Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 11-23
The article deals with the classification and birth of ekfrasis in Ancient Greece, then with some examples of ekfrasis from Greek and Roman literature. After the presentation of Philostratus the Elder's Eikones, which depicts paintings of a villa in Naples, the article focuses on reflections of this matter in the Renaissance period when the art of "the complete description" became a basic element of paragone between Antiquity and the Renaissance, between the literary Art and painting.
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 25-49
The topic of this article is the reflection of the prominent Italian artists' work in the iconography of stucco reliefs on the ceiling of villa Star in Prague in 1556-1562. Although a style of these reliefs imitates Antique patterns, the majority of them was created in the first half of the sixteen century. In spite of the fact that the reliefs represent Antique themes and look "Antiquely", the detailed analysis shows that their sense has been transformed. These shifts in the meaning are significant for the reconstruction of the ideological programme of Star, but since now, nobody has paid them the attention. When analysing the iconography of the Star's...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 51-61
The humanistic poetry is always connected with allusions to the Antique mythology. In the short epic Vita divi Pauli Eremitae of the humanistic scholar Valentinus Ecchius it ly plays a role of conventional symbols, however the majority of them is a bearer of an original meaning (e.g. the god Apollo - Phoebe is mentioned in the epos repeatedly, but every time in a different connotation such as a symbol of light, knowledge, virtue). Theonyms, hydronyms and toponyms, antonomasia and metaphors used in the poem, serves as a proof of author's erudition, strengthens the poetics of the text and at the same time codes its hidden sense. Their revealing helps...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 63-92
The reception of Antique-style forms, which were the ground of early Renaissance architectural sculpture (ca. 1490-1550), appeared in Moravia within Central Europe soon in 1490s. It was influenced by the political connection of Moravia and Hungary where the local king Matthias Corvinus supported Renaissance art through his various orders. The first appearance of early Renaissance art was a decoration of Tovačov Castle around the year 1492 that was created for the Moravian Hetman of that time, Ctibor Tovačovský of Cimburk. At the same time, Renaissance architectural sculptures also appeared in the castle in Moravská Třebová, where they were ordered...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 93-108
When Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, established the Order of the Golden Fleece at the occasion of his third marriage with Princess Isabella of Portugal in 1430, he gave no explanation why he chose this theme. However, the Burgundian dynasty loved the theme of the Argonauts. At the occasion of the proclamation of the Statutes of the Order in 1431, however, the first Chancellor of the Order, bishop Jehan Germain, identified the fleece with the fleece of the biblical judge Gideon (Judges 6, 37). From the chronicle of the Burgundian writer Olivier de la Marche we know that this was his own interpretation. The article discusses the background of both...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 109-121
During the Renaissance period Greek Antiquity emerged again and enormously vividly in the West, and so off Byzantium. Along with other pieces of work, Herodotus returned to the West once more. What was his acceptance among humanists, what played an important role? The essential questions of this paper may be summarized in that way. The research of various humanists' work has showed that Herodotus' work was positively accepted during Humanism in general. However, it seemed to be that the number of his defences, which emerged in that era, demonstrates the huge period critique. Apologies have not been the manifest of a scholarly dispute among humanists,...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 123-134
The article deals with a reflection of ancient Greek and Roman exempla and quotations in renaissance postils of main Czech denominations. The using of the ancient passages was influenced by two contradictory impacts: on one hand, there was the humanistic inclination to the ancient culture and its heritage and on other hand, prescriptions for composition of sermons and its theological and catechetic clarity. Two differential tendencies may be found: postils written by members of Unitas fratrum (Jan Kapita and Ondřej Štefan) as well as the Roman Catholic Tomáš Bavorovský accepted sacral prescriptions and omitted nearly all ancient passages. On the contrary,...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 135-163
The Rosenberg hunting villa Kratochvíle near Netolice was originated after 1582/1583 for the most significant representative of the Czech estates, the High Burgrave William of Rosenberg. The author of a project was Baldassar Maggi of Arogno, the area situated on Italian-Swiss borders, in the region of Ticino. The finishing of painted (Georg Widman of Brunšvik) and stucco (Antonio da Melano, a locality near Arogno) decorations took place before and around the year 1590. Kratochvíle started to breathe new life in this period which was most likely connected with another marriage of William with Polyxena of Pernstein in 1587; it meant the last chance for...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 165-175
The article deals with the "second life" of Apuleius' Metamorphoses in the Renaissance period. The attention is paid to the allegorical interpretation of the tale of Cupid and Psyche from ancient authors (Fulgentius, Martianus Capella) till Renaissance (Beroaldo, Boccaccio), Beroaldo's Commentary to the Metamorphoses and Boccaccios transformation of Apuleius' novels from the book X to his Decameron. The Renaissance period established all the main approaches to the Apuleius as we can meet in our present day: the allegorical and symbolic explanation and the evaluation of his literary style. It also opened a discussion about his literary qualities and...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 177-186
The aim of this paper is to deal with three homiletic virtues - comitas (kindness), veracitas (truthfulness) and urbanitas (ingenuity). In the first part, the author aims at a definition of these terms at Ancient writers and in the Middle Ages to be able to specify in a detail how discussed terms were perceived in neo-Latin literature. Except for Ancient authorities, she also uses younger writings that are focused on this matter. A deeper analysis is applied for the ethical disputation from 1642 that concerns itself with three mentioned virtues in human communication.
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 187-202
Bacchus has been substantiated with a range of written, literary and material sources. As early as in the Renaissance period he spread into the life of all social classes. Originally a Greek god of fertility was perceived such as a king of all drunkards. He attracted the most attention in folk culture where he led carnival processions.
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 203-219
A study deals with a comparison of Ancient Roman comedy palliata and Renaissance commedia erudita. After stating terms, authors and artistic or non-artistic rules, these conclusions are applied to one example of both types of comedies. In the case of palliata, Aulularia by Plautus will be discussed and erudita will be represented by La Cassaria by Ariosto. On the basis of given examples, it will be demonstrated that in spite of differences in author's status, target theatre audience or theatre surroundings, both types of comedies confirm period social structure in society. According to Aristotle's description of a social role of a master, a slave and...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 221-236
The author of this paper focuses on a presentation of Ancient books in the private library of the bishop Zachariáš Mošovský (1542-1587). Zachariáš Mošovský belonged to prominent personalities of the religious life in Hungary in the 16th century and was a known bibliophile. During his life, he collected up to 900 titles into his library, where were various codices, incunables and rare prints of the 16th century. In the opening part, the author analysed a story of a library's reconstruction because books have been scattered into many domestic and foreign libraries due to heritage proceedings. The result of this heuristic work is presented by a monograph...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 237-267
A unique map of the world, Tabula Peutingeriana, is called after the German humanist Konrad Peutinger, who became its owner in 1508. The article firstly focuses on basic characteristics of the map, a date of its origin and causes of making the Ancient original. According to different views of various scholars (O. A. W. Dilke, R. J. A. Talbert, B. Salway, E. Weber), it came into existence in the period of the 4th-5th century either from practical reasons such as a tool for travellers (O. A. W. Dilke, K. Brodersen) or it was publicly displayed and served for propagandistic goals of Rome (R. J. A. Talbert). It is impossible to trace more accurate time...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 269-279
The influence of Ancient culture is evident in various periods of Spanish literature. Interesting writings are primarily those ones, which are incompatible in a genre at the first sight. One of the examples is a piece of work of the Spanish dramatist Lope de Rueda Las Aceitunas, which is a one-act play with traces of humour and irony and in the same time they refer to a certain moral message. The artistic account of the author captivates the attention by the fact that it makes reference to a fable in a certain manner. A similar publication in its pure form may be found at Aesop. In a fable called The Athenian Debtor, he points out human vices in a...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 281-289
The paper deals with Ovid's iconography in Renaissance art in Bohemia and Moravia. On several examples, it demonstrates the influence of various illustrated editions of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Virgil Solis, Henrik Goltzius, Crispijn de Passe, Antonio Tempesta and the others). On the basis of these comparisons, the study tries to show on the limited sample that precise formal comparisons with graphic cycles, which may arouse the question of effectiveness of such an attitude, have a reason. However, only after determining the accurate sample it may push forward the other inquiries: It can be useful not only for specifying the popularity of individual graphic...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 291-303
The Golden House was forgotten until the end of the 15th century when its accidental discovery typically interconnected Antiquity with the Renaissance period. Frescoes, called grottesche, became a phenomenon that influenced not only Renaissance artists, but also other generations of painters, sculptors, philosophers and writers. Primarily Raphael's contemporaries, were so charmed by grotesques from comprehensible reasons that they made a range of unique pieces of art, especially Renaissance loggias, such as Logge di Raffaello, Loggia di Amore e Psiche or Loggia Mattei, through which it may be seen adopting new patterns of wall paintings coming from...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 305-313
Medea's story has been resonating in European literature primarily thanks to the popularity of the Ovid's epic and Seneca's dramatic work in all ages, nevertheless writings of early Humanists have not been the exception. The article deals with two different period attitudes towards the mentioned Ancient matter - Medea in works De claris mulieribus by Giovanni Boccaccio and Le Livre de la Cité des Dames by Christine de Pizan. Although works close in terms of time are concerned and Christine de Pizan is directly inspired by her Italian predecessor, their depicting of a Colchian princess diametrically differs.
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 315-333
The paper diversely discusses how humanistic scholars, who worked in the literary field of the Prague University in the second half of the 16th and at the beginning of the 17th century, treated Ancient texts. In the opening part, the author briefly introduces some of these methods typical for Czech university Humanism, e. g. so-called excerpt reading, combinatorial writing and editorial practise for school requirements. Then, she focuses on how Matthaeus Collinus worked with Ancient texts in his uniquely preserved manuscript Specimen studii ac laborum (1557) that is outstanding except for excerpt reading also because of the ethical explanation in a...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 335-350
The article deals with the influence of Lucian on works of Italian authors in the period of Humanism and Renaissance (15th-16th century). As soon as the knowledge of Lucian's dialogues began to spread in Italy thanks to teaching of the Greek language, known (Alberti, Pontano, Boiardo) and less known writers (Vegio, Rorario, Collenuccio, Valagussa) started to use Lucian's forms and motifs in their works. As regards formal aspects, they adopted especially a form of a vivid, natural and semi-dramatic dialogue, a sketch story, a setting in imaginary regions (the underworld and Olympus), mixing of human and divine figures from Lucian; and as for a content...
Historica Olomucensia vol. S1 (2014), 351-375
Almost all visual allegorical iconographical programmes of early modern period are connected with Ancient literary and theatre topoi. Their development is related to the development of systems of virtues and vices that are closely interconnected with literary sources. In early modern period they frequently correspond to the area of so-called moral philosophy, mnemonics and emblematics. As early as in the 14th century Francesco Petrarca specified basic limits of this trend. In the 16th century names such as Erasmus of Rotterdam, Juan Luis Vives and Sebastian Brant are necessary to mention as well as personalities connected with reformation (Martin Luther,...
