The quality of mercy: confraternities and public power in medieval Bergamo

The political transformation of Italian cities during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had a significant impact on the social fabric of those communities. This essay examines the effect of political change on the social order in urban Italy through a study of the response of lay confraternities in Bergamo to the demise of the commune and the rise of the Visconti signoria. We examine the administration, the civic commitments, and the charitable donations of the city's largest confraternity, the Misericordia Maggiore, from the late thirteenth century, when it was a close supporter of the commune, to the mid-fourteenth century, when the confraternity came increasingly to resemble the signorial regime. In its emulation of the social values of contemporary government, and its willingness to adapt to suit prevailing political structures, the Misericordia helped smooth the transition from commune to signoria for its membership and the community at large.     

The leitmotiv in the mathematical thought of Gerbert of Aurillac

The political transformation of Italian cities during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had a significant impact on the social fabric of those communities. This essay examines the effect of political change on the social order in urban Italy through a study of the response of lay confraternities in Bergamo to the demise of the commune and the rise of the Visconti signoria. We examine the administration, the civic commitments, and the charitable donations of the city's largest confraternity, the Misericordia Maggiore, from the late thirteenth century, when it was a close supporter of the commune, to the mid-fourteenth century, when the confraternity came increasingly to resemble the signorial regime. In its emulation of the social values of contemporary government, and its willingness to adapt to suit prevailing political structures, the Misericordia helped smooth the transition from commune to signoria for its membership and the community at large.     

现代化进程中的社会边缘化现象--透视20世纪二三十年代上海帮会

20世纪二三十年代,帮会这种传统社会的怪胎,在处于社会转型时期的上海得到全面的复苏和全方位的发育。上海帮会的大发展,是与上海新旧并存的社会环境、人口失控与社会失调、以及帮会与政权相互需求等因素有密切的关系。“适时而变”是这一时期上海帮会最为显的特点。“适时而变”使其获得了,特殊的生存空间,成为一支不可小觑的社会力量。但某些资本主义色彩并未改变其反社会、反现代理性与法则的破坏性本质。     

The Public Face of Post-Tridentine Italian Confraternities

Catholic reforming policies and Council of Trent rules encouraged and expanded the more public roles and responsibilities of lay confraternities, changing the nature of some old brotherhoods, and promoting new ones. The public images became more important for members, the wider church institutions including associated religious orders, and the public. This article considers some significant aspects of the "public face": processions, Forty Hour devotions, philanthropy. Confraternities contributed to the theatricality of post-tridentine, "baroque" religion in cities like Bologna, Naples and most especially Rome, where the Spanish national confraternity played a spectacular role.     

东魏北齐墓葬壁画中的莲花纹

本文对东魏、北齐时期墓葬壁画中的莲花纹进行了初步探讨。文中的壁画不仅包括彩绘壁画,还包括如模印、拼镶砖壁画等壁面装饰。内容主要从墓道壁画、墓门壁画和墓室壁画三个部分对莲花纹做了初步分析,并在此基础上总结了东魏、北齐墓葬壁画中莲花纹图案的基本特点。     

Santa Maria di Collemaggio Church (L’Aquila,Italy): Historical Reconstruction by Non-Destructive Testing Techniques

The main goal of this work was the non-destructive testing (NDT) of an ancient fresco (15th century) preserved in the Santa Maria di Collemaggio Church (L’Aquila, Italy) and damaged after the 2009 earthquake. Active infrared thermography (IRT), near-infrared (NIR) reflectography and ultraviolet imaging (UV) were used. In addition, the state of the fresco prior to the earthquake was analyzed by electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI), digital speckle correlation (DSC), raking light, tap, and chemical NDT techniques. The use of these techniques was important for the monitoring of new damages and for a comparison between the results over the years. Square heating thermography (SHT) data were processed using principal component thermography (PCT) and pulsed phase thermography (PPT) algorithms, in order to improve the defects’ signature and to reduce the impact of non-uniform heating and emissivity variations due to the painting’s pigments. A multi-analysis approach, segmentation operators and a specific data correlation method emphasize the overall study of the fresco. Furthermore, the facade and the high altar area were inspected by passive thermography and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), respectively. In the present case, the combined use of NDT techniques was useful to fill in the gaps in the construction history of the building.     

