The Griffin, the Fleur-de-Lis and the Greek Cross: transcultural relations in a 13th-century sepulchral panel

• Grant number: 21/03007-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Art Fundamentals and Criticism
• Principal Investigator: Flavia Galli Tatsch
• Grantee: Camila Palaio Martorelli
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to understand the connections and shares between the different medieval communities from the methodological contributions stimulated by the "Global Turn" in the History of Art. The project will start from the Byzantine sepulchral panel of a Griffin, belonging to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2000.8d1). Dated 1250-1300 and found in the region of Greece or the Balkans, the central figure of the panel presents iconographic elements that point to the cross-cultural relations of that period: the Griffin (of Persian origin), the Fleur-de-lys (French royal sign) ) and small Greek crosses - which give the object real character and Christian use. Thus, the research aims to: 1) the encounter between the Griffin imaginary as guardian of the dead and the symbols of French royalty and the Christian faith, 2) the circulation and resignification of the Griffin iconography in the objects and materialities of the period, 3) the survey of social, cultural and territorial interactions in a region that is rarely privileged in medieval Brazilian studies. (AU)