Persian roots of Puccini’s opera Turandot

What is the place on earth that saw the sun only once? What is it that all beings have, human beings, angels, fairies, demons, anything that grazes and flies, heaven and earth, anything that God has created? How did a Persian story grow to a world opera?

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • November 29, 2019

A damaged God-the-Father figure from Zutphen

A religious sculpture was buried under a church floor. But who had put it there? And why was it mutilated?

Elizabeth den Hartog • November 01, 2019

De welvoorziene keuken: archeologisch ontleed

In het Rijksmuseum Amsterdam hangt 'De welvoorziene keuken' van Joachim Beuckelaer uit 1556. We onderwerpen dit schilderij aan een archeologische ontleding. Gaat het om een luxe keuken?

Roos van Oosten • July 24, 2019

Devouring the church

Setting your teeth in the church was not as implausible an act in medieval times as we might think today. Different creatures nibbled and scraped away at the church’s fabric: sculpted monsters, pillar-biting hypocrites, and even the faithful themselves.

Elizabeth den Hartog • June 14, 2019

Medieval piggyback rides: Riding boars in the Middle Ages

With their ferocious characters, daunting tusks and relatively bulky statures, boars make unlikely steeds. Nevertheless, the Middle Ages feature various examples of boar riding.

Thijs Porck • May 17, 2019

Rumi and the Hollywood Stars: The Source of Brad Pitt’s Tattoo

It is almost hard to find a celebrity without a tattoo, but why should the tattoo be from a Persian mystic poet from the thirteenth century? How should we look at such texts?

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • January 25, 2019

Nudis pedibus: a bare-footed cleric in Urnes, Norway

From a bare footed cleric to a centaur: The stave church of Urnes (Norway) tells its visitors a message in wood.

Elizabeth den Hartog • December 28, 2018

Vrouwen in de Duitse Orde

Vrouwen mochten volgens de middeleeuwse statuten van de Duitse Orde niet intreden. Toch zijn er zusters van deze orde bekend. We gaan op zoek naar vrouwen in het regionale hoofdkwartier in Utrecht. Hun positie blijkt veranderlijk geweest te zijn.

Jerem van Duijl • December 14, 2018

Throw Away that Tedious Text! 15th-Century Illustrated Books in 18th- and 19th-Century Hands

Studying fifteenth-century books can be a frustrating task, especially if former owners decided to throw away the text. But the changing attitudes towards early printed books are equally fascinating.

Anna Dlabacová • November 13, 2018

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