Inheritance and Innovation of Pottery Sculpture Technique in Shiwan, China: A Grounded Study from Cultural Ecology.

Ceramics play an important role in human daily life and production practice. Pottery sculpture technique is the core of ceramic making. However, the production process of traditional ceramics is accompanied by high pollution, which has a great impact on human health and the ecological environment. Rapid development of industrialization has exacerbated this consequence. As the "Pottery Capital of Southern China", Foshan has been involved in environmental crises while relying on the ceramic industry to develop. Since the 21st century, Foshan has gradually successfully driven to upgrade the city from industrial to culture-led by carrying out positive innovations in Shiwan pottery sculpture technique. Therefore, based on the theoretical perspective of cultural ecology, this paper selects Shiwan pottery sculpture technique as the object, uses Python (Octopus Collector) to obtain data, and applies grounded theory to generate the ecological evolution model. This study discussed how the Shiwan pottery sculpture technique promotes the harmonious coexistence of human beings, industries, and cities in the new cultural ecological environment of the 21st century by exploring and clarifying the interaction and function of different elements in different stages of evolution. Finally, this study not only makes up for the current lack of research on Shiwan's cultural ecology, but also provides meaningful reference for environmental reform in other industrialized cities.

A pan-European art trade in the late middle ages: Isotopic evidence on the master of Rimini enigma.

The identity of artists and localisation of workshops are rarely known with certainty before the mid-15th century. We investigated the material used by one of the most prolific and enigmatic medieval sculptors, the Master of the Rimini Altarpiece or Master of Rimini, active around 1420-40. The isotope fingerprints (Sr, S and O) of a representative corpus of masterpieces but also minor artworks, attributed to the Master of Rimini and his workshop, are virtually identical, demonstrating the unity of the corpus and a material evidence behind the stylistic and iconographic ascriptions. The material used is exclusively Franconian (N-Bavarian) alabaster, 600 km distant from the supposed zone of activity of the Master of Rimini workshop according to recent literature. The same material was later used by the prominent Late Medieval German carver Tilman Riemenschneider, active in Würzburg after 1483, whose small corpus of alabaster sculptures we have been able to characterize almost entirely. Based on these findings, we propose here an alternative to the prevailing hypothesis of a Flemish or N-French workshop being founded on similarities of the Rimini sculpture with motives in Flemish and French painting. Our scenario, returning to the initial proposal of a German localisation of the Master of Rimini workshop, assumes the migration of an artist, perhaps trained in the Low Countries or strongly inspired by the Flemish art, to Southern Germany where he founded a highly productive export workshop, well situated on the crossroads of medieval trade, with a pan-European radiance. This study sheds a spotlight on the on the trade networks of luxury goods, the raw material used for their production, and the high-end art market in Europe as well as on international migration of artists and styles, at the eve of the Renaissance.

Una escultura de Juan José Sicre Vélez para honrar al doctor Carlos J. Finlay Barrés / One sculpture of Juan José Sicre Vélez to honor Doctor Carlos J. Finlay Barrés

Los artistas cubanos han dedicado obras de variados géneros para homenajear al doctor Carlos J. Finlay Barrés y su meritorio trabajo investigativo sobre la fiebre amarilla, enfermedad causante de epidemias y defunciones, en su época, en Cuba y otros países. Las artes plásticas tienen una sustancial impronta en reconocimientos al sabio, lo que hace usual su presencia en obras escultóricas del paisaje urbanístico cubano. Entre estas, se destaca por su belleza y localización, la del escultor Juan J. Sicre Vélez. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo contribuir al conocimiento de la obra escultórica dedicada por Sicre al sabio y destacar su trascendental significación para la medicina y la ciencia cubana. La escultura y su temática por su significación para la medicina y la ciencia realzan la identidad cultural de la nación cubana. Su emplazamiento en áreas del Hospital Militar Central Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, en Marianao, tiene simbolismo por ser la localidad donde Finlay desarrolló la mayor parte de las investigaciones conducentes a su teoría sobre el modo de contagio y el agente transmisor de la fiebre amarilla. La obra escultórica es también un hermoso homenaje a los médicos y trabajadores de la salud que prestan servicios médicos humanitarios en Cuba y en otros países. Por su contenido estético y temático, la escultura es un estimable recurso didáctico para desarrollar las estrategias educativas en la formación del personal de la salud(AU)

Cuban artists have dedicated works of various genres to honor Dr. Carlos J. Finlay Barrés and his meritorious investigative work on yellow fever, a disease that causes epidemics and deaths, in its time, in Cuba and other countries. The plastic arts have a substantial mark in recognizing the sage, which makes their presence usual in sculptural works of the Cuban urban landscape. Among these, the one of the sculptor Juan J. Sicre Vélez stands out for its beauty and location. This work aims to contribute to the knowledge of the sculptural work dedicated by Sicre to the sage and highlight its transcendental significance for Cuban medicine and science. The sculpture and its theme due to its significance for medicine and science enhance the cultural identity of the Cuban nation. Its location in areas of the Central Military Hospital Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, in Marianao, has symbolism for being the town where Finlay developed most of the research leading to his theory on the mode of contagion and the transmitting agent of yellow fever. The sculptural work is also a beautiful tribute to the doctors and health workers who provide humanitarian medical services in Cuba and in other countries. Due to its aesthetic and thematic content, sculpture is a valuable didactic resource to develop educational strategies in the training of health personnel(AU)

The Evolution of 3D Anatomical Models: A Brief Historical Overview.

