Ricardo Mandelbaum Balla

Ramón Lull´s Visual Culture: Intersections between Architecture, Art and Lullism in Catalonia, Paris, Montpellier, and Mallorca in the Late Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

Supervised by Dr Tom Nickson

Advised by Dr Jessica Barker

Llull (1232-1316) was a consequential participant in the creation of an intellectual and religious climate that led to the appearance of a specific visual culture. Conversely,  the works of art to which he was exposed had an impact on his thinking.

The methodology outlined to deal with this matter is to pair Llull’s writings with art objects produced at the time of his life or shortly after his death and to examine the extent to which they reflect a common understanding of issues, without assuming a cause-and-effect relationship. The three works of art that have been selected to carry out this effort are: (a) The Dévot Christ (Perpignan, 1307), a sculpture of a crucifixus dolorosus (bleeding Christ); (b) A manuscript of the Ars, Llull’s method of knowledge, based on mobile diagrams (volvelles) designed to be manipulated by the reader; (c) The Breviculum manuscript (1321), produced by his disciple Thomas Le Myésier, a virtual summation of Llull’s life and career.

Education

2021-2023: Tel Aviv University. MA in Art History (Summa cum laude). Thesis: “Length of Christ” Paintings in Fourteenth-Century Aragon: Franciscan Patronage, Byzantine Influence.”

2016-2021: Tel Aviv University. BA in Art History (Magna cum laude).

Research Interests

Metric relics

Medieval sculpture

Medieval manuscripts

Citations