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43 pages, 15068 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Merchant Scene in Medieval Conceptions of the Visitatio Sepulchri: Origins and Transmission

by Patricia Peláez Bilbao and Arturo Tello Ruiz-Pérez

Religions 2024, 15(12), 1441; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121441 - 27 Nov 2024

Viewed by 3724

This article aims to elucidate the origin of the merchant scene within the Easter drama, which can, by extension, be interpreted as representative of the entire Visitatio Sepulchri. Given that the troper-proser Vic 105 is the oldest attestation of the scene, we [...] Read more.

This article aims to elucidate the origin of the merchant scene within the Easter drama, which can, by extension, be interpreted as representative of the entire Visitatio Sepulchri. Given that the troper-proser Vic 105 is the oldest attestation of the scene, we have used this manuscript as our starting point. Through a critical edition of the first nine stanzas of the drama, we propose a multidisciplinary working hypothesis that combines tools from reception history and cultural transfers studies with more traditional methods of stemmatics. As part of an ongoing project, we present two types of results: those that are well-supported by strong evidence, and others in the form of plausible hypotheses, awaiting further data to be substantiated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ideas and Images Serving Christianity: Words Illustrated by Forms and Forms Explained by Words)

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23 pages, 1886 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Importance of Literary Sources in the Pictorial Tradition of the Beatus Manuscripts: The Case of Percussion Musical Instruments

by José María Diago Jiménez

Religions 2024, 15(1), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010040 - 26 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1557

Abstract

This work carries out a detailed analysis of the context and the reasons that led the illustrators of the Beatus manuscripts to select and represent the two percussion instruments that appear in the illustration of Visio III of the Commentary on the Book [...] Read more.

This work carries out a detailed analysis of the context and the reasons that led the illustrators of the Beatus manuscripts to select and represent the two percussion instruments that appear in the illustration of Visio III of the Commentary on the Book of Daniel by Jerome transmitted in some manuscripts since the number of percussion instruments drawn and their typology do not correspond to what can be read in Jerome’s text, in the biblical text, and in the existing bibliography on the subject. This fact cannot be explained solely on the basis of the preceding pictorial tradition or the organological reality of the time, as the absence of sources does not allow for this. However, the literary sources of that period may have influenced the illustrators of this scene to draw these two percussion instruments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ideas and Images Serving Christianity: Words Illustrated by Forms and Forms Explained by Words)

11 pages, 284 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Christ’s Wounded Body, Sorrowful Soul and Joyful Spirit: The Interpretation of Christ’s Passion in a Forgotten 16th Century Classic of Mystical Literature

by Rob Faesen

Religions 2022, 13(4), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13040365 - 15 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2480

Abstract

The Passion of Christ is not only an important theme in Christian theological and devotional literature, iconography, and music, but it is likewise the focus of considerable attention in contemplative, mystical literature. This contribution focuses on a specific interpretation of the suffering of [...] Read more.

The Passion of Christ is not only an important theme in Christian theological and devotional literature, iconography, and music, but it is likewise the focus of considerable attention in contemplative, mystical literature. This contribution focuses on a specific interpretation of the suffering of Christ, which is to be found in an important but now somewhat forgotten mystical text, namely the Evangelical Pearl. This text is to be situated within the broad mystical network and initiatives of the Cologne Carthusians in the early sixteenth century. The Pearl has a remarkable interpretation of Christ’s passion, namely that—simultaneously—his body was in terrible pain, his soul was deeply sorrowful and his spirit was joyful. These reflections culminate in a radical theology of deification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Representations and Interpretations of the Passion and Death of Christ: Global Perspectives)

14 pages, 14670 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Few-Shot Object Detection: Application to Medieval Musicological Studies

by Bekkouch Imad Eddine Ibrahim, Victoria Eyharabide, Valérie Le Page and Frédéric Billiet

J. Imaging 2022, 8(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging8020018 - 19 Jan 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3920

Abstract

Detecting objects with a small representation in images is a challenging task, especially when the style of the images is very different from recent photos, which is the case for cultural heritage datasets. This problem is commonly known as few-shot object detection and [...] Read more.

Detecting objects with a small representation in images is a challenging task, especially when the style of the images is very different from recent photos, which is the case for cultural heritage datasets. This problem is commonly known as few-shot object detection and is still a new field of research. This article presents a simple and effective method for black box few-shot object detection that works with all the current state-of-the-art object detection models. We also present a new dataset called MMSD for medieval musicological studies that contains five classes and 693 samples, manually annotated by a group of musicology experts. Due to the significant diversity of styles and considerable disparities between the artistic representations of the objects, our dataset is more challenging than the current standards. We evaluate our method on YOLOv4 (m/s), (Mask/Faster) RCNN, and ViT/Swin-t. We present two methods of benchmarking these models based on the overall data size and the worst-case scenario for object detection. The experimental results show that our method always improves object detector results compared to traditional transfer learning, regardless of the underlying architecture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computer Vision and Robotics for Cultural Heritage: Theory and Applications)

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24 pages, 365 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shades of Grace: The Virgin of the Rocks and Leonardo da Vinci’s Notes on Paragone

by Ricardo De Mambro Santos

Religions 2021, 12(11), 994; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12110994 - 12 Nov 2021

Viewed by 4452

Abstract

This essay analyses Leonardo da Vinci’s innovative iconography in the making of the panel known as the Virgin of the Rocks (Paris, Louvre) in relation to his considerations on the important Renaissance debate of Paragone, or comparison among the arts, namely, Painting, [...] Read more.

