Viewing Inscriptions in the Late Antique and Medieval WorldAntony Eastmond Inscriptions convey meaning not just by their contents but also by other means, such as choice of script, location, scale, spatial organisation, letterform, legibility and clarity. The essays in this book consider these visual qualities of inscriptions, ranging across the Mediterranean and the Near East from Spain to Iran and beyond, including Norman Sicily, Islamic North Africa, Byzantium, medieval Italy, Georgia and Armenia. While most essays focus on Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, they also look back at Achaemenid Iran and forward to Mughal India. Topics discussed include real and pseudo-writing, multilingual inscriptions, graffiti, writing disguised as images and images disguised as words. From public texts set up on mountainsides or on church and madrasa walls to intimate craftsmen's signatures, barely visible on the undersides of precious objects, the inscriptions discussed in this volume reveal their meanings as textual and visual devices. |
Contents
The Materiality of Devotional Graffiti | 36 |
Aghlabid and Fatimid | 61 |
Viewing Inscriptions in Medieval | 76 |
five PseudoArabic Inscriptions and the Pilgrims Path | 99 |
seven Intercession and Succession Enlightenment | 148 |
Multilingualism in Medieval | 170 |
Words as Visual Signs in | 187 |
Civic Memory and Monumental | 205 |
Craftsmens Signatures | 230 |
ReViewing Inscriptions | 249 |
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Achaemenid Aghlabid Alfonso ancient Antony Eastmond Arabic inscriptions architectural Armenian Bisotun building Byzantine caliph Canepa Cappella Palatina carved cathedral ceiling central Chapter Christian commemorated courtyard cult cultural Darius decoration dome early epigraphic epigraphic practices epitaphs fac¸ade Fatimid Fernando foundation inscription Genoa Genoese Georgian graffiti Greek h.ad¯ıth Holy Hosios Loukas icon images inscribed Iran Iranian Islamic Art ivory ıw¯an Jacopo Jacopo da Varagine Janus Jim´enez Kairouan king kufic Kumurdo language late antique Latin legible letters Madrasa medieval Memoria Apostolorum memory monastery monumental inscriptions mosque motifs Muhammad muqarnas Muslim Naqsh-e Rostam nave Noravank north church one’s painted palace Palermo patron Persian Photo prayer presented programme Prophet pseudo-Arabic pseudo-inscriptions Qaratay Qaratay Madrasa Qur’anic relief Resafa ritual royal sacred San Lorenzo Sasanian script Seleucid Seljuk Sevilla Seville Shabuhr signatures south wall space Tao-Klarjeti tion tomb tympanum viewers visual words writing written Zirid