15th c. This sculpture is linked with a Wrocław workshop and dated from 1400 to the 1430s. It was probably first shown publicly in Gostyń during the 1931 Marian Exhibition. Five years later, thanks to the involvement of students of the history of art at the University of Poznań, it was exhibited in the Museum of Wielkopolska. While it emerged in the scientific discourse at that time, it has never been given more attention. Still, it is undoubtedly a work which deserves a more comprehensive study. This article discusses the pietà of Domachowo and gathers all the existing knowledge about it. Moreover, it describes unpublished technological studies, which led to the rethinking of the knowledge about wooden pietàs dated 1400- 1430, as well as to the establishment of preliminary hypotheses and further research questions, concerning not only the sculpture from Domachowo, but also the whole set of  imilar representations.

The Rondanini Pietà (1552-1564) engages the viewer in an embodied and temporal process of perceiving the becomings of sculpted form—rough and smooth surfaces, indentations, fissures andcontours—enfolded in the material and physical qualities of the marble block and its flesh-like surface. Emphasizing the process of creating the work, a multitude of chisel marks animate sculpted matter and prolong the eventual pausing of the viewer’s eyes. The materiality of the stone urges the viewer to move around to perceive the sculpture as it becomes transfigured anew through the continuous morphing of the facial and bodily features of its two figures: Christ and the Virgin. Deterring the comprehensibility of the subject matter, the enfolding of matter and form, conceptualized as the 'infinito', calls attention to the very rhetorical and ontological nature of the work as sculpture.

Kept in private collections for several centuries, the Rondanini Pietà is an uncommissioned sculpture considered to be the last work by Michelangelo Buonarroti. To interpret this Pietà, scholars have utilized established biographical, iconographic, and chronological approaches to the artist’s oeuvre. In 1934, Charles de Tolnay published the first modern study of the work, interpreting it as a testament of the artist’s religiosity—an interpretation that dominates the scholarship. Focusing primarily on a discussion of the Rondanini Pietà, this thesis introduces a concept of the infinito and with it a theoretical framework to expose the overdetermined nature of this scholarship. Judging the work to be either finished or unfinished (finito or non-finito) scholars rehearse the Cartesian dichotomy of res extensa and res cogitans, segregating matter from form and denying sculpture its ontological quality.

In order to understand what comes prior to the processes of description, interpretation and contextualization, what is at stake is to rethink how we approach sculpture as a medium that has specific physical and material characteristics that determine its rhetorical potential. Making the viewer part of how sculpture works to make temporally visible the becomings of form, the concept of the 'infinito' challenges us to reflect upon the methodologies used in the study of sculpture produced in the period.

CONTENTS
Introduction: The Rondanini Pietà and the Infinito
Limits of Interpretation: Historiography and Iconography of the Rondanini Pietà
Leon Battista Alberti: The Rhetoric and Visibility of Sculpture
Locating Sculpted Matter in Sixteenth-Century Art Theory
The Concepts of Matter and Form: A Brief Look at Modern Philosophy
The Infinito: Perceiving the Temporal Enfolding of Matter and Form

Lo studio si propone di verificare significato e contesto primari dell’invocazione di origine biblica Kyrie eleison, tradotta nella liturgia: «Signore, pietà». L’indagine è articolata in due momenti. Sia dall’indagine semantica, condotta sul linguaggio originario e le sue successive traduzioni, sia da quella contestuale, svolta sui Vangeli, risulta che l’invocazione si rivolge all’amore «materno» di Dio e non nasce da una richiesta di perdono dei peccati. L’autrice, quindi, suggerisce di tradurla: «Signore, amami teneramente».



The study aims to demonstrate primary meaning and context of the invocation, originated from the Bible, Kyrie eleison, in the liturgy translated: «Lord, have mercy». The investigation is divided in two moments. Both from the semantic research, carried out on the original language and his subsequent translations, both from the contextual research, carried out on the Gospels, it results that the invocation addresses to the «motherly» love of God and is not a request of forgiveness of sins. The authoress hence suggests to translate it: «Lord, love me tenderly».

This article is dedicated to the Pietà and presents an emphasis on the small ex-voto, in the lower right corner of the artwork. The study is relevant because in previous moments of great personal losses Titian had kept the suffering private, without exposure – much less pictorial. He was an artist extremely attentive to the way he was perceived by others, and controlled this aspect by avoiding the propagation of personal information, and by his self-portraits, which favored his elderly appearance and the signs of high social status. It seems defensible to think that both the expression of the prayer, and its public and permanent record, in a humble way, in the artwork that Titian created to be his great and final “artistic statement”, is of great importance.

