Preservation of Earthen Sites in Remote Areas: the Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Tepa,Tajikistan

Abstract

The Buddhist monastery of Ajina Tepa is one of the most significant in Central Asia as it was fully excavated using up-to-date archaeological methods and was extensively documented. The site is a sophisticated blend of earthen architectural forms, sculptural detail and wall painting decoration, all of which are unique in the area. The site is located in south Tajikistan along the Vahsh valley, about 13 km east from the modern city of Kurgan Tybe.

The aim of the paper is to give an overview of the UNESCO/Japan Trust Fund project 'Preservation of the Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Tepa, Tajikistan (Heritage of the Ancient Silk Roads)'. The paper describes the historical background, the main conservation threats, the analytical work in the selection of repair material, the preparatory work before conservation, the documentation activities, and the conservation work carried out at the site.     

The Byzantine wall paintings from the Protaton Church on Mount Athos,Greece: tradition and science

The present work is a study of the wall painting complex in the Protaton Church (1295) on Mount Athos, Greece. These paintings, high in artistic value, are themselves a monument—representative of the Macedonian iconographic style. What follows is historic data set against the results of analytical investigations: the fruit of extensive research aimed at determining precise details about the applied painting techniques for the wall paintings. Hitherto it has been held that what was traditionally defined as “Byzantine fresco” was executed only on wet plaster with limewater as the sole binding medium. Now, however, through the application of instrumental analytical investigations, it is possible to demonstrate that a mixed technique involving both al fresco and al secco was employed. Furthermore, it was determined, on the basis of results from gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS), that egg together with a modest amount of animal glue were the organic binding media used for the Protaton art work. It is certain that the scenes were initially begun on wet plaster. During or even after drying the painting was completed using the aforementioned protein binding media, thanks to which a more resistant cohesion to the painted layers was secured.     

The landscape of Metztitlan,Mexico: Power and control in a sixteenth century Spanish administrative painting

ABSTRACT

The concept of landscape has been studied mostly as the view of a space with particular interest in its aesthetics, originating at the turn of the sixteenth century. However, I argue that in fourteenth century northern Europe, the concept was focused on polity rather than aesthetics. This article examines this lesser-known tradition by analysing the painting of Metztitlan, a sixteenth century town in Mexico, and arguing, first, that unlike all the other representations in the Relaciones Geográficas to which it belongs, it is the only landscape, and second, that this painting is associated with an administrative procedure common in Spain to gain control over imperial lands. I review European practices regarding the representation of towns under the Spanish Crown. Then, I present the results of the fieldwork carried out to locate several heights which probably served as vantage points to paint the landscape. Based on this research, I analyse the intentions of the painter to argue that it should be considered within the same tradition as the paintings made in Spain by Flemish painter Anton van de Wyngaerde, as part of the Spanish Empire's Germanic tradition of describing places with the intention of exerting control over them.     

General Meeting,March 10th, 1848

Abstract

The tiled pavement in the nave of Haughmond Abbey, Shropshire, has been partly exposed twice in the last hundred years. Although no decoration appears to survive in situ, a few decorated tiles in the loose collection may derive from this floor. The most significant of these, a roundel fragment, carries the design of a tonsured monk with a crozier. Although this design and the whole mosaic arrangement of the in situ tiles are unique, a comparison can be drawn with the pavement donated by Abbot Nicholas at Halesowen. The arrangement of roundels and frame tiles and the subject matter of the decorated roundels are sufficiently similar to posit a direct connection. There are no close dates for the Haughmond floor, but it is suggested that the Halesowen pavement, dated 1290–98, was the prototype.     

The Identity of the Nabataean 'Painted House' Complex at Baidha,North-West Petra

Abstract

An attempt is made to shed light on the identity of the Nabataean 'Painted House' from an understanding of its plan, the content of the painting and the function of the associated features, mainly the water installations. This study reveals new mythological figures unnoticed by previous scholars. These include additional cupids and, most importantly, Isis. The water installations of the monument, its functions and meaning, the content of the painting combined with comparative studies of Mediterranean and Near Eastern evidence all suggest that this monument was an Isiac (Isis) sanctuary devoted to her as a goddess of improved quality of life, good crops, good herds, and love.     

Mid eighteenth-century tin-glazed earthenwares from the Delftfield Pottery,Glasgow: Excavation at the Broomielaw, 1975

Abstract

This report describes an excavation on the Broomielaw quayside opposite the site of the Delftfield Company’s works, which recovered kiln-wasters from an early phase of production. Appendix I covers all ceramic exports from Port Glasgow, 1742 to 1773, and some from Greenock. Appendix II contains notes on the family and other connections of some of the original potters who were recruited from Lambeth and elsewhere in 1748.     

