Digital Commons Network^™

Millais’ Modern Christ: Religion And Critical Responses To The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood In Nineteenth Century England, Ashley Morse

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how the press reviewed Pre-Raphaelite paintings in the years 1849 and 1850 with a partial review of 1851. In particular, the focus is on the controversial painting Christ in the House of his Parents by John Everett Millais. This painting became a physical symbol of the many fears that the new modern age brought to Victorian England. Catholic, Irish, and Protestant tensions had been mounting throughout the nineteenth century in England prior to the debut of the painting. Politics and law were beginning to relax restraints on Catholicism in addition to the increased immigration of Irish Catholics. …

Examining Health Inequity In Ancient Egypt, Samantha Rose Gonzalez

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis explores the history of medicine in ancient Egypt between the Middle and New Kingdoms, and offers a case study highlighting the use of religion and magic in healing and analyzing health inequity. I am interested in medical practices, treatments, diagnosis methods, and access to healthcare in the ancient world. I seek to bridge the gaps and help unify the knowledge surrounding ancient Egyptian medical practices and contribute to the studies in the history of medicine. I explore types of diseases that commonly affected the ancient Egyptians and how they integrated religion and magic into their understanding and treatment …

The Early Medieval Transition: Diet Reconstruction, Mobility, And Culture Contact In The Ravenna Countryside, Northern Italy, Anastasia Temkina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research project evaluates the effects of increased mobility and culture contact on dietary practices, and on dietary variation among people buried at two northern Italian sites, Chiunsano di Ficarolo and Chiesazza di Ficarolo, located near the ancient Roman capital of Ravenna and dating 4th to 7th century CE. The Early Medieval period was a time of change, political instability, migration and invasion of the “barbarian” tribes, and diet was not unaffected. In particular, it is hypothesized that a new staple crop, millet, was introduced and that meat consumption had increased. The goal of this research is to use stable …

Archaeology And Settlement Histories Along The Pra River, Southern Ghana, Circa 500 B.C. – Ad 1970, Samuel Amartey

Dissertations - ALL

Archaeological and historical data are used to examine transformations in settlement organizationand settlement patterns along the Pra River, southern Ghana, from the first millennium BC to the mid-twentieth century. The study's focus is on Supomu Island and Wawase, two abandoned settlement sites located in the lower reaches of the Pra River, 15 kilometers north of the coastal trading and port town of Shama. Mapping of surface features, surface collections, shovel test pits, and test excavations are used to document intra- and inter-site artifact distributions. These lines of evidence are used in conjunction with historical sources to explore the processes of …

Titian’S Venus Of Urbino: A Comprehensive Art Historical Study With An Interpretive Consideration, Mary Melissa Miller

Theses and Dissertations

There have been numerous scholarly interpretations of Titian’s Venus of Urbino since Giorgio Vasari first named the work upon seeing it in 1548. Even so, problems remain in Titian’s hermeneutics and semiology relevant to the artist’s personal circumstances that places the Venus of Urbino in a unique genre. Biographers and art historians since the 16th century have written about and admired this work. Additionally, scholars of the 20th century have painstakingly sought to understand the work’s layers of meaning, but still the Venus of Urbino remains an interpretive mystery. Firstly, my thesis will examine the timeline of references to Titian’s …

African-American Art History: Reflections On Expanding Pedagogy In 21st Century Liberal Arts Contexts, Judy Bullington

Art History Pedagogy & Practice

An undergraduate seminar on African-American Art History was used as a case study to explore how critical perception skills may be developed through the implementation of interactive exercises. Active looking, creative connections, and experiential learning were among the pedagogical approaches embedded into the content. The goal was not to write a revisionist history of the subject matter but to utilize existing resources to reconfigure how the historical narrative may be discussed and articulated through diverse vantage points. Examples of assignments are provided as models and SoTL thought experiments. Reflections upon the definition of ‘critical perception’ versus ‘critical thinking’ and ‘visual …

Italian Ambitions In Syria And Lebanon (1870-1945), Ahmad Alshrideh

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The aim of this study is to clarify the Italian Ambitions in Syria and Lebanon (1870-1945), and shows the Italian orientation in this region, and to know the Italian methods to achieve its ambitions. The study talks about the Italian movement towards Lebanon, and the Italians Intervention in Lebanese civil war 1860. Finally, the study recalls the Italian claims her mandate to Syria and Lebanon as an alternative to the French mandate. The study concluded that, despite Italys efforts to achieve its ambitions in Syria and Lebanon, it deeply collides with the legacy institutions that established by England and France …

