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[Æthelwold; Ethelwold]

(b Winchester, c. ad 908; d Beddington, Surrey, 1 Aug 984; fd 1 Aug). Anglo-Saxon saint, Church leader, reformer and patron. With Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (reg 959–88), and Oswald, Archbishop of York (reg 972–92), he was the moving spirit behind the English monastic revival of the late 10th century.

Aethelwold’s career began at the court of King Athelstan (reg 924–39). After ordination he joined Dunstan’s reformed monastic community at Glastonbury. About 954 he established his own monastic house at Abingdon. According to later tradition, he was a skilled worker in metals and personally contributed to the embellishment of the abbey church. Appointed Bishop of Winchester in 963, he introduced reformed communities into both Old and New Minsters and established a regular monastic life in several other centres, notably Ely, Peterborough and Thorney. He was an enthusiastic patron: the masterpiece of the Winchester School of illumination, the ...

(b Dec 12, 1479; d ?Bologna, c. April 1552).

Italian historian, topographer, writer and patron. He was a friar and first entered the Dominican Order at Forlì but was in Bologna from 1495 and was officially transferred to the monastery there in 1500. Alberti received an extensive grounding in humanist studies under the Bolognese rhetorician Giovanni Garzoni. After acting as companion to the head of the order, Tomaso de Vio Cajetan, Alberti was made Provinciale di Terra Santa in Rome in 1520. This included the role of travelling companion to Tomaso’s successor, Fra Silvestri da Ferrara (‘il Ferrariense’). His travels with Silvestri throughout Italy, including the islands, laid the foundations for his most important work, the Descrittione di tutta l’Italia (1550), modelled on the Italia illustrata of Flavio Biondo. It was reprinted many times: the Venice edition of 1561 was the first to include Alberti’s sections on the islands of Italy, which were not covered by Biondo; the Venice edition of ...

Modern term for the dynasty that ruled Hungary until 1301. Their name is derived from the chief of the Magyar tribal alliance, Prince Árpád (reg 896–907). During the four centuries of their reign (which included 5 princes and 21 kings, half of whom were buried in the now destroyed basilica at Székesfehérvár), the country became a Christian kingdom with a social and political order similar to its western neighbours. The art and architecture of the age was influenced mainly by Italian and French models with some Byzantine elements. The castle (after 1241, archiepiscopal palace) in Esztergom has significant remains from the 10th to 12th centuries. It was excavated and partly restored in the early 21st century. The west door, the porta speciosa of Esztergom Cathedral is decorated with marble intarsia in a French-influenced, Byzantine style (c. 1190) and is one of the few surviving figural monuments (now in the Esztergom Castle Museum). After the Mongol invasion of ...

Richly illustrated bestiary manuscript (275×185mm, 105 fols; Oxford, Bodleian Lib., Ashmole 1511), written in Latin and illuminated probably in southern England around 1210. The original patron is unknown. It contains the text and illustrations of a complete bestiary, with prefatory Creation scenes and excerpts from Genesis and part of Hugh de Folieto’s Aviarium (Book of Birds). It is a luxury manuscript with lavish use of gold leaf, sometimes tooled, in the backgrounds of the full-page miniatures and numerous smaller framed animal ‘portraits’. Its images are especially notable for their ornamental qualities, evident in both the pictorial compositions and a wide variety of geometric framing devices. The prefatory cycle includes a full-page miniature of Adam Naming the Animals. The Ashmole Bestiary is considered a ‘sister’ manuscript to the Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen, U. Lib., MS. 24), to which it is iconographically very closely related, but owing to major stylistic differences the two manuscripts have been attributed to different artists. The chronological relationship between the two has been disputed: based on proposed workshop methods, Muratova (...

Astrology is the art of predicting events on earth as well as human character and disposition from the movements of the planets and fixed stars. Medieval astrology encompassed both general concepts of celestial influence, and the technical art of making predictions with horoscopes, symbolic maps of the heavens at particular moments and places constructed from astronomical information. The scientific foundations of the art were developed in ancient Greece, largely lost in early medieval Europe and recovered by the Latin West from Arabic sources in the 12th and 13th centuries. Late medieval astrological images were successfully Christianized and were adapted to particular contexts, acquired local meanings and changed over time.

