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IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 1623: Vegetation Motifs and Vegetation Imagery in Religious Art and Architecture

Thursday 10 July 2008, 11.15-12.45

Moderator/Chair:Nigel L. Hiscock, School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University
Paper 1623-aThe Green Quire: Foliage and the Misericord
(Language: English)
Paulette Barton, Department of Modern Languages & Classics / Department of History, University of Maine
Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Art History - Decorative Arts, Ecclesiastical History, Monasticism
Paper 1623-bAbstract Vines and Leaves: The Decorative Infill within the Vernon Manuscript Pater Noster Table
(Language: English)
Anna Edith Gottschall, Hilton Shepherd Postgraduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Birmingham
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Religious Life
Paper 1623-cReflections of the Nature Descriptions to the Early Period Ottoman Religious Architecture in Bursa Sample
(Language: English)
Gulay Apa, Department of Art History, Selçuk Üniversitesi
Index terms: Art History - General, Art History - Decorative Arts, Islamic and Arabic Studies
Abstract

Paper -a:
In this paper I will discuss the concepts of solitudo, eremus, and desertum and how the green imagery: leaves, roses, vines, the green man, and other foliate designs in the quire were adapted and integrated into monastic practice without actually putting oneself in danger or in a position of physical discomfort nor should the practice of these constructs disrupt the stability of place. I will discuss the meaning of the constructs. I will argue that the green imagery found in the monastic and secular quires on the misericords provided a focal point for meditation on the life of Christ, the Apostles, and the Desert Fathers. The misericords include a green Christ and a green monk.
Paper -b:
The Pater Noster table in the Vernon manuscript is a grid-like entity consisting of a delicate balance between decoration and words. It contains the Pater Noster in conjunction with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, virtues and vices. Within the structure of the table there are a variety of rectangular infills containing abstract leaves and vines and also multi-coloured versions in the left and bottom margins. During this paper I will analyse the meaning and origin of the natural foliage depicted to consider how this contributes to the understanding of the table as a whole.
Paper -c:
The components available in nature have caressed the human spirit and each has arisen aesthetical feelings in people since prehistoric times. A great many components varying from civil architecture to religious architecture which embellish the nature have been used for adorning the structures after having been turned into motifs.
In Ottoman religious architecture, descriptions of nature play a significant role. Avoiding from figures in worshipping places have led to the geometrical and botanical motifs to be used intensively.
Among the early-period Ottoman Religious Architecture, as far as the Bursa sample is concerned, are descriptions of nature are found in the pediments of windows, in portal bordures outside the façade; and in the inner places all substances exist considerably in domes and the in the components of passing domes as well as the components such as mihrab, minbar, mahfel, and desk on the surfaces of walls.
In the early-period, it is seen that leaves and flowers have been used by stylizing. Rumis, palmets and lotuses are also draw the attention both distinctly and in the same composition. In addition to the samples which continue the Seljuk tradition in terms of technique and composition, it has been observed that a new lookout and shift has begun in Rumi, lotus and palmets. In this period, another innovation is said to the flowers of Hatayi group. It cannot exactly be understood which plant is being represented by leaves and flowers in nature. The Hatayis which are the stylized vertical edge of the flowers or Penç motifs which are the stylized horizontal edge and new forms of leave indicate that there is a new formation.
In this presentation, the surfaces where nature-oriented motifs are used in Ottoman architecture and the features of the embroidery which are used will be explained. In addition to, the nature and stylize motifs used in Bursa Ottoman architecture will be debated according to places of their usage.