The Copy & The Real Thing: Changing Perceptions Between The Rubens Centennials In 1877 And 1977, Griet Bonne

Artl@s Bulletin

In this paper I examine the changing relationship between mechanical reproductions and the original artwork in the context of the Rubens centennials in 1877 and 1977. Drawing on theorists such as Walter Benjamin, Dean MacCannell, Hans Belting and Boris Groys, I argue that the mechanism of copying generates a double logic of image perception: a simultaneous centrifugal and centripetal circulation of images that affects how people perceive art in modern society. I explore this perception dynamic by looking at two photo-exhibitions during the Rubens centennials.

Colonialism, Cohabitation, And Charismatic Llamas: Representations Of Animals In Felipe Guaman Poma De Ayala's El Primer Nueva Corónica Y Buen Gobierno, Laura Varela Mejia

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the role of animals, specifically llamas, in El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno, a manuscript that dates to 1615-16, and was hand-written and illustrated by the Andean author Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala. Through the lens of animal studies, I analyze the manner in which Poma represented llamas to convey greater ideas surrounding the nature of colonial life under the Spanish empire, as well as the nostalgic remembrance of Inca practices before the conquest.

My study focuses on three of the Corónica’s drawings: “The second age of the world: Noah,” and how its reinterpretation …

Empress Nur Jahan And Female Empowerment: A Critical Analysis Of A Long-Forgotten Mughal Portrait, Angela N. Finkbeiner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a study of a seventeenth-century watercolor portrait of the Mughal EmpressNur Jahan (r. 1611-1627). Titled Nur Jahan Holding a Musket and created by court painter Abu’l Hasan, the painting has not been the subject of a scholarly work before. In this unorthodox depiction of a female, Nur Jahan is shown sporting androgynous attire while actively loading a matchlock musket. Through visual and textual analysis, I read this portrait as a symbol of an empowered female and argue that once its meaning is decoded it can serve as a complex historical document that complicates Nur Jahan’s persona. Moving …

Death And The Transformation Of Women’S Roles Surrounding Death: An Analysis Of Jacques-Louis David’S History Paintings, Miranda Boljat

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Jacques-Louis David is remembered today for his contributions to the world of Neoclassical art before the French Revolution, during the Revolution, and during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. His body of work represents an impressive journey from his Rococo roots to his Neoclassical political works to his many different portraits of Napoleon. In comparing his pieces, an observer can track the development of a variety of themes. Specifically, it is possible to see the different ways David portrayed the event of death in his history paintings. From there, a researcher can clearly tie the different views of death to the …

Quality And Simplicity: Rebecca Salsbury James, Folk Art, And Modernism In The United States, Caroline Seabolt

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the work of Rebecca Salsbury James and its contributions to the development of interwar modernism in the United States. Using mediums traditionally employed by folk artists, reverse painting on glass and the colcha stitch, James expressed her interest in quality and simplicity with a proto-feminist sensibility.

Bernice Lee Bing’S Art And Spiritual Practice, Lin Ma

Theses and Dissertations

Living and working in northern California between the late 1950s and 1990s, abstract painter Bernice Lee Bing practiced Zen, Nichiren, and Nyingma Buddhism. This thesis studies what the visual and conceptual impact of these spiritual practices had on her abstract and visionary paintings.

Lost Maps Of The Caliphs: Drawing The World In Eleventh-Century Cairo By Yossef Rapoport And Emilie Savage-Smith, Daniel Martin Varisco

Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture

No abstract provided.

The Concept And Utilization Of Swastika ‘Hooked Cross’ On Islamic Artefacts, Dr.Boussy Zidan

Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists

(En) Swastika’ is an equilateral hooked cross, it is one of the symbols that became popular to several nations of different cultures since prehistoric times. This symbol was associated, or rather, became symbol for some religious beliefs and spiritual concepts in some ancient civilizations. It has been extensively transmitted among several nations. Such prevalence proves the popularity that hooked cross ‘Swastika’ had attained, however, this caused the difficulty in determining its place of origin. Some historical studies suggested India as ‘Swastika’s’ homeland by the end of the Bronze Age, since it was predominantly a religious symbol of Hindus, Jains, and …