Astrology developed into a scientific branch of learning in ancient Greece, but because of the opposition of the Church Fathers it was transmitted to early medieval Europe in only fragmentary form in technically unsophisticated textbooks and popular divinatory genres. Literary and scientific texts provided more general ideas about the nature and attributes of the planets which were influential on later iconography. The first significant astrological images appear in 11th-century illustrated astronomical texts (e.g. London, BL, Cotton MS. Tiberius BV), which were acquired and produced by monasteries to aid with time-keeping and the construction of the Christian calendar....

Italian, 18th century, male.

Born c. 1675, in Rome; died c. 1730.

Engraver (burin), art dealer. Religious subjects, architectural views.

Worked initially under the tutelage of his father, Pietro Santo Bartoli. It is probable that this is the same artist as F. Bartoli who produced coloured drawings based on religious works in St Peter's in Rome on behalf of the English art collector John Talman. The volume containing these engraved illustrations has been in the British Museum in London since ...

[Fournier, Jacques ]

(b Saverdun, c. 1280; elected 1334; d Avignon, April 24, 1342).

French pope and patron. He was the third of the Avignon popes and is known for his energetic attempts at Church reform and for the building of the new palace of the popes in Avignon. Born into a humble family, he entered a Cistercian monastery at an early age. He had a distinguished university career and succeeded his uncle as Abbot of Fontfroide (Aude). Later, while Bishop of Pamiers and then of Mirepoix in south-western France, he prosecuted accused heretics with a determination so zealous that he was named Cardinal in 1327. His election as Pope was somewhat of a surprise; he supposedly greeted the news of his election with the remark, ‘You have elected an ass’ (Villani).

In many endeavours, especially with Europe’s secular rulers, Benedict followed a less aggressive policy than his predecessor John XXII, but he was firm in his efforts to curb some of the worst abuses of clerical power. He tried to stop the practices of nepotism and simony and attempted to reform and regulate the mendicant orders. His most lasting legacy was the ...

Group of twelve manuscripts, primarily Psalter and Book of Hours, nearly all illustrated by in-house artists for members of the Bohun family in the second half of the 14th century. The owner–patrons were the successive earls of Essex, Hereford and Northampton: Humphrey de Bohun VI (1309–61), the 6th Earl of Hereford and 5th Earl of Essex and his nephew Humphrey de Bohun VII (1342–73), the 7th earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton, Humphrey VII’s wife Joan Fitzalan (d 1419) and their daughters Eleanor (1366–99), who married Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (see Plantagenet, House of family §(5)), son of King Edward III, and Mary (c. 1369–94), who married Henry of Bolingbroke (1366–1413; from 1399 King Henry IV), son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Known to have been active between c. 1360 and ...

(b Torrelaguna, 1436; d Roa, Nov 8, 1517).

Spanish archbishop and patron. He came from a minor family of the nobility, studied at Salamanca and went to Rome. As a priest he was curate to Cardinal Pedro Salazar de Mendoza in Sigüenza. He joined the Franciscan Order in 1484 and, through Mendoza’s influence, became confessor to Isabella, Queen of Castile and León, in 1492. He became General of his order in 1494 and, with royal support, began a vigorous reform of the monastic orders. As Archbishop of Toledo from 1495 he developed a hard-line policy against the Granada moriscos that led to the uprising of the Albaicín quarters of the city and the subsequent rebellion in the Alpujarras region, which was harshly suppressed and was followed by the first expulsion of the Moors (1502). This crusading spirit led him to make two military campaigns into Africa, which resulted in the conquests of Mers el Kébir (...

[Ganganelli, Lorenzo (Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio)]

(b Santarcangelo di Romagna, Oct 31, 1705; elected May 19, 1769; d Rome, Sept 22, 1774).

Italian pope and patron. He completed his studies in the Romagna and in 1723 entered the Franciscan Order. In 1728 he went to Rome, where he acted as an adviser to Pope Clement XIII from 1746 and became involved in such issues as whether to include the books of Voltaire (1697–1778) on the Index librorum prohibitorum (on which he took a moderate position) and whether to suppress the Society of Jesus. He was made a cardinal in 1759 and received the titles to two churches in Rome: S Lorenzo in Panisperna and, later, SS Apostoli.

