Life in Medieval London

Abstract

This is the first detailed published study of the stained-glass ‘band’ window which survives in the east end of St Mary’s church, at Selling in Kent. It is argued that the Selling window was installed in the second decade of the 14th century; not, as is usually thought, the first. The window is a hierarchical statement, embodying a number of interrelated levels of meaning. Its primary function is to celebrate Christ’s incarnation, and the role of the Virgin and other saints as intercessors for mankind at the Last Judgement. The window clearly also commemorates the glory days of Edward I, who died in 1307. The historical evidence and the iconography suggest that, in addition, it is a memorial to the Clare family, installed after the English defeat at Bannockburn in 1314, commemorating the death of Gilbert III of Clare, earl of Gloucester and Hertford. The window was probably commissioned by the local lord Bartholomew Badlesmere and his wife, who was Gilbert’s cousin, between 1314 and 1317, when Bartholomew was executor of Gilbert’s estate.     

造像碑的佛传图——以药王山碑林为中心

本文通过对药王山造像碑佛传图像的构成及其以时间、空间为中心的表现形式的研究,初步探讨了北朝末和隋代佛传图像之间的差异和演变过程,揭示了造像碑佛传图像不仅是信仰活动的行为指南,而且构成了一种生活方式。     

Pictures of science

Abstract

The apparently minor art of scientific illustration raises questions that bear directly on the 'two cultures' confrontation of art and science. A marked shift in approach is discerned at the beginning of the twentieth century, from the incorporation of illustrations within the text to the use of 'enframed' figures, often with captions, as a separate entity. It is proposed that this change, which appears to have coincided with the introduction of bivariate plots in scientific journals, represents the transition from the essentially narrative structure of natural philosophy to the more adversarial mode of modern science. The link between the restraint required of the graphic artist and minimalist and functionalist aesthetics such as those of the Bauhaus is examined, together with the possibility that such a persimonious method of presentation can carry an implicit message. The different roles of abstraction in science and art are discussed with particular reference to the work of Paul Klee.     

Taking Space: Moments of Rupture and Everyday Life in Occupy London

Taking space has been a common feature of recent social movements worldwide, and was a defining act of the Occupy movement. This article examines the taking of two spaces by Occupy London in October 2011, and argues that there was a tension between taking space as a moment of rupture, lived space‐times of intensity that provide an opening to new possibilities, and everyday life, the routines and rhythms through which social life is reproduced. My argument builds on the work of Lefebvre, bringing together his conceptualisation of “moments” and everyday life, and his radical theory of the production of space. I argue that examining the tensions over taking space provides a useful angle to explore some of the challenges faced by the Occupy movement, such as an unequal division of labour on camp, and may help in negotiating them.     

羌女图像考

通过对图像资料和传世文献、出土简牍的分析、比定,魏晋墓葬壁画中的羌女形象以及同类图像人物的民族属等问题得到了初步阐释。     

Taking Pictures for the Villagers

The township sent out a notice that all villagers should be photographed as part of the datacollection effort for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme （NCMS） and it was hoped that the work team could help carry this out. We all wanted to help, but knew that it would not be easy. It was during a busy farming season, so it was difficult to gather the villagers （most of whom were busy working in the fields）. First we set up a simple photography studio in the village committee. The only piece of equipment we owned was a tripod and we used the bare wall of the committee building as a backdrop for the photos. As the day drew to a close, the villagers came in twos and threes, most of them straight from the fields. Then facilities for villagers to freshen-up were provided, including a basin of water, towels, and comb for them to tidy up before the shoot. But the villagefolks were often too shy to wash up in front of us, and even after our gentle persuasion, they would just splash some water on their faces. Sometimes, we, the photographers, had to help them with their hair and general appearance. Fortunately, they were completely at ease with that.     

续志图片刍议

图片以其形象性、直观性、真实性在志书中占有重要的地位和作用;要进行科学的图片框架设计,要把握好图片选材的原则：政治原则、范围原则、艺术原则、技术原则、道德原则等;在编辑上要注意图片的版式设计、编排手段、字说明等。     

题自画

一岸坪交错翠,片片绽桃花。飞鸟追帆影,烟村四五家。二霞彩耀坤乾,神州谱锦篇。小康全面迈,松鹤写延年。三寰沐艳阳天,无垠亘翠山。桃花流水泊,游见打鱼船。题自画@张定一     

Pagoda-Shaped Pictures in Tibetan Rock Paintings

In 2004 we, with our colleagues, went to the Helanshan Ranges in Ningxia to conduct a rock-painting survey for more than a month. We were members of the Rock-Painting Research Center, Ethnology and Sociology College of the Central University for Ethnic Minorities. In the central and northern sections of the Helanshan ranges, we accidentally came upon quite a lot of ＂pagoda-shaped＂ rock paintings of the Xixia period （1038-1227）. These rock paintings consist of two different types.     

Fragments of the Modern City: Material Culture and the Rhythms of Everyday Life in Victorian London

This essay analyses the influence of Charles Baudelaire's and Théophile Gautier's fetishist poetics on the early works of Algernon Charles Swinburne. If the crucial role played by the Victorian poet as a cultural ‘passeur’ between France and England has often been highlighted in recent criticism, his aesthetic delight in certain forms of sexual deviance such as podophilia has rarely been explored in relation to the verse of his French mentors. Swinburne, Gautier, and Baudelaire may have indeed shared this erotic fascination with feet: this is a fascination that was partly grounded in these poets' common interest in antique literary models, in particular in Sappho's poetry. Rather than extolling the Hellenic ‘sweetness and light’ which some of his contemporaries set so high, Swinburne indulged in dangerously eroticised Dionysian aesthetics which were perceived as both ‘too Hellenic’ and ‘too French’. I argue that the fetishism of the poetic foot may be read as one of the keys to the Victorian poet's subversive shift away from the serenity often associated with Victorian neoclassicism in favour of a Dionysian energy that anticipates Friedrich Nietzsche's works.     

解读《边城》和《苔丝》中的画面与音乐

《边城》和《德伯家的苔丝》(简称《苔丝》)分别是中英两国“乡土文学”的典型代表沈从文和哈代的主要代表作。两位作家将画面与音乐视为文字之外的语义载体,填补了文字所不能表达的空白,丰富了作品的主题意境。     

论汉墓画像中的灾异现象

以汉墓画像中灾异图像资料为研究对像,结合汉代社会流行的阴阳五行说、天人感应论等,阐述汉代社会人们的思想观念和对人生信仰的追求。     

Pictures at an Exhibition: Woodrow Wilson Portraits

Television programmes reviewed in this article
The American Experience: Woodrow Wilson. Episode 1: A Passionate Man and Episode 2: The Redemption of the World.