Les objets en peinture : un exemple d’interobjectivité « matrimoniale »

Dans la peinture figurative, les objets perdent leur caractère de singularité pour assumer entre eux des relations de solidarité et de cohérence isotopique interobjective. L’analyse du diptyque de G. Metsu, Homme en train d’écrire une lettre et Dame en train de lire une lettre (1664), confirme cette hypothèse : les objets qui meublent les deux scènes concourent à produire un seul effet de sens. Dans le tableau consacré à la figure masculine, l’organisation des relations plastiques entre objets permet de déchiffrer le contenu de la lettre ; dans l’autre tableau, les objets servent à traduire les effets passionnels produits sur la jeune femme par l’arrivée de la lettre de son bien-aimé. Chaque objet de ce diptyque, même ceux de petite taille comme le dé, est renforcé par la mise en scène d’autres objets.The objects portrayed in figurative paintings loose their features of singular objects and enter into relation with other objects, creating a system, an isotopic coherence. The analysis of the diptych Homme en train d’écrire une lettre and Dame en train de lire une lettre (1664), by G. Metsu, confirms this hypothesis : all the objects are aimed at expressing the general meaning. In the first picture, the “ plastic ” relations between he represented objects suggest the content of the letter, while in the second, they disclose the passionate effects reading her lover’s letter causes in the woman. All the objects in this diptych, even those as small as a dice, complement each other in constituting a totality

Il manoscritto 99 di Ulisse Aldrovandi. Il programma iconografico della residenza di campagna

In the MS Bologna Biblioteca Universitaria 99 – here transcribed and published for the first time – Ulisse Aldrovandi proposes an iconographic project of his own design for his countryside villa. The manuscript is divided into two sections. The first, and most consistent section, deals with the first room of the villa, which is decorated with scenes from Homer’s Odyssey. The second section of the manuscript is dedicated to three spaces decorated with friezes containing emblems depicting animals and will serve as the principal focus of the present study. It is argued that the representations of these animals are closely paralleled in the watercolor plates that accompany Aldrovandi’s naturalistic treatises

RICOGNIZIONE DEI RESTI ATTRIBUITI AI SS. MAURO ED ELEUTERIO IN PARENZO, ISTRIA (26, 27 DICEMBRE 1982)

U Corrainovoj se radnji donose rezultati osteoloskog pregleda izvrsenog u cuvenoj poreckoj starokrséanskoj bazilici 1982.god. Radi se o relikvijama svetih Maura i Eleuterija, gradskih zastitnika, koje su Genovezani bili oteli 1354.god. i svecano su bile vraéene 1934.godine

RICOGNIZIONE DEI RESTI ATTRIBUITI AI SS. MAURO ED ELEUTERIO IN PARENZO, ISTRIA (26, 27 DICEMBRE 1982)

U Corrainovoj se radnji donose rezultati osteoloskog pregleda izvrsenog u cuvenoj poreckoj starokrséanskoj bazilici 1982.god. Radi se o relikvijama svetih Maura i Eleuterija, gradskih zastitnika, koje su Genovezani bili oteli 1354.god. i svecano su bile vraéene 1934.godine

Occurrence and identification of risk areas of Ixodes ricinus-borne pathogens: a cost-effectiveness analysis in north-eastern Italy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Ixodes ricinus</it>, a competent vector of several pathogens, is the tick species most frequently reported to bite humans in Europe. The majority of human cases of Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) occur in the north-eastern region of Italy. The aims of this study were to detect the occurrence of endemic and emergent pathogens in north-eastern Italy using adult tick screening, and to identify areas at risk of pathogen transmission. Based on our results, different strategies for tick collection and pathogen screening and their relative costs were evaluated and discussed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From 2006 to 2008 adult ticks were collected in 31 sites and molecularly screened for the detection of pathogens previously reported in the same area (i.e., LB agents, TBE virus, <it>Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia </it>spp., <it>Babesia </it>spp., "<it>Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis</it>"). Based on the results of this survey, three sampling strategies were evaluated <it>a</it>-<it>posteriori</it>, and the impact of each strategy on the final results and the overall cost reductions were analyzed. The strategies were as follows: tick collection throughout the year and testing of female ticks only (strategy A); collection from April to June and testing of all adult ticks (strategy B); collection from April to June and testing of female ticks only (strategy C).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eleven pathogens were detected in 77 out of 193 ticks collected in 14 sites. The most common microorganisms detected were <it>Borrelia burgdorferi </it>sensu lato (17.6%), <it>Rickettsia helvetica </it>(13.1%), and "<it>Ca. N. mikurensis</it>" (10.5%). Within the <it>B. burgdorferi </it>complex, four genotypes (i.e., <it>B. valaisiana, B. garinii, B. afzelii</it>, and <it>B. burgdorferi </it>sensu stricto) were found. Less prevalent pathogens included <it>R. monacensis </it>(3.7%), TBE virus (2.1%), <it>A. phagocytophilum </it>(1.5%), <it>Bartonella </it>spp. (1%), and <it>Babesia </it>EU1 (0.5%). Co-infections by more than one pathogen were diagnosed in 22% of infected ticks. The prevalences of infection assessed using the three alternative strategies were in accordance with the initial results, with 13, 11, and 10 out of 14 sites showing occurrence of at least one pathogen, respectively. The strategies A, B, and C proposed herein would allow to reduce the original costs of sampling and laboratory analyses by one third, half, and two thirds, respectively. Strategy B was demonstrated to represent the most cost-effective choice, offering a substantial reduction of costs, as well as reliable results.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Monitoring of tick-borne diseases is expensive, particularly in areas where several zoonotic pathogens co-occur. Cost-effectiveness studies can support the choice of the best monitoring strategy, which should take into account the ecology of the area under investigation, as well as the available budget.</p