As a patron Clement XIV tried to modify the loss to Rome’s heritage represented by the lively trade in antique works of art. He reinforced surveillance on exports and also purchased some of the most precious objects, such as the Mattei and Fusconi collections of Classical sculpture, which he bought in 1770. He was supported in this campaign by Giovanni Battista Visconti and Giovanni Angelo Braschi, the future Pope Pius VI. He played a seminal role in fostering public interest in antique sculpture. To display the finest antiquities in the papal collection he established the ...

[Beaufort, Pierre Roger de]

(b Corrèze, c. 1291; elected 1342; d Avignon, Dec 6, 1352).

French pope and patron. He was in every sense a ‘prince of the Church’, with a court that rivalled all others in Europe. When criticized for his unprecedented lavish spending he replied, ‘None of my predecessors knew how to be popes’. A younger son of impoverished nobility, he entered the Benedictine abbey of La Chaise-Dieu (Haute Loire) and then went on to a brilliant academic career. Renowned for his oratorical and diplomatic skills, he became Archbishop of Sens (1329) and Rouen (1330) and was named a cardinal in 1337; he also served as Chancellor to Philip VI of France. Considered the most outstanding French cleric of his time, he was unanimously elected pope.

Clement VI’s papacy was much rougher than his path to the papal throne. Despite his good relations with the kings of France and England, he was unable to resolve the war between them. His efforts to launch crusades in the East and in the Papal States met with frustration. As civil strife continued in Rome, Clement remained in Avignon. His worst crisis occurred during the Black Death of ...

(b Montefiore dell’Aso, nr Ascoli Piceno, c. 1240–50; d Lucca, Oct 27, 1312).

Italian cardinal and patron. A Franciscan, he graduated in theology from Paris University by c. 1295 and in 1296 was made lector at the Papal Curia. The earliest evidence of Gentile’s lavish patronage is found in his account book (Rome, Vatican, Archv Segreto, 313 A), which records payments for embroidery and enamels and (22 Sept 1306) for work by the Sienese goldsmith, Toro. From 1307 Gentile was papal legate in Hungary. One of his earliest important commissions is the funerary monument (1310) to his parents, in S Francesco, Montefiore dell’Aso. It is unique for being both a double tomb (unknown in Italy before this date) and a secular one, directly emulating papal tomb designs.

Gentile arrived at Assisi in 1312, and the principal works associated with him are found in two chapels in the Lower Church, S Francesco. Only one document can be related to his patronage there: a transaction in his account book, dated ...

British, 17th century, male.

Born in Wales; died c. 1692.

Engraver, picture dealer. Religious subjects, portraits.

Edward Davis was a pupil of Loggan. He went to work in Paris, producing, among other works, Ecce Homo, after Annibale Carracci, and St Cecilia, after Van Dyck. He returned to London and became an art dealer. In ...

(b Burgos, c. 1385; d Burgos, 1455).

Spanish bishop, patron and builder. He was the son of an eminent Jewish banker, who converted to Christianity and became a bishop. Alonso, as Dean of Compostela, led Castile’s delegation to the Council of Basle, and he travelled in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Bohemia from 1434 to 1439. On his return he became Bishop of Burgos. He worked on a funerary chapel (Capilla de la Visitación; 1440–44) in Burgos Cathedral and on spires of openwork tracery (1442–58) on the cathedral’s 13th-century western towers. Both are the work of Juan de Colonia, who was very probably brought to Castile by Alonso for this express purpose. The spires are based closely on German models, in particular the early 15th-century design for the spires at Cologne Cathedral. Don Alonso was a key figure in the introduction of Late Gothic architecture into Castile, for Juan de Colonia founded an energetic school of Late Gothic design based at the Burgos Cathedral workshops....

[Victor III]

(b Benevento, 1027; elected pope 1086; d Montecassino, Sept 16, 1087).

Italian pope, Abbot of Montecassino and patron. He was born, with the name Dauferius, to an aristocratic Lombard family. After a brief monastic career at La Cava, near Salerno, and at S Sophia in Benevento, where he assumed the name Desiderius, he joined the community at the great monastery of Montecassino in 1055, becoming abbot in 1058. During his abbacy Montecassino attained its greatest prestige. The monastery was closely involved with the principles of contemporary church reform. He was much involved in the political intricacies of his time, and maintained especially friendly relations with, and received benefits from, the Norman rulers of southern Italy. He supported many literary and scholarly activities, such as the poetry of Alberic of Montecassino (b c. 1030), the medical books of Constantius Africanus (d c. 1087), and the historical writings of Amatus of Montecassino (b c. 1010) and Leo of Ostia (...

American, 20th century, male.

Born 7 June 1931, in Eatonton (Georgia).

Painter, draughtsman (including ink), collage artist, print artist, sculptor, collector, art historian. Religious subjects, figures, portraits, figure compositions, scenes with figures, landscapes. Designs for stained glass.

David C. Driskell earned a BFA at Howard University in ...

(b ?910 or later; d Canterbury, 988; fd 19 May).

Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury, and patron. He was educated at Glastonbury Abbey, where he was appointed abbot c. 940–46. In 956–7 he was exiled to Ghent. Returning to England he was appointed successively Bishop of Worcester and London in 958 and Archbishop of Canterbury in 959.

Dunstan’s first biographer ‘B’ (?Byrhthelm) refers to him as adept in the arts of writing, playing the harp, and painting and records his providing a design for a stole to be embroidered by a noblewoman. Surviving evidence of his artistic endeavours is sparse. A drawing of a monk prostrate at the feet of Christ (Oxford, Bodleian Lib., MS. Auct. F.4.32, fol. 1r) has an inscription probably in Dunstan’s own hand identifying the monk with himself, but the drawing is by a different hand. Later writers claimed that Dunstan was an expert metalworker; but this may have been inferred from inscriptions on metalwork presented to churches by Dunstan, such as a water vessel recorded at Malmesbury....

(d 15 June 822). Bavarian abbot and patron. He was Abbot of Fulda from 818 to 822. A nobleman related to Abbot Sturm (reg 744–79), Eigil entered the monastery (see Fulda §1) as a child between 754 and 759. It is thought that he played a leading role in the revolt against Ratgar (reg 802–17). After the latter’s deposition there was an interregnum until Eigil’s election, during which the community was re-established. At his institution Eigil undertook to govern wisely and to restrict the abbey’s building programme, which had become over-ambitious under his predecessor. Nevertheless, he not only completed the internal decoration of the ‘Ratgar basilica’ (his biographer Candidus was responsible for wall paintings in the western apse) but also added a modest crypt at each end of the church before its dedication on 1 November 819. These hall crypts of three by three bays were designed by another monk, ...

(b 1739; d 1816).

Portuguese bishop and patron. He was representative of the Catholic Enlightenment in Portugal during the Pombaline era. In accordance with his training as an Oratorian and his concern for the welfare of his flock, his interests were more pastoral and less doctrinal than those of his friend, Frei Manuel do Cenáculo Villas Boas. His concerns led to the building of seminaries and hospitals, and his spiritual and humanist tendencies led him to write and translate works on both religious and secular subjects, of which his essays on agriculture are an example. He believed that art was a means of human improvement and architecture a manifestation of human and Christian dignity, and his patronage of the arts, to which his visit to Rome must have contributed, was an aspect of his pastoral service. Following Gomes do Avelar’s appointment as Bishop of the Algarve in 1789, he commissioned the Italian architect Francesco Saverio Fabri to build an episcopal palace in Faro and many churches (including S Maria, Tavira) as well as to work on other projects in Faro including the Arco da Vila (...

[Cappellari, Bartolommeo Alberto]

(b Belluno, Sept 18, 1765; elected 1831; d Rome, June 1, 1846).

Italian pope and patron. The son of a lawyer, he entered the strict Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine Order. He became a professor of science and philosophy at the monastery of S Michele, on the island of Murano, Venice, in 1790 and was also noted for his knowledge of East Asian languages. In 1805 he became abbot of S Gregorio al Celio in Rome, in 1807 Procurator-General of the Camaldolese, in 1814 Vicar-General of the Camaldolese and in 1826 a cardinal. As a patron of art Gregory XVI made a significant contribution to the expansion and organization of the Vatican collections. He encouraged archaeological research and excavation in and around Rome and founded a museum at S Giovanni in Laterano to accommodate the new finds, although in 1963 these were transferred to the Museo Gregoriano Profano in the Vatican. In 1837 he founded the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco in the Vatican and in ...