FRESCO AND LIME‐PAINT: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AND OBJECTIVE CRITERIA FOR DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THESE PAINTING TECHNIQUES

Identification of the painting technique adopted by an artist is often debated in studies on the characterization, restoration and conservation of mural paintings. However, objective criteria to identify the two main lime‐based painting techniques, fresco and lime‐paint, have not yet been systematically verified on replicas. Replicas were painted following both fresco and lime‐painting techniques. A comparison of microstratigraphic sequences and distribution of chemical elements reveals systematic differences between the two techniques, providing objective distinguishing criteria. Samples from the Abbey of Chiaravalle (Milan, Italy) and Pompeii were also analysed, and the results were compared with experimental data to validate the recommended criteria.     

DOMUS AUREA,THE ‘SALA DELLE MASCHERE’: CHEMICAL AND SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATIONS ON THE FRESCO PAINTINGS

In this paper, data collected from the wall fresco paintings of room 114, called the ‘Sala delle maschere’, of the Domus Aurea in Rome is analysed. The chemical composition of the efflorescence is investigated by infrared spectroscopy. The colour palette is determined by means of EDXRF, Raman spectroscopy and visible reflectance spectroscopy. EDXRF has allowed an extensive mapping of the elements present in the pigments and plaster; whilst in‐situ Raman spectroscopy has been determinant for attributing the molecular composition of the pigments in a number of doubtful cases. Most pigments identified are typical of Imperial Roman fresco paintings (first to fourth centuries AD) ( Ward‐Perkins 1981 ); more interestingly, we found evidence of fragments painted with Egyptian blue, which was normally used mostly in official rooms.     

Troubling meanings of family and competing moral imperatives in the family lives of young people with a parent who is at the end of life

ABSTRACT

This article draws on a narrative study of young people with a parent who is at the end of life to examine how family lives are troubled by life-limiting parental illness. Young people struggled to reconcile the physical and emotional absence of family members with meanings of ‘family’; the extent to which young people could rely on family to ‘be there’ in these troubling circumstances was of practical, emotional and moral significance. Our discussion is situated in the context of an English end of life care policy predicated on the ideal of a good death as one that takes place at home accompanied by family members. We explore how the shift away from family as a site for nurturing children towards family as a space to care for the dying is experienced by young people, and consider how these competing moral imperatives are negotiated through relational practices of care.     

古代壁画、文物彩绘病害调研与治理研究

本文对古代壁画、文物彩绘上出现的起甲脱落、酥粉、滋生霉菌与低等植物、风化褪色、粘结土锈、肢体断裂等多种导致其自毁的严重病害,进行了详细的调研并初步分析了其产生的原因,在此基础上对上述病害进行治理研究,并对部分濒临自毁的文物进行了抢救修复。     

关于铅丹变色的研究

对采用传统壁画制作工艺、传统材料制作的文物模拟样品,在特定体系下进行光辐射老化。定期测量其表层颜料的色度值,并通过x-射线衍射分析进一步探讨铅丹的变色机理,为彩绘文物分析和保护提供科学依据。     

河南尉氏县张氏镇宋墓发掘简报

2000年7月,开封市文物工作队在尉氏县张氏镇发掘一座宋代砖室墓,墓室内壁绘满了壁画,内容涉及墓主人、孝子、宗教、商业和农业活动,具有较高的研究价值。     

The Structure and Chemical Composition of Wall Paintings From Islamic and Christian Times in the Seville Alcazar

Wall paintings from the Islamic epoch (10th to 12th centuries) and the Christian monarchy (14th to 16th centuries) have been recovered in discarded materials and on walls after reconstruction works in the Seville Alcazar. These paintings have spent centuries underground or under a plaster coat. Portable X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) and combined XRF/X‐ray diffraction (XRD) were employed in situ, as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDX), grazing angle incidence XRD and micro‐Raman spectroscopy, on cross‐section samples to fully characterize the materials in the wall paintings. Using these methods, the fresco technique was demonstrated, and many kinds of pigments were identified in accordance with the various periods of the history of the Alcazar, thus assessing the authenticity of all the wall paintings studied here.     