The Veiled Faces Of Prophets In The Islamic Miniatures - Application On Illustrated Manuscripts Of Xvi Century In Konya Mawlānā Museum., Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim Elassal

Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists

( En ) The study aims to recognize interpretations of veiling the facial features of divine characters like prophets in Islamic Miniatures, various designs are appeared of such veils and an obvious development had been occurred from one school of art to another. Miniaturists in religious representations were keen to give the divines remarkable features like divine halos or usage of veils. Several researches mentioned veils' existence to cover faces of divine imagery, including prophets, but none of them made suitable analysis for such veils, with no classifying its forms, nor giving interpretations of its usage. Islamic illustrating production is …

Bernard Palissy: Early Career - Securing Patronage And Mimicking Nature In A Moment Of Crisis, Karissa Bailey

LSU Master's Theses

Early in 1562, France was experiencing a state of high religious tension between Protestants and Catholics that would precipitate the outbreak of the Religious Wars on March 1. A week before, Bernard Palissy, a Huguenot potter, wrote a letter to his Catholic patron from prison inBordeaux where he was being held on charges associated with an iconoclastic incident in his home city of Saintes. This letter would later be published as a dedication letter for the pamphlet Architecture et Ordonnance, which featured the description of a grotto commissioned by Anne de Montmorency, Palissy’s patron, seven years earlier. This thesis analyzes …

Sacred Blood And Burning Coal: The Garnet Carbuncle In Early Medieval Europe, Sinead L. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations

The social and religious symbolism of garnets are examined in the context of the Merovingian period. Garnet jewelry was worn by early medieval Christians as symbols of their faith, and after death garnets took on additional religious significance.

"Maa-Multh-Nii" People Who Came Floating In: Analogues Between Nuu-Chah-Nulth And Tlingit With Spanish Colonial Expeditions In The Eighteenth Century, Suzanne Rita Mcleod

Art & Art History ETDs

Spanish explorers first navigated the 2,400-kilometer stretch of the Pacific Northwest Coast in the latter part of the eighteenth-century, largely in response to rumors that Russian traders had established a presence in lands north of Alta California (then considered Spanish territory). Spain launched a series of expeditions to the region, the first in 1774 under Juan Josef Pérez Hernández, and the final, in 1792, under Alejandro Malaspina. The Spanish remained in the area until 1794 when political and territorial tensions with the incoming British forced a negotiation known historically as the Nootka Convention. By 1795, the empire abandoned its aspirations …

The Effects Of Feudalism On Medieval English Mobility: A Biological Distance Study Using Nonmetric Cranial Traits., Jonathan H. Barkmeier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social and environmental factors play a key role in determining biocultural phenomena that can be observed on skeletal populations. Genetic markers in the form of nonmetric traits can help understand underlying questions about population movement and subsequent gene flow. During the medieval period in England, feudalism may have limited migration and created sedentary lifestyles for the peasant class who lived and worked on land owned by the nobility. By using a biological distance model, questions about the interactions between rural and urban populations, as well as the restrictive economic system that was in place during the Middle Ages, can be …

Algerian Women's Waistcoats - The Ghlila And Frimla: Readjusting The Lens On The Early French Colonial Era In Algeria (1830-1870), Morgan Snoap

Honors Program Theses

Contemporary understanding of Algeria during the early colonial period (1830-1970) is predominantly informed by French colonial written and visual documents, often viewing the colonies through a male and Orientalist gaze. This is especially apparent in the images created by the French of women in the Algerian capital of Algiers. Whether in lithograph, photograph, or painting, French Orientalist compositions featuring Algéroises (women of Algiers) relied on the construction of an increasingly submissive and sexually available subject, notably dressed in tailored waistcoats which, for the French, became synonymous with Algéroise sexuality. In this way, Algerian women’s veritable voices and perspectives during this …

Terrible Beauty : The Many Faces Of Helen Of Troy In Painting From Antiquity To The Nineteenth Century, Lindsay M. Taylor

MA Theses

Helen of Troy is one of the most complex and enigmatic characters from Greek mythology. For nearly two thousand years, her story has consistently been retold, reshaped, and reinterpreted in a rich variety of narratives produced in different contexts for different audiences. In the absence of a canonical version Helen’s tale, philosophers, poets, playwrights, novelists, musicians, filmmakers, and artists in every period have interpreted, modified, and embellished her character in disparate and contradictory terms. Consequently, she has played a significant role in Western artistic canon in a way no other figure from Greek mythology has been able to accomplish; she …

