[‛Abbasid]
Islamic dynasty that ruled from several capitals in Iraq between
Article
Robert Hillenbrand
Article
Jane Geddes
Deluxe manuscript (Aberdeen, U. Lib., MS. 24) made in England around 1200. It is remarkable for its lavish illustrations, amply covered in gold leaf; for the wealth of its codicological data and for its close relationship to the Ashmole Bestiary. The book was left unfinished, so sketches and the detailed instructions for its colouring and assembly remain visible. The last few pages were completed in the 14th century. The book begins with a Creation cycle of full-page miniatures culminating in Adam Naming the Animals and Christ in Majesty. A portrait or narrative illustration of each animal precedes every text description.
The manuscript contains the press mark of King Henry VIII’s library, mainly assembled after the dissolution of the monasteries, but its provenance before 1542 is not known. Muratova (1986, pp. 118–144) uses cumulative information from a group of related manuscripts to suggest a provenance in the north-east Midlands; Geddes (...
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Active in Pianella during the second half of the 12th century.
Sculptor.
According to an inscription, this artist made the throne in S Angelo, Pranella.
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Active probably active in Montamiata.
Miniaturist, calligrapher.
Tuscan School.
Adalbert collaborated in the writing and decoration of a Bible in four or five volumes for the Carthusian library in Calci, near Pisa, which was left by Cardinal Nicola di Prato to the Dominican monastery of Viterbo in ...
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Sculptor, architect.
According to an inscription, this artist worked on the columns of the crypt of S Zeno, Verona.
Article
French, 12th century, male.
Miniaturist.
According to a document preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, Ademar was a monk in a monastery in Limoges.
Article
A. Gerhardt
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 (...
Article
German, 12th century, female.
Born 12th century.
Miniaturist.
A nun and the daughter of the Margrave Arnold von Meissen, Agnes was abbess of Quedlinburg from 1184 to 1203, and during this time she proved herself a distinguished miniaturist. A Gospel Book, of which she may have painted the initials, is attributed to her....
Article
French, 12th century, male.
Miniaturist.
According to an inscription on a 12th-century bible (Paris), Aimardus worked on a liber floratum containing the Legend of St Martial of Limoges.
Article
Abbas Daneshvari
[Alamūt]
Mountainous valley in Iran, 35 km north-east of Qazvin, and the name of one of the fortresses that defended the valley. From 1090 to 1261 it was the main headquarters of the Nizari branch of the Isma‛ili Shi‛ites, a religious community organized on a military basis. Their rigid hierarchy, esoteric practices and use of terrorism encouraged the development of romantic tales about them. Reputed to use hashish, they became known in the West as ‘Assassins’ (Arab. hashhīshiyyīn). Like all Isma‛ili fortresses, Alamut is strategically located on rocky heights and has an elaborate storage system for water and provisions so that the fortress was never taken by force. It consists of two parts: a higher and larger western fort and an eastern one.
Enc. Iran. F. Stark: The Valley of the Assassins (London, 1934) W. Ivanow: Alamut and Lamasar (Tehran, 1950) P. Willey: The Castles of the Assassins (London, 1963)...Article
French, 12th century, male.
Active in St-Denis.
Mosaicist.
Among the fragments of mosaic from St-Denis now in the Musée de Cluny there is one that carries the inscription: Hoc presbyter Albericus nobile fecit opus ( The priest Albericus made this noble work). These fragments are a unique example of the use of glass mosaic in monumental decoration....
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Sculptor. Monuments.
Lombard School.
This artist was the sculptor, with his son Petrus, of one of the stone crucifixes in S Petronio, Bologna (1159). The work is a perfect example of the characteristics of Lombardian modelling in the 12th century....
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Sculptor.
This artist was probably working between 1190 and 1200.
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Born c. 1103, in Reggio nell'Emilia.
Painter.
This artist's date of birth has been established by documents from the archives of S Prospero found in Reggio.
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Sculptor.
This artist's name is found in the file of a legal case between the Chapter of Pisa Cathedral and the Gualandi family in the 12th century. The document is not dated but is thought to have been written in 1183...
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Miniaturist.
This artist was paid in Pisa in 1169 for having collaborated in the decoration of a Bible at the Charterhouse of Calci, near Pisa.
Article
French, 12th century, male.
Illuminator.
Burgundy School.
A certain Albertus, a native of Trier (Trèves), is mentioned among the abbots of the monastery of Cluny between 1109 and 1122 under the name of Pontius, and between 1122 and 1157 as Pierre. He worked at the same time as Opizon on an extraordinary Bible, the binding of which was encrusted with precious stones and which was kept in the library of Cluny. This magnificent book is no longer in existence, but we can assume that it was one of the masterpieces of this highly original school of which Cluny was the centre in the 12th century....
Article
Italian, 12th century, male.
Painter. Religious subjects.
This artist is said to have painted a Romanesque crucifix in the cathedral of Spoleto. It is signed: Opus Albertini Sotti, 1187.
Article
W. A. P. Marr
Buddhist monastery in a small valley on the left bank of the River Indus, c. 64 km west of Leh in Ladakh, India. Tradition attributes the monastery’s origin to the Tibetan scholar and temple-builder Rinchen Sangpo (
Ringed by a wall and votive chortens (stupas), the religious enclave (Tib. chökhor) comprises three entrance chortens, a number of shrines and temples, the Dukhang (assembly hall) with its courtyard and monastic dwellings (see Tibet §II, and Indian subcontinent: Architecture from the 11th–16th centuries...