Circum-Mediterranean cultural heritage and medicial plant uses in traditional animal healthcare: a field survey in eight selected areas within the RUBIA project

During the years 2003¿2005, a comparative ethnobotanical field survey was conducted on remedies used in traditional animal healthcare in eight Mediterranean areas. The study sites were selected within the EU-funded RUBIA project, and were as follows: the upper Kelmend Province of Albania; the Capannori area in Eastern Tuscany and the Bagnocavallo area of Romagna, Italy; Cercle de Ouezanne, Morocco; Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park in the province of Huelva, Spain; the St. Catherine area of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt; Eastern and Western Crete, Greece; the Paphos and Larnaca areas of Cyprus; and the Mitidja area of Algeria. One hundred and thirty-six veterinary preparations and 110 plant taxa were recorded in the survey, with Asteraceae and Lamiaceae being the most quoted botanical families. For certain plant species the survey uncovered veterinary phytotherapeutical indications that were very uncommon, and to our knowledge never recorded before. These include Anabasis articulata (Chenopodiaceae), Cardopatium corymbosum (Asteraceae), Lilium martagon (Liliaceae), Dorycnium rectum (Fabaceae), Oenanthe pimpinelloides (Apiaceae), Origanum floribundum (Lamiaceae), Tuberaria lignosa (Cistaceae), and Dittrichia graveolens (Asteraceae). These phytotherapeutical indications are briefly discussed in this report, taking into account modern phytopharmacology and phytochemistry. The percentage of overall botanical veterinary taxa recorded in all the study areas was extremely low (8%), however when all taxa belonging to the same botanical genus are considered, this portion increases to 17%. Nevertheless, very few plant uses were found to be part of a presumed "Mediterranean" cultural heritage in veterinary practices, which raises critical questions about the concept of Mediterraneanism in ethnobotany and suggests that further discussion is required. Nearly the half of the recorded veterinary plant uses for mammals uncovered in this survey have also been recorded in the same areas in human folk medicine, suggesting a strong link between human and veterinary medical practices, and perhaps also suggesting the adaptive origins of a few medical practices. Since most of the recorded data concern remedies for treating cattle, sheep, goats, and camels, it would be interesting to test a few of the recorded phytotherapeuticals in the future, to see if they are indeed able to improve animal healthcare in breeding environments, or to raise the quality of dairy and meat products in the absence of classical, industrial, veterinary pharmaceuticals

New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens

Fossil evidence points to an African origin of Homo sapiens from a group called either H. heidelbergensis or H. rhodesiensis. However, the exact place and time of emergence of H. sapiens remain obscure because the fossil record is scarce and the chronological age of many key specimens remains uncertain. In particular, it is unclear whether the present day ‘modern’ morphology rapidly emerged approximately 200 thousand years ago (ka) among earlier representatives of H. sapiens1 or evolved gradually over the last 400 thousand years2. Here we report newly discovered human fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and interpret the affinities of the hominins from this site with other archaic and recent human groups. We identified a mosaic of features including facial, mandibular and dental morphology that aligns the Jebel Irhoud material with early or recent anatomically modern humans and more primitive neurocranial and endocranial morphology. In combination with an age of 315?±?34 thousand years (as determined by thermoluminescence dating)3, this evidence makes Jebel Irhoud the oldest and richest African Middle Stone Age hominin site that documents early stages of the H. sapiens clade in which key features of modern morphology were established. Furthermore, it shows that the evolutionary processes behind the emergence of H. sapiens involved the whole African continent

Art and Artifice: The Machine of Immersivity in the Camera dei Giganti/Chamber Of The Giants

Art in general, more than other fields, appears to lie at the heart of immersivity. As argued by Oliver Grau, it is art that still deploys a considerable genealogy with examples that resonate with the immersivity as proposed in contemporaneity. It is the current immersivity that constructs “constellations” which, as Benjamin put it, dynamically enact “the history of art [as] the history of prophesies […] which can be written only starting from the point of view of an immediate present,” where “every present is determined by those images that are synchronous to it: each now is the now of a given knowability.” In the art history field, however, it is almost mandatory to re-evoke a fully mannerist ambience where “painting” creates – without the aid of particular instruments – the near-total immersion, acting fully on the passional dimension. The case in point is the Camera dei Giganti/Chamber of the Giants, made by Giulio Romano between 1532 and 1536 in Palazzo Te in Mantua. A stunning illusionist artifice that catapults the viewers into the heart of the ongoing event, to produce in them a sense of awe and estrangement beyond the “frame.