Visual Contagions, The Art Historian, And The Digital Strategies To Work On Them, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel

Artl@s Bulletin

How do images and styles spread out over time and place? This article presents how art historians can use digital methods to study “visual contagions”– the visual part of globalization: how images circulate, as material artefacts (paintings, sculptures, engravings, etc.…) or in reproductions (in illustrated periodicals, in photography, or on the internet…), through which channels (cultural, geographical, political…) and according to which visual logics. It sketches the new possibilities offered by deep learning and artificial intelligence algorithms applied to images, to better understand the epidemiology of visual diffusions. This Paper is also an opportunity to assess 10 years of digital …

“Other Modernities”: Art, Visual Culture And Patrimony Outside The West. An Introduction, Silvia Naef, Irene Maffi, Wendy Shaw

Artl@s Bulletin

The notion of modernity as a tabula rasa phenomenon that destroys the present in order to build the future is particularly complicated in the case of non-Western settings, where modernization was often understood as erasing local culture in favor of a template borrowed from the West. Historiographies of non-Western arts have mostly followed such a model, viewing fine arts, associated with modernity, as opposed to “traditional” arts, often commodified in the production of nostalgia or marketed for tourists. This article discusses the complexity of art production in non-Western contexts, beyond such reductive classifications.

Book Review: An Insular Odyssey. Manuscript Culture In Early Christian Ireland And Beyond. Edited By Rachel Moss, Felicity O’Mahony, And Jane Maxwell (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2017), Benjamin C. Tilghman

Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Artful Nature And The Legacy Of Maria Sibylla Merian, Emily N. Roush, Shannon R. Zeltmann, Felicia M. Else, Kay Etheridge, Shannon Egan

Schmucker Art Catalogs

The exhibition Artful Nature and the Legacy of Maria Sibylla Merian celebrates the skills and influences of a remarkable woman from seventeenth-century Europe. Curated by Emily Roush ’21 and Shannon Zeltmann ’21 with the guidance of Professors Kay Etheridge (Biology) and Felicia Else (Art History), Emily and Shannon selected the prints, organized them into categories, and carried out research on them, much of which was relatively obscure and would have been challenging even for graduate students.

Maria Sibylla Merian lived and worked in a time of vibrant intersections of art and science in Europe. Her images of insects and plants …

Rome Vaut Bien Un Prix. An Artistic Elite In The Service Of The State: The Pensionnaires Of The Académie De France In Rome, 1666-1968, Annie Verger

Artl@s Bulletin

The Dictionnaire biographique des pensionnaires de l’Académie de France à Rome serves as a register for the artists sent to Italy by the French state from the time of Louis XIV in 1666 up until the abolition of the Prix de Rome concours in 1968. After this year, the selection of pensionnaires nonetheless continued this tradition in another form, and the Académie de France in Rome thus celebrated its 350^th anniversary in 2016. This notion of continuity lies at the heart of the present study, which has been carried out over a number of years.

The dictionary was published …

Biblical Archaeology As An Effective Apologetic, Cooper Wyatt

Masters Theses

This thesis seeks to demonstrate the relationship between biblical archaeology and Christian apologetics, where archaeology can be used as way to show that the Bible has accurately preserved the history it reports.

"Silent Salesmen," Skeptical Consumers: American Images In A Divided Berlin, 1949-67, Lauren Richman

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the visual language of American cultural images disseminated in Cold War Berlin and investigates how such institutional, lens-based media played a role in the country’s grappling with its postwar identity. Divided Berlin, with porous borders from 1949 to 1961, embodied a “final frontier,” “Western showcase;” a synecdoche of larger American geopolitical interests during a time when information and images defined the Cold War. Existing art historical studies of Cold War-era visual propaganda emphasize the prototypical East/West, communist/capitalist dichotomies, but often do not focus on the impact of the United States as Germany’s most prolific western occupier.

Across …

Seen And Unseen: Visualizing Contradictions In Postwar Japan, 1950s–1960s, Christina Lai

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers a comparative study on how photography visualizes the political dynamics, ideological and psychological contradictions in postwar Japan. The discussion includes the exhibition The Family of Man in Tokyo (1956), Werner Bischof and Robert Capa’s photographs of Japan, and local photographers Ken Domon and Shomei Tomatsu.