Kinship and Networking in a Quaker Family in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Recently there has been much publicity about problems caused in society by family breakdown and the distressing lack of citizenship, particularly among young people. Older generations usually remember the past as better and regret how things have changed. There is, however, a consensus amongst social historians that the romantic view of families in the past being large, loving and supportive is a myth exploded by empirical and statistical evidence. By contrast, this study of kinship and networking in a West Country Quaker family in the nineteenth-century illustrates the family's effectiveness in creating responsible family members and good citizens. The article discusses how kinship originated, strengthened and underpinned their achievements and how its importance faded over time.     

Before the Honeymoon Ends: Presidential Leadership and Congressional Response

Academicians and journalists inevitably pass judgment on the progress of a president's major "honeymoon period" initiatives. Obviously, the success of those initiatives will depend on how Congress responds to new presidents. Data on aggregate congressional response to the "honeymoon" initiatives of the Carter and Reagan presidencies are presented in order to explore how members of Congress react as they evaluate and interact with a new president. Evidence suggests that, despite the conventional wisdom regarding Carter's limited political ability and inflexible nature, members of Congress were more inclined to emphasize organizational deficiencies. Conversely, while Reagan was perceived to be almost as inflexible as Carter, he received superlative marks for organizational efficiency and for providing access to Congress. The analysis then considers the importance of organization to future presidential effectiveness, and the importance of organizational concerns with respect to personal characteristics for overall presidential success.     

Migrant mothers,left-behind fathers: the negotiation of gender subjectivities in Indonesia and the Philippines

The distinct feminization of labour migration in Southeast Asia – particularly in the migration of breadwinning mothers as domestic and care workers in gender-segmented global labour markets – has altered care arrangements, gender roles and practices, as well as family relationships within the household significantly. Such changes were experienced by both the migrating women and other left-behind members of the family, particularly ‘substitute’ carers such as left-behind husbands. During the women’s absence from the home, householding strategies have to be reformulated when migrant women-as-mothers rewrite their roles (but often not their identities) through labour migration as productive workers who contribute to the well-being of their children via financial remittances and ‘long-distance mothering’, while left-behind fathers and/or other family members step up to assume some of the tasks vacated by the mother. Using both quantitative and qualitative interview material with returned migrants and left-behind household members in source communities in Indonesia and the Philippines experiencing considerable pressures from labour migration, this article explores how carework is redistributed in the migrant mother’s absence, and the ensuing implications on the gender roles of remaining family members, specifically left-behind fathers. It further examines how affected members of the household negotiate and respond to any changing gender ideologies brought about by the mother’s migration over time.     

明清时期华南地区乡村聚落的宗族化与军事化--以赣南乡村围寨为中心

自明中叶以迄清代,由于险恶的地理生态环境和长期的社会动荡,赣南乡村居民自发地构筑大量用于军事防卫的乡村围寨,于是形成广泛而持续的筑寨建围运动。伴随着乡村围寨的构筑和乡族武装力量的崛起,乡族势力尤其是宗族的力量得到不断的发展,并日益地军事化和割据化,逐渐成为乡村社会中非常成熟的支配力量。乡村宗族构筑围寨,“聚族自保”,直接地导致“聚族而居”聚居聚落的形成,聚居宗族也得以强化,这展示了赣南乃至整个华南地区宗族发达并与村落重叠这一普遍而显著的社会人文现象的历史形成过程。     

Wall Paintings from the Roman Emona (Ljubljana,Slovenia): Characterization of Mortar Layers and Pigments

This study concerns the investigation of mortar layers and pigments of wall paintings from the Roman town of Emona (Ljubljana, Slovenia). Fragments of wall paintings consist of up to three preserved mortar layers. The mineralogical–petrographic compositions of the mortars were determined by means of optical microscopy and FT–IR spectroscopy. The investigated samples were divided into several groups based on similar thicknesses of the mortar layer, the binder colour and the composition of an aggregate. Furthermore, the results of mercury intrusion porosimetry showed that mortar layers consisting of carbonate grains exhibited lower porosity with respect to layers with mainly silicate grains, which is attributed to the angular shapes of carbonate aggregate. This is in accordance with the drilling resistance measurement system test (DRMS), confirming that layers with angular carbonate grains are harder than those with addition of rounded silicate ones, due to the good packing effect. The wall paintings were mainly executed using the fresco technique, while for some details secco was used. The identified pigments were red and yellow ochre, green earth, Egyptian blue, carbon black and lime white; all of them belonged to the so‐called austere pigment, which is quite common in Roman wall paintings.