Phyllis Williams Lehmann

Theodosius or Justinian? A Renaissance Drawing of a Byzantine Rider

AMONG the manuscripts presented to the Budapest University Library in 1877 by Sultan Abd ul-Hamid II was a fifteenth century codex containing excerpts from miscellaneous classical authors.1 On the next to the last folio, 144.V, it has been embellished with a full-page sketch of an equestrian figure drawn in sepia ink, its heavily shaded contours and inscriptions executed with a pen, its broader areas washed in with a brush (Fig. 1).2 An imperial rider sits astride a quaint steed, his right hand raised in a gesture of greeting or admonition, his left supporting an orb topped by a cross. He wears a cuirass and a military cloak over his short chiton, half-boots, and a mighty crown of feathers rising from his diadem. His eager horse has neither harness nor cloth but bears traces of a now reinless bridle.

Alberti and Antiquity: Additional Observations

This article discusses the facades of two of Albertis churches: S. Maria Novella in Florence and S. Sebastiano in Mantua. In addition to the long-established influence of the Baptistery of S. Giovanni and of S. Miniato al Monte on S. Maria Novella, it is likely that the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Forum Romanum, the adjacent Basilica Aemilia, and the Pantheon underlie the design of the lower portion of its facade. The facade of S. Sebastiano, known to have reflected the Arch at Orange, now appears dependent on yet another monument in Orange, the stage building in that city. The implication of this suggestion is that Alberti had visited Provence in the course of his earlier travels in France.

The Basilica Aemilia and S. Biagio at Montepulciano

The church of the Madonna di 5. Biagio at Montepulciano, begun by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder in 1518 and consecrated by Clement VII in 1529, has long been considered a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture.1 The beauty of its location on a terrace outside the hilly city overlooking the landscape of southern Tuscany (Figs. 1, 2), the purity of its composition, the bold severity of its style have been repeatedly noted. Its dome has been hailed as “the first of the great Cinquecento domes to be completed.”2

Samothracian Reflections. Aspects of the Revival of the Antique

These three essays were inspired by the Samothracian discoveries. Cyriacus of Anconas visit to the island and his assessment of what he saw are the subject of the opening essay. This is followed by the first detailed and comprehensive analysis of Mantegnas Parnassus, a painting which Mrs. Lehmann suggests reflects in its theme and imagery the use of a limited number of ancient sculptures and texts. The final essay is a discussion of the postclassical transformation of the iconographic type of the ancient ship-fountain.