Si presentano alcuni testi di Michail Bachtin venuti alla luce con l'edizione russa della Sobranie sočinenij (Raccolta delle opere, 1997-2012), uno dei quali (Il problema del sentimentalismo) si offre qui in prima traduzione italiana. Ne emerge un ridimensionamento della centralità del comico e del carnevalesco nel pensiero dello studioso russo, e appaiono di contro valorizzati aspetti antieroici, patetici, intimistici, dell’esistenza, che rimandano al ruolo decisivo della "serietà non ufficiale" quale componente costitutiva del realismo moderno e della morfologia storica del genere romanzo . Ci si sofferma quindi sulla riflessione bachtiniana intorno alle forme dell'autobiografia, con particolare attenzione al genere della confessione.

En el presente estudio nos ocupamos del grupo lignario de La Pietà
que fue gubiado por el célebre escultor Anton Maria Maragliano,
para la Orden del Oratorio de San Felipe Neri de Génova. Presen-
tamos la fuente iconográfica inspiradora que utilizó el artista a la
hora de concebir el sagrado misterio: un grabado a buril llevado
a cabo por el flamenco Paulus Pontius, que reproduce el lienzo
Lamentación sobre Cristo muerto , pintado por Anton Van Dyck para
la capilla de las beguinas de Amberes, y que hoy se conserva en el
Museo Real de Bellas Artes de la citada ciudad belga.

In the present paper we deal with the wooden group of La Pietà
that was carved by the well-known sculptor Anton Maria Mara-
gliano for the Order of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in Genoa.
We show the inspiring iconographic source the artist used while
conceiving the sacred mystery: an engraving that was opened by
the Flemish artist Paulus Pontius. This engraving reproduces the
canvas Lamentation over the Body of the dead Christthe painter Anton
Van Dyck realized for the chapel of the Beguines of Antwerp, now
belonging to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of this Belgian city.

L'oratorio di Santa Croce, nel cuore della cittadina di San Felice sul Panaro, ha riaperto i suoi battenti dall'ottobre del 2021, dopo i lavori di rafforzamento strutturale a seguito del sisma del 2012 che colpì vasta parte dell'area modenese. Dall'elegante architettura ad aula unica, l'oratorio fu edificato nel 1725 per volontà della Confraternita del Santissimo Sacramento e della Santa Croce. Vi hanno fatto ritorno le opere che, dopo il sisma, avevano trovato accoglienza nel Museo Diocesano d'Arte Sacra di Nonantola, tra cui due importanti pale d'altare di scuola bolognese databili attorno al 1725. L'oratorio accolse un dipinto - qui evocato da una copia di primo Ottocento - di singolare fortuna storiografica: il Compianto sul Cristo morto, di artista ferrarese seguace del Garofalo, che la congedò nel 1527,  dal 1817 conservato nella Galleria Estense di Modena. Sul Compianto si appuntò l'attenzione di personalità della storia dell'arte quali Venturi, Berenson e Longhi. Assieme al sopraquadro con il Cristo risorto sul sepolcro - tavola circolare rimasta a San Felice - costituisce un interessante episodio del Rinascimento ferrarese alimentato dalla lezione raffaellesca. Si ringrazia il Gruppo Studi Bassa Modenese.

Michelangelo's Florence Pietà can be seen as the artist's last statement concerning spirituality. One of the interpretations of the sculpture is that for him salvation comes from faith alone and that a place in heaven could not be bought nor any amount of good deeds could get oneself to heaven. This was the main idea behind the Spirituali, a group of Italian reformists, who were also called Nicodemites, in honor of Nicodemus. This research paper will analyze different scholar approaches in order to identify the figures and their meaning within the master's last sculpture.

Příspěvek pojednává o gotické dřevěné soše Piety pocházející přibližně z 30.–40. letech 15. století. Tato socha byla do konce 20. století umístěna na hlavním oltáři barokního kostela Narození Panny Marie v Popovicích u Jičína. Na základě studia písemných pramenů jsou objasňovány dosud neznámé skutečnosti týkající se umístění díla a jeho funkce v barokním chrámu i úcty, která byla soše projevována v podobě votivních darů.