PREHISTORIC WALL PAINTINGS: THE CASE OF THE DOMUS DE JANAS NECROPOLIS (SARDINIA,ITALY)*

The Domus de Janas (Home of the Fairies, or Home of the Witches) are Neolithic hypogea located throughout Sardinia (Italy) and decorated with red and black wall paintings. The objective of this study was to define the painting technique through the analytical characterization of the pigments and binding media. Samples of painting film from different graves have been examined by means of various analytical techniques. XRD, Raman and SEM–EDX analyses identified the red and black pigments respectively as red ochre rich in hematite and carbon black, while GC–MS analyses characterized the organic binder as egg.     

‘If ah’ve goat’i choose between putting shoes on ma bairn’s feet and payin’ this bill,ah’m puttin’ shoes on ma bairn’s feet’ – poverty and the poll tax

ABSTRACT

The poll tax was a key episode in British politics. The widespread opposition campaign has been described as an important expression of Scottish political and national opposition to Thatcherism. The historiographical focus on Glasgow has been influential in this interpretation. By broadening the focus to other Scottish geographies, this article challenges this portrayal and highlights the lived experience of poverty that underpinned resistance and gave political discourses their power. By reframing the argument through the lens of poverty it develops an alternative understanding of the causes of the tax, inverting the narrative that suggests political discourses drove resistance.     

Mathematics and painting

Abstract

Mathematics and painting are interrelated in many ways. At a technical level mathematics can be used to enhance our appreciation of paintings. This was recently demonstrated beautifully by Taylor, Micolich, and Jones in their analysis of Jackson Pollock's drip paintings, which led them to the conclusion that Pollock's paintings are in a way figurative pictures. Relations also exist at a more basic level. Painting and mathematics can share subject matter, as is illustrated here by a discussion of the mathematical concepts 'open' and 'closed', which are related to paintings by Pollock, Kandinsky, Turner, and van Gogh. It is suggested in conclusion that mathematics and painting are so closely related and have so many similarities that it is reasonable to consider them simply as two different but complementary ways of visualising aspects of the concrete or abstract reality in which we are embedded.     

Honorary Secretary’s Report For 1966

Abstract

Wooden Madonna tabernacles from c.1150–c.1350 are today scarce, and it is therefore difficult to get a complete understanding of their original appearance and variations. Nevertheless there are still preserved at least fifteen Madonna tabernacles, or substantial fragments of them, in Scandinavia, which can give us a picture of the variety of appearance and form these large tabernacles had in this period. The surviving Scandinavian Madonna tabernacles have, like the southern European ones, quite a lot of variation in types and appearance, both in their closed and open positions. The largest group consisted of niches with relief-figures on the interior when open, but the scenes could also be painted, or painting and sculpture combined on the same surface. A neglected aspect of these tabernacles is their appearance in the closed position. Often the wings of the tabernacles have their original painting preserved on the exterior, even if the reverse has been overpainted or the wings have been restructured. Many of these original surfaces had non-figural decoration, such as foliage, monochrome surfaces in red or green, or a combination of simple patterns of red and green.     

The Temple of Venus (Pompeii): a study of the pigments and painting techniques

We report here on a study of 57 fragments of wall painting excavated from the Temple of Venus (Pompeii). These samples were characterised by a wide range of analytical methods. Data showed that the palette is varied, although not so broad as that found in other buildings in Pompeii, and is consistent with pigments used elsewhere in Pompeii and in the Roman Empire. It is composed of: natural earths, minerals and rare artificial pigments. Paintings are made up of thin paint layers (0.01–0.10 mm thick) strongly adhering to the underlying preparation layer. Nonetheless, in some cases thicker layers (up to 0.40 mm) were recognised, often spread on other previous painting layers. Samples were also compared with the microstratigraphic criteria developed in Piovesan (2009) to distinguish wall painting techniques. This comparison demonstrated that both fresco and lime painting techniques were adopted.     

Communication of Discoveries of Medieval Paintings,Etc

Abstract

Until 1965 Holy Trinity parish church, Much Wenlock (Shropshire), was believed to be wholly Norman and later. In that year it was proposed that the south chancel chapel and south nave aisle were Anglo-Saxon. Two vertical strips of squared stones, built into the upper part (a later heightening) of the aisle's south wall, were interpreted as Anglo-Saxon pilaster strips of the type later classified by Dr H. M. Taylor as ‘long-and-short’. If the upper part of that wall was Anglo-Saxon, the lower part must have been earlier Anglo-Saxon, and so must the chapel south wall, which is integral with the lower part of the aisle wall. The Norman nave and chancel must have been added to an-existing Anglo-Saxon structure.

