All Resources

Renaissance Polychrome Sculpture in Tuscany

https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/handle/1974/14832

Renaissance Polychrome Sculpture in Tuscany is an open-access database of high-resolution photographs of and information (with a catalog entry and bibliography for each sculpture) about over 350 objects. Thousands of photographs are freely available for download and can be used without charge in research, teaching, and publication. An interactive digital map, colour coded by material, shows the current location of each object. The database would be of interest to scholars and students of art, materials and techniques, miraculous images, portraiture, gender representations, domestic devotion, altarpieces, hagiography, the history of childhood, orphanages, hospitals, pilgrimages, color, the surface or skin of an object, and other topics. (This database was created by Una D’Elia, Heather Merla, Rachel Boyd, and Bronwyn Bond, working with a team of librarians at Queen’s University, headed by Rosarie Coughlin.)

François de Billon (1522–1564+), Dissertation by Dr. Marianne S. Meijer (1926–2019)

https://petruscamper.com/billon.htm

This [1972] dissertation is the first study devoted to François de Billon and his book “Le Fort inexpugnable de l’honneur du sexe femenin” (1555), though his name crops up in works on feminism as a strong defender of women and the historian of the “Querelle des Femmes”. Billon serves as the basis for Abel Lefranc’s judgment that Rabelais was the misogynist par excellence, and that the “Tiers Livre” is Rabelais’s participation in the “Querelle des Femmes” (1904). This view has been disputed in recent years, and a closer study of Billon should elucidate this question.

A careful analysis of this work, aided by research of biographical and historical nature, shows that the prime interest of Billon was not a defense of women but a defense of secretaries and particularly those working in the interest of the Kingdom of France. Convinced that women and secretaries both suffer from unjustified contempt, and that they should be judged according to their individual merit, Billon joins the party of the defenders of women in the hope they in turn will help his own kind. By ignoring the last third part of the book, devoted to the greatness of France, and the divine mission of the King of France and his helpers (his secretaries), critics have overlooked Billon’s real interest: his belief in the prophecies of Guillaume Postel and his fervent patriotism. His adherence to the ideas of Postel and his admiration for him explain his antagonism to Rabelais, giving it a very personal slant and disqualifying him as an objective judge of Rabelais’s ideas. This study shows that even though Billon understands the essence of women’s griefs, he is no historian of the “Querelle” and is a participant only in so far that he believes all human beings should be judged on their merit instead of their birth, thus expressing some aspirations of the educated bourgeoisie and the rising class of fonctionnaires. This conviction results in interesting commentaries on events and persons of his times that lead the modern reader to a better understanding of 16th-century society.

Slavery and Visual Culture Working Group (University of Chicago)

https://voices.uchicago.edu/slavicult/

The Working Group on Slavery and Visual Culture is an interdisciplinary forum created to discuss research related to images of slavery and the slave trade as well as the creation and use of images and objects by enslaved peoples and slaveholders. Our aim is to explore the multivalent relationship between slavery and visual cultures, examining themes such as visuality and memory of the slave trade; the role of the gaze and surveillance in slave societies and societies with slaves; regional comparisons of visual regimes associated with slavery; visual culture’s connection to racialized regimes of slavery; and the roles played by self-fashioning and the accumulation of visual capital by the enslaved.

Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora

http://www.slaveryimages.org/s/slaveryimages/page/welcome

The images in Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora have been selected from a wide range of sources, most of them dating from the period of slavery. Our growing collection currently has over 1,200 images. This website is envisioned as a tool and a resource that can be used by teachers, researchers, students, and the general public – in brief, anyone interested in the experiences of Africans who were enslaved and transported to the Americas and the lives of their descendants in the slave societies of the New World.

Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa

https://caravansofgold.org/

This is the companion website for the “Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa” The site includes in-depth information about the Caravans of Gold exhibition, including images and information about key objects and artworks from the exhibition, interviews with experts, and resources to support teaching and learning.”

Dubrovnik: Civitas et Acta Consiliorum – Visualizing Development of the Late Medieval Urban Fabric

https://ducac.ipu.hr/project/

The DUCAC project – “Dubrovnik Civitas et Acta Consiliorum. Visualizing Development of the Late Medieval Urban Fabric” studied the relationships between the space-policy of the Dubrovnik government, its implementation, and the real changes in the urban fabric. The archival investigation examined the deliberations of the city councils (the Major, the Minor, and the Senate) from the first half of the 15th century. These deliberations are written down in 35 volumes. They have 7,972 folia, i.e. 15,944 pages, written predominantly in Latin. Focusing on topics of interest to art historians, the deliberations revealing information on the urban fabric – more precisely information about its construction, use, maintenance, as well as the management of these processes, were transcribed. The number of the total counted transcribed deliberations is 3341. They are offered in a map searchable database where deliberations can be found in accordance with the location of the building or the space they record. Only some of these newly discovered documents were thoroughly studied so far, comparing the data from the deliberations with the existing urban tissue and previously collected architectural, photographic, and archival documentation. These studies resulted in 2D or 3D visualizations, and are duly listed on the project web page. The database still offers abundant data for further in-depth research of Dubrovnik urban history.

Early Printed Books: Resources for Teaching and Learning

http://www.earlyprintedbooks.com/

Early Printed Books focuses on what was unique about books printed during the hand-press period in the West—those features particular to works printed between 1450, when the printing press began to be developed in Germany, and 1800, when the machine press began to take its place across the Western world.

Christina-Akademien: Web Resource on Queen Christina of Sweden

http://www.christina-akademien.se/

The Christina Academy is a forum for scientific, historical, and artistic research on Queen Christina. The purpose is to spread knowledge about Christina and her time, and stimulate conversation and exchange between anyone interested in the Queen. The website is a hub for current projects, a resource for scholars, and a public platform that makes information about Christina more accessible. The site also includes short essays on topics related to Queen Christina written by experts in the field as well as research resources, timelines, and educational tools. The group also sponsors events, lectures, and programming related to Queen Christina and her circle for members.