Una serie de madrigales ecfrásticos a estatuas y pinturas compuestos por Giambattista Marino atrajeron la atención del pintor Pacheco y de su entorno, posiblemente en la década 1620. Dio lugar a unas traducciones ad verbum manuscritas y dadas al lado de la transcripción del texto italiano, algunas tal vez del mismo Francisco Pacheco del Río (una sin lugar a dudas), otras seguramente de su amigo Jerónimo Centeno de Chaves. La de Pacheco, a “la Pietà” vaticana de Miguel Ángel, vuelve a aparecer impresa en el ‘Arte de la pintura’ (1649) del mismo suegro de Velázquez (p. 68). La coloca poco antes de una traducción hecha por Antonio Ortiz Melgarejo a otro madrigal del Marino (a “la Notte” del Buonarroti, p. 72) que tiene indicios de ser más tardía que la primera serie. Este raro ejemplo de traducciones de madrigales italianos reivindicadas como tales (si se compara con la práctica imitativa de Quevedo con Groto, la de Cervantes con Bembo, de Cetina con Tansillo, etc. que prescinden de indicar sus fuentes de cualquier forma) merece que se señale y que se vuelva a reconstituir el proceso de cómo Pacheco se interesó a los texto del cavalier Marino y de su lugar en la historia del madrigal poético en la Península ibérica.  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  Charla dada en el contexto de la jornada de estudio complutense "Lira de las dos Hesperias – España e Italia en el Siglo de Oro" organizada por Mercedes López Suárez y Jesús Ponce Cárdenas.  * * *  Con la participación de Tobia Rafaele Toscano, Álvaro Alonso Miguel y María Hernández.  * * *  En Madrid, el jueves 28 de abril de 2016. Sala de profesores de la facultad de Ciencias de la Información.
Departamento de Filología III de la UCM.

Heilige Bilder und Töne im Film Andrej Rublev (1966-71)
Tarkovskijs Film-Biographie des Malermönchs Andrej Rublev ist in jene russische und sowjetische Filmkultur eingelassen, deren Geschichte von der Auffassung von Film als religionsfreiem Raum bis hin zur „religiösen Renaissance“ der 1960er Jahre reicht. Der Film Andrej Rublev wurde zuweilen als eine unmittelbare Auseinandersetzung mit theologischen Fragen des orthodoxen Kultbilds rezipiert. Meine Lektüre des Films verbindet die ikonographische mit der medialen Perspektive. Im Vortrag widme ich mich der Entwicklung des filmischen Narrativs von Themen des Sehens (in den Novellen 2.-6.) zu denen des Hörens (die Novellen “Schweigen” und “Glocke”).

Sacred Images and Sounds in the Film Andrei Rublyov (1966-71)
Tarkovsky's film biography of the 15 century painter and monk Rublyov is deeply embedded in Russian and Soviet film culture. Its history dates from the early orthodox concept of film as an intrinsically profane space up to the "religious renaissance" of the 1960s. The film Andrei Rublev has been sometimes understood as a theological debate discussing the orthodox cult image through film images. My reading of the film combines the iconographic with the media perspective. In my talk I shall explore the development of the cinematic narrative of this film from topics of vision (in the novellas 2-6) to those of hearing (the final two novellas, "Silence" and "The Bell").


Священные образы и звуки в фильме Андрей Рублев (1966-71)
В отношении обращения с религией фильм-биография художника и монаха Андрея Рублев является поворотным моментом в русской и советской истории кино. Эта история движется от православной концепции фильма в раннем кино как а-религиозного, безбожного пространства до "религиозного ренессанса» в кино 1960-х годов. Фильм Андрей Рублев иногда понимается как обсуждение и даже преображение православного культового образа. Мое прочтение фильма объединяет иконографический подход с медиальным. Прослежу движение кинематографического повествования от тем зрения (новеллы 2-6) до тем слуха (в последних двух новеллах, "Тишина" и "Колокол").

This essay reconstructs the history of the Pietà of Giovanni Bellini housed in the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. Starting from the issue of its first owners, the Bolognese Sampieri, it details how the painting arrived to its present location. Then, the essay provides a complete resume of the Pietà's critical history. From the first references up to present-day, it will be detailed when scholars dated the painting, and what they wrote of its fascinating imagery.