We believe, however, that the aisle and chapel must have been added to an existing Norman structure, for the Norman nave had originally a south-east external clasping buttress. Structural and documentary evidence shows that the strips are probably of the later thirteenth or earlier fourteenth century. Moreover similar strips occur in another part of the church that is probably of that date or later. ‘Pilaster strips’ of ‘long-and-short’ appearance may evidently be looked for elsewhere in twelfth-century or later contexts, especially in the heightened parts of unsupported rubble walls.     

Martin Waldseemüller's Death Date

ABSTRACT

The subject of this article is the first extant topographical engraving of Meteora, the second largest monastic complex in Greece and one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. This late eighteenth-century print combined cartographic principles with techniques traditionally used in Byzantine painting, which situates it within a broader vernacular Greek cartographic tradition. It can also be considered a mental map of the region as envisaged by eighteenth century monks, as well as a tool for advertising the region and its monasteries at a time of political and financial distress. As with any map, the engraving simultaneously concealed and revealed, masking difficult terrestrial conditions while showing pathways to heaven.     

Simulacra and simulation: double simulation at a North Song Dynasty theme park

ABSTRACT

This paper examines an unusual type of ‘cultural theme park’, one that is not based on simulating existing cultural diversity or historical places, but based in some senses on a ‘double simulation’. The theme park is based on an historical painting assumed to represent the North Song Dynasty period in Kaifeng, China; however, it is a representation that historians argue may never have existed. Utilising on-site interviews and participant observation, this paper traces the connections between the classic painting (清明上河图) and the actual historical landscape of Bianjing (the first simulation), and in so doing, unravels the links between the painting and the theme park (the second simulation) and the simulacra that are envisioned to form within the spaces of the theme park as a result of the interplay of simulations during theme park visits. The simulations and intended simulacra are ‘consumed’ to various degrees, suggesting that the representations of Kaifeng's historical past and culture have been impactful and (in)authenticity has not been an issue. Moreover, the theme park has served to entertain and, in some cases, inspire through playful appropriations of Kaifeng's past and culture. The resultant simulacra and its double simulations (in simulating both the real Bianjing and the neo-real landscape painting) contrast and simultaneously connect with rampant replications of the Occident in contemporary Chinese residential landscapes, townships and themed spaces.     

Red Aesthetics,Intermediality and the Use of Posters in Chinese Cinema after 1949

Abstract

This article focuses on the aesthetic and affective techniques of saturation through which posters legitimated the Party-State in Mao’s China by closing the gap between everyday experience and political ideology. Propaganda posters were designed to put into practice the principle of unity, as conceptualised by Mao Zedong. The argument posits that while the “poster” is normally a printed edition of a painting or design intended for mass distribution in this way, the term may fairly be deployed to capture other cultural objects that function as “posters”, in that they provide public, political information that expresses or constructs a political self in aesthetic form. This approach requires a metonymic understanding of a visual field in which cultural objects are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. The essay draws on recent in-depth interviews with poster artists of the 1960s and 1970s.     

西藏拉萨大昭寺转经廊壁画制作工艺研究

古代壁画是一定时期政治、经济、文化、艺术和科技发展水平的物质反映,因此,利用现代科技分析手段提取其信息并将之与古代文献结合,则可逆推其制作工艺和判定其制作时间,进而确定其历史价值、科学价值和艺术价值,为艺术史研究和保护修复提供信息。本工作利用拉曼光谱(Raman)、偏光显微镜(PLM)、扫描电子显微镜与能谱仪(SEM-EDS)、红外光谱(FT-IR)和X射线衍射(XRD)在西藏大昭寺转经廊壁画样品分析中获取的信息,结合文献,确定西藏拉萨大昭寺转经廊壁画绘制于清代晚期至20世纪80年代之间。此幅壁画地仗使用了阿嘎土,与文献记载一致;白粉层使用立德粉、碳酸镁和方解石等,与文献记载用白胶浆或者黄胶浆相异。同时发现壁画颜料采用藏族传统绘画配色方法。     

馆藏壁画失效支撑体去除技术研究

馆藏壁画绝大多数为墓葬揭取的,基葬壁画作为一种丧葬文化现象在早期绘画史和思想史上都占有非常重要的地位。馆藏壁画的支撑体是壁画从原址揭取下来后,为长期保存壁画、便于移动与展示,而在其背面重新粘接的。起支撑保护作用的支撑体类型有石膏支撑体、环氧树脂＋木龙骨支撑体、环氧树脂＋铝合金龙骨支撑体等。随着支撑体材料的失效,壁画也遭受不同程度的损伤。因此,失效支撑体的更换是今后馆藏壁画保护不可避免的工作。本文全面系统总结了馆藏壁画失效支撑体的类型及其去除技术及工艺,为今后壁画的保护修复提供了技术支撑。