This essay analyses Leonardo da Vinci’s innovative iconography in the making of the panel known as the Virgin of the Rocks (Paris, Louvre) in relation to his considerations on the important Renaissance debate of Paragone, or comparison among the arts, namely, Painting, Sculpture, Music, and Poetry. It will be argued that this work, as a depiction of a complex religious theme, may be interpreted as a laboratory for Paragone-related demonstrations, especially in regards to five points: the optical tangibility of the image; the temporalities involved in the representation; the variety of subjects; and, finally, its iconic stability and semiotic openness as vehicles to further stimulate the devotional value of the painting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Symbolism in Renaissance Art)

14 pages, 3507 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Knowledge Graph Embedding-Based Domain Adaptation for Musical Instrument Recognition

by Victoria Eyharabide, Imad Eddine Ibrahim Bekkouch and Nicolae Dragoș Constantin

Computers 2021, 10(8), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers10080094 - 3 Aug 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4431

Abstract

Convolutional neural networks raised the bar for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications, mainly due to the abundance of data and computations. However, there is not always enough data for training, especially when it comes to historical collections of cultural heritage where the [...] Read more.

Convolutional neural networks raised the bar for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications, mainly due to the abundance of data and computations. However, there is not always enough data for training, especially when it comes to historical collections of cultural heritage where the original artworks have been destroyed or damaged over time. Transfer Learning and domain adaptation techniques are possible solutions to tackle the issue of data scarcity. This article presents a new method for domain adaptation based on Knowledge graph embeddings. Knowledge Graph embedding forms a projection of a knowledge graph into a lower-dimensional where entities and relations are represented into continuous vector spaces. Our method incorporates these semantic vector spaces as a key ingredient to guide the domain adaptation process. We combined knowledge graph embeddings with visual embeddings from the images and trained a neural network with the combined embeddings as anchors using an extension of Fisher’s linear discriminant. We evaluated our approach on two cultural heritage datasets of images containing medieval and renaissance musical instruments. The experimental results showed a significant increase in the baselines and state-of-the-art performance compared with other domain adaptation methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence for Digital Humanities (AI4DH))

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64 pages, 6463 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Polyphony and Poikilia: Theology and Aesthetics in the Exegesis of Tradition in Georgian Chant

by Nun Sidonia (Freedman)

Religions 2019, 10(7), 402; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10070402 - 26 Jun 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6577

Abstract

Georgian polyphonic chant and folk song is beginning to receive scholarly attention outside its homeland, and is a useful case study in several respects. This study focuses on the theological nature of its musical material, examining relevant examples in light of the patristic [...] Read more.

Georgian polyphonic chant and folk song is beginning to receive scholarly attention outside its homeland, and is a useful case study in several respects. This study focuses on the theological nature of its musical material, examining relevant examples in light of the patristic understanding of hierarchy and prototype and of iconography and liturgy. After brief historical and theological discussions, chant variants and paraliturgical songs from various periods and regions are analysed in depth, using a primarily geometrical approach, describing the iconography and significance of style, musical structure, contrapuntal relationships, melodic figuration, and ornamentation. Aesthetics and compositional processes are discussed, and the theological approach in turn sheds light on questions of historical development. It is demonstrated that Georgian polyphony is a rich repository of theology of the Trinity and the Incarnation, and the article concludes with broad theological reflections on the place of sound as it relates to text, prayer, and tradition over time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Music: Its Theologies and Spiritualities—A Global Perspective)

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17 pages, 37222 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Don Draper Thinks Your Ad Is Cliché: Fairy Tale Iconography in TV Commercials

by Preston Wittwer

Humanities 2016, 5(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/h5020029 - 6 May 2016

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 13511

Abstract

When examining the history of fairy tale iconography in advertising, folklore scholar Donald Haase’s fairy tale encyclopedia compared the Pied Piper of Hamelin to a symbol of advertising who could “play his pipe ever so sweetly and the consumers following him without resisting [...] Read more.

When examining the history of fairy tale iconography in advertising, folklore scholar Donald Haase’s fairy tale encyclopedia compared the Pied Piper of Hamelin to a symbol of advertising who could “play his pipe ever so sweetly and the consumers following him without resisting his charming and manipulative music.” In contrast, a 2012 episode of Mad Men, advertising luminary Don Draper shoots down a shoe commercial pitch featuring Cinderella, calling the idea “cliché”. The temptation for advertisers to rely on fairy tale figures and iconography continues today and many ignore Don’s aversion for cliché because it still gets the job done. However, there are some ads featuring fairy tales which avoid cliché and are truly innovative for their time. I’ll examine how, and for whom, these fairy tale figures have been adapted decade by decade in order to examine popular culture’s commercialized and hypnotic relationship with fairy tales in the most direct format available: television commercials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fairy Tale and its Uses in Contemporary New Media and Popular Culture)

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