Monographs and edited collections by Davide Domenici
Materialità ed estetica nell'arte mesoamericana DISCI DIPARTIMENTO storia culture civiltà SEZIONE... more Materialità ed estetica nell'arte mesoamericana DISCI DIPARTIMENTO storia culture civiltà SEZIONE Studi antropologici, orientali, storico-religiosi 3 Bononia University Press Davide Domenici Pdf concesso da Bononia University Press all'autore per l'espletamento delle procedure concorsuali DISCI DIPARTIMENTO storia culture civiltà Studi antropologici,
Nel mondo mesoamericano, dove la comunicazione scritta era estremamente ridotta e limitata a rist... more Nel mondo mesoamericano, dove la comunicazione scritta era estremamente ridotta e limitata a ristrette élite intellettuali, gran parte della comunicazione pubblica - politica e religiosa - era affidata alle manifestazioni artistiche. La stragrande maggioranza delle opere d'arte era ...
Papers by Davide Domenici
Front cover: Detail of a mask in the shape of a human face, maybe the Mixtec goddess 9 Reed. Mixt... more Front cover: Detail of a mask in the shape of a human face, maybe the Mixtec goddess 9 Reed. Mixtec, probably from Oaxaca or Southern Puebla, Mexico, late 1400s-early 1500s, turquoise, Spondylus, mother of pearl, resin, pigments, 24 × 15.8 cm. Rome, Museo delle Civiltà. Photograph by Davide Domenici. © Museo delle Civiltà, Rome (Italy). See p. 30.
This article describes Borg. mess. 2 and discusses its scholarly reception. It is a copy, drawn i... more This article describes Borg. mess. 2 and discusses its scholarly reception. It is a copy, drawn in black ink on tracing paper, of the pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican pictorial manuscript known as Codex Cospi (sec. XV-XVI), one of only thirteen surviving manuscripts from before the colonial period. created toward the end of the 18th century by the bolognese artist Antonio Basoli, Borg. mess. 2 was once in the collection of cardinal Stefano Borgia. although today it is nearly forgotten and never studied in detail, the manuscript nevertheless played a key role in the modern study of Mesoamerican codices, since it was examined and commented upon by important scholars such as José Lino fábrega, georg Zoëga, and
Alexander von Humboldt. subsequently, Borg. mess. 2 was the basis for Agostino Aglio’s reproductions of Codex Cospi published in 1830-1831 in the second volume of Lord Kingsborough’s Antiquities of Mexico and, through the mediation of the latter, even influenced modern editions of Codex Cospi.
Chigi (1631-1693), sobrino del pontífice Alejandro VII (Fabio Chigi), fue un importante coleccion... more Chigi (1631-1693), sobrino del pontífice Alejandro VII (Fabio Chigi), fue un importante coleccionista de arte en la Roma del siglo xvii. Entre sus colecciones, se encontraba el Museo delle curiosità naturali, peregrine e antiche, en donde el cardenal recogió antigüedades, especímenes naturalísticos y objetos de procedencia extraeuropea. El contenido del museo fue registrado, a partir de 1692, en varios inventarios que nos proporcionan una precisa imagen de la colección. En el presente capítulo se analiza el inventario de 1692 con el fin de identificar los objetos de posible procedencia americana, para dividirlos en grupos, entender su procedencia e investigar como entