Italian, 19th century, male.
Born 1836, in Naples; died 1868, in Florence.
Painter. Genre scenes, portraits, church interiors, architectural views, landscapes, seascapes.
Macchiaioli Group.
Giuseppe Abbati was one of the interesting figures of the new Italian School. He trained under his father Vincenzo Abatti, a Neapolitan painter. He then went to work at the school of fine arts in Venice. In ...
[Abū Mīnā]
Site of a Christian city and pilgrimage centre in the Maryūt Desert, c. 45 km south-west of Alexandria, Egypt. It grew up around the shrine of St Menas, who was martyred during the persecution of the Christians instigated by Diocletian (reg 285–305). The ancient name of the site is not known, and the position of the saint’s grave had been long forgotten until, according to legend, several miracle cures led to its rediscovery. The place then quickly developed into an increasingly major centre of pilgrimage where, among other things, the so-called Menas ampules were manufactured as pilgrim flasks and achieved particular renown. The first excavations of the site were undertaken by Kaufmann in 1905–7. Further excavations have been directed successively by the Coptic Museum in Cairo (1951), Schläger (1963 and 1964), Wolfgang Müller-Wiener (1965–7) and Peter Grossmann (since 1969).
The earliest archaeological remains date to the late 4th century, although the grave itself was in an older hypogeum. The first martyrium basilica erected over the grave dates to the first half of the 5th century and was rapidly enlarged by various reconstructions and extensions. Around the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries, the Great Basilica was added to the east in the form of a transept-basilica, making it the largest church in Egypt (...
Benedictine abbey on the River Enns in Styria, Austria. It was founded in the mid-11th century by Bishop Gebhard from Salzburg, endowed by St Henna von Gurk, Gräfin von Friessach (d 1045), and settled by Benedictine monks from St Peter’s, Salzburg under Abbot Isingrin. The Romanesque minster (consecrated 1074), which was dedicated to St Blaise, was famous for its marble columns and was rebuilt after a fire in 1152; a Gothic choir was added in 1276–86. The present church incorporates Romanesque side doors as well as other fragments. The abbey became an important cultural centre with a renowned scriptorium. Amongst the many famous scholars there was Abbot Engelbert of Admont (reg 1297–1327). From 1121 to the 16th century a convent was attached to the abbey. Under the abbots Mathias Preininger (reg 1615–28) and Urban Weber (reg 1628–59) the whole establishment was transformed in the Baroque style, and the church was rebuilt (...
Flemish, 16th century, male.
Active in Amsterdam in 1553.
Died 1575.
Painter, draughtsman. Architectural views, church interiors.
Flemish School.
Hendrick Aerts painted and decorated church interiors, one of which was engraved by J. Londerseel.
London, 1 Dec 1978: Interior of an Imaginary Cathedral during a Procession...
Italian, 16th century, male.
Active from 1511 to 1540.
Born in Sassoferrato (Ancona); died, in Cupramontana (Ancona).
Painter, sculptor, architect. Religious subjects.
Many of Pietro Paolo Agabiti's paintings decorate the churches of his native town. Santa Maria del Piano has a Virgin with St Catherine and St John the Baptist...
Island on Lake Van in south-eastern Turkey. It is the site of the church of the Holy Cross (Sourb Khatch), which was built in
According to information in a text of the late 18th century or early 19th and an inscription on the building’s façade now hidden by a gavit’ or assembly hall (1793; see Armenia, Republic of, §II), the church was built by the King’s Armenian architect Manuel (Lalayan, 1910). An anonymous continuator of the 10th-century ...
Italian, 15th century, male.
Born 1418, in Florence; died before 1498, in Perugia.
Sculptor, architect. Religious subjects.
Florentine School, Perugian School.
The son of the weaver Antonio di Duccio, Agostino d'Antonio di Duccio produced works in marble and terracotta of the Della Robbia type. His earliest known works are four low reliefs in Modena Cathedral. While living in Florence in ...
Site of an obscure Early Christian settlement formerly known as Kilclispeen (St Crispin’s Church) in Co. Tipperary, Ireland. The only remains are two outstanding stone crosses and the base of a third (c. 750–900), which are situated in a graveyard below the village. The crosses belong to a well-defined regional group and were constructed of three characteristic elements: a square base with sloping sides, a shaft with an unusually wide ring and a peculiar, rather ill-fitting, conical cap (the latter missing on the south cross). With its capstone, the north cross measures 3.7 m in height. The form of the Ahenny crosses is emphasized by a bold cable ornament along the outer contours. Projecting from the main faces are sculpted bosses, the most prominent feature of the ‘Ahenny school’. The ring and shaft of the crosses are covered with dense patterns of carved ornament, including interlace, spirals, frets, entangled beasts and interlocking men. Much of this decoration can be compared with the metalwork and manuscript illumination of the period, and it appears that the sculptors were in effect transposing altar or processional crosses into stone. With the addition of pigment, the analogy with metalwork would have been complete. In contrast to the shafts and rings, the bases bear figure sculpture in low relief. That on the north cross is best preserved and represents Adam and Eve with the animals in the Garden of Eden, a chariot procession (a theme repeated on other Irish crosses), seven ecclesiastics (possibly symbolizing Christ’s mission to the Apostles) and an enigmatic funeral procession with a headless corpse....
German, 19th century, male.
Born 1807, in Munich; died December 1870.
Painter, designer (stained glass), draughtsman. Figures, church interiors, architectural views.
He first studied architecture at the academy in Munich. His designs for ornamentation enabled him to get a job as a designer at the Nymphenburg royal porcelain works. Ainmiller was, however, not to be confined to such secondary employment. His aptitude for glass painting soon manifested itself in experiments, then in more substantial works that brought his talent to the fore. Ainmiller's stained glass can be seen in cathedrals in Regensburg, Speyer, Cologne and St Paul's in London. Geissler engraved ...
Russian, 20th century, male.
Active in France.
Born 18 February 1912, in Baku.
Painter, watercolourist, draughtsman, engraver, decorative designer. Religious subjects, figures, nudes, scenes with figures, landscapes, seascapes, architectural views, still-lifes, animals. Designs for tapestries, designs for mosaics, murals, church decoration.
A self-taught artist of Armenian origin, George Akopian went to France in ...
[Koca Kalesi]
Early Christian monastery on the southern slopes of the Taurus Mountains in Isauria, part of the Roman province of Cilicia in south-western Turkey. It is some 300 m above the main road between Silifke (anc. Seleucia) and Konya (anc. Iconium), 21 km north of Mut (anc. Claudiopolis). From two funerary inscriptions, pottery and coins, the monastery may be securely dated to the reigns of two Isaurian emperors, Leo (reg
The monastery was originally founded in a series of caves in a limestone outcrop at the west end of a narrow mountain ledge. The largest of these caves contained two rock-cut churches. The ledge was later enlarged by quarrying to the north and by the construction of a retaining wall to the south. The earliest building, immediately to the east of the caves, was the three-aisled Basilica. It was originally lavishly decorated, both inside and out, with architectural sculpture in a flowing naturalistic style, including plant forms, birds and fishes; figures occur only on the jambs and lintel of the main doorway between the narthex and the central aisle. On the west side of the lintel is a head of Christ set in a circle supported by angels, and at each end of the lintel and on the doorposts are four busts in high relief, possibly of the Evangelists. On the inner faces of the jambs are full-length figures of the archangels Michael and Gabriel in flat relief, while on the underside of the lintel is a remarkable relief of the four ...
Italian, 17th century, male.
Active in Vicenza and in Venice, during the first half of the 17th century.
Sculptor. Religious subjects. Statues.
Brother of Girolamo Albanese. Worked on various architectural projects and, in particular, produced five marble statues that adorn the façade of S Giorgio Maggiore in Venice....
Italian, 17th – 18th century, male.
Sculptor, founder, designer of ornamental architectural features. Religious subjects.
London, 3 May 1977: Baptismal Fonts (bronze, h. 14¼ ins/36.5 cm, diam. 17 ins/43.2 cm) GBP 12,000
Italian, 13th century, male.
Active in Modena.
Sculptor. Religious subjects.
The son of Anselme and the nephew of Arrigo, Alberto da Campione was employed as an architect in the building of Modena Cathedral until after 1244.
Italian, 17th century, male.
Born 1632, in Bologna; died 9 February 1677, in Bologna.
Painter, fresco artist. Religious subjects, architectural views.
Studied initially under Domenico Santi, then under Agostino Mitelli, whose daughter he married. He painted historical subjects, but his reputation rests more securely on his frescoes and architectural paintings. The church of S Petronio in Bologna houses his ...
Cistercian abbey in Portugal. The abbey, dedicated to S Maria, was founded as part of the policy of repopulation and territorial improvement of the first king of Portugal, Alfonso I (reg 1139–85), who in 1152 granted a large area of land to St Bernard of Clairvaux by a charter known as the Carta dos Coutos (Lisbon, Arquiv. N.). Work on the monastery started in 1158 and adhered to the rigid precepts of the Order. Although the exterior was extended and altered in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the Baroque façade of the church, the interior essentially preserves its original Early Gothic appearance.
W. Beckford: Recollections of an Excursion to the Monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha (London, 1835/R 1972) M. V. Natividade: Ignez de Castro e Pedro o Cru perante a iconografia dos seus túmulos (Lisbon, 1910) E. Korrodi: Alcobaça: Estudo histórico, arqueológico e artístico da Real Abadia de Alcobaça...German, 16th century, male.
Born 1502, in Paderborn (Westphalia); died c. 1558, in Soest.
Painter, designer of ornamental architectural features, engraver. Religious subjects, portraits.
Some biographers cite Heinrich Aldegrever's birthplace as the town of Paderborn, Germany, where his parents lived, while others claim it as Soest. He certainly lived in Soest after having completed his studies. In his study of the 'Little Masters' (so called because they engraved mostly small plates), Albert Rosemberg disputes that he studied under Dürer. Rosemburg even claims that he had never been to Nuremberg, despite van Melder's confirmation that Aldegrever worked at the high altar of a church in the town. It is indisputable, however, that Dürer strongly influenced him. Other artists who influenced him are Barthel Beham and Georg Pencz....
French, 18th century, male.
Born 1679, in Paris; died February 1748, in Paris.
Painter. Religious subjects, landscapes, architectural views.
Gabriel's father Étienne was his only teacher, passing on both his good and bad qualities. He exhibited at the Salon de Paris from 1737 to 1747...
