In this podcast, medieval art historian, Dr Stephanie Azzarello will explore several images that once belonged to a lavish series of choir books made for the Camaldolese monastery of San Mattia di Murano. Made in the early decades of the fifteenth century, this four-volume set contained the liturgical contents required for the monks to celebrate the Mass and Divine Office. Richly illuminated by two artists: Cristoforo Cortese and the so-called ‘Master of the Murano Gradual,’ these books were dismembered, and their images were sold as miniature paintings in the early nineteenth century, mostly in London. Dr. Azzarello will focus on three excised historiated initials that depict various miracle legends that appear to have their origins outside of Western Europe in places such as Egypt, Beirut and Jerusalem. The three miracles she will discuss are the so-called ‘Beirut Miracle,’ the ‘Matariya Bathing miracle’, and the miracle of the Holy House of Loreto. The discussion will also look at how the discipline of Art History is changing to reflect a more Global perspective and how it can advance even further in terms of historical, social, cultural, and geographical interconnectivity.
Stephanie Azzarello received her PhD in History of Art from the University of Cambridge in 2021 and has a Master of Medieval Studies from the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto. She specializes in medieval and early modern manuscripts from Italy, specifically Venice and Florence. She also works on monumental painting, such as frescos and altarpieces and more recently has begun a project that focuses on the depictions of non-Western and non-Christians in Trecento and Quattrocento Italy, particularly the interconnection of trade and travel routes. She currently holds a Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenze–Max-Planck-Institut, where she is developing this new project and converting her thesis into a manuscript.
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