For thousands of years, anatomical models have served as essential tools in medical instruction. While human dissections have been the regular source of information for medical students for the last few centuries, the scarcity of bodies and the religious and social taboos of previous times made the process of acquiring human cadavers a challenge. The dissection process was dependent on the availability of fresh cadavers and thus was met with a major time constraint; with poor preservation techniques, decomposition turned the process of employing bodies for instruction into a race against time. However, the advent of anatomical models has countered this issue by supplying accurate anatomical detail in a physical, three-dimensional form superior to that of the two-dimensional illustrations previously used as the primary adjunct to dissection. Artists worked with physicians and anatomists to prepare these models, creating an interdisciplinary interaction that advanced anatomical instruction at a tremendous rate. These models have taken the form of metal, wood, ivory, wax, papier-mâché, plaster, and plastic and have ultimately evolved into computerized and digital representations currently. We provide a brief historical overview of the evolution of anatomical models from a unique neuroanatomical perspective.

On the production of ancient Egyptian blue: Multi-modal characterization and micron-scale luminescence mapping.

The ancient pigment Egyptian blue has long been studied for its historical significance; however, recent work has shown that its unique visible induced luminescent property can be used both to identify the pigment and to inspire new materials with this characteristic. In this study, a multi-modal characterization approach is used to explore variations in ancient production of Egyptian blue from shabti statuettes found in the village of Deir el-Medina in Egypt (Luxor, West Bank) dating back to the New Kingdom (18th-20th Dynasties; about 1550-1077 BCE). Using quantitative SEM-EDS analysis, we identify two possible production groups of the Egyptian blue and demonstrate the presence of multiple phases within samples using cluster analysis and ternary diagram representations. Using both macro-scale non-invasive (X-rays fluorescence and multi-spectral imaging) and micro-sampling (SEM-EDS and Raman confocal microspectroscopy) techniques, we correlate photoluminescence and chemical composition of the ancient samples. We introduce Raman spectroscopic imaging as a means to capture simultaneously visible-induced luminesce and crystal structure and utilize it to identify two classes of luminescing and non-luminescing silicate phases in the pigment that may be connected to production technologies. The results presented here provide a new framework through which Egyptian blue can be studied and inform the design of new materials based on its luminescent property.

At the origin of "Endocrinology and Art": Woman's Head (third century BCE).

In 1911, the Danish physician Hans Christian Gram (1853-1938) sustained to have found signs of hyperthyroidism in a marble head of a Roman woman that he observed in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. It could be one of the first examples of a clinical diagnosis of an endocrine disease in an ancient statue.

The faces of disgust. Death masks of famous and infamous

Human faces are not usually objects of disgust. However, this can be diffuse if there are some kind of malformations or if they are masks of dead people. Corpses disgust us not only by reminding us of our mortal condition, but also by their association with immoral acts. This article proposes to analyze the relationship between the bodies and faces of corpses and their reaction with physical and moral disgust

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Will the shepherd be able to play the alpine horn with that huge goiter (XVI century)?

PURPOSE: There are many of the representations in iconography of individuals with goiters reported in the literature. METHODS: The article describe a unique representation of goiter, as observed by the authors in a sculpture in Italy. RESULTS: In a Nativity, in the upper part of the altar of the Church of the Annunciata, Boccioleto (Val Sermenza, Piedmont, Italy), a horn player with a huge goiter, gladdens the Holy Family. Wooden work by Francesco Antonio d'Alberto, 1694. CONCLUSION: This is an appropriate example of the iconography of "real goiter," since in this case the sculptor had the aim of showing person with goiter.

A Crouzon syndrome from the Classic period of Maya civilization?

This article describes a retrospective diagnosis through an artistic representation of a pre-Columbian Central America bowl figuring a child with clinical characteristics of Crouzon syndrome. The report also highlights the importance of icono-diagnosis for a better description of the existing diseases into ancient societies.

Possible new evidence of pre-Columbian tuberculosis in America: Pott disease in a prehistoric Mexican statue.

The authors present a case of a probable Pott disease from central/southern Mexico, dated 300 BC to 500 AD. This case highlights the importance of iconotopsy/iconodiagnosis for a better description of the natural history of diseases, especially as a complement to morphological analyses of human remains (paleopathology) and laboratory exams (DNA or immunology testing).

African statue with goiter.

INTRODUCTION: Representations of thyroid swelling, intended as an enlarged anterior neck in the artworks of various periods are sporadically reported in the literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An African statue belonging to the African Yoruba culture has been analysed. RESULTS: Members of Ogboni Society in Yoruba culture used this statues to represent a real subject and to communicate between the living and dead. CONCLUSION: The statue reported seems to represent a case of real goiter.

Cervico-facial dystonia as depicted in sculpture before its scientific description.

The authors describe a sculpture from Daumier, called "Le Hargneux" (The peevish one), whose physiognomic study evokes hitherto unrecognized cranial-cervical dystonia. It is probably the first representation of dystonia in sculpture, before its scientific identification by Horatio Wood, in 1887.

Archeology and urology: testimonies of the IV-III century b.C. on La Peyronie's disease.

The discovery of two archaeological objects describing La Peyronie's disease. They come from the archaeological excavation of Pantanacci (Lanuvio, south of Rome), that has returned numerous objects of medical representation dating back to the IV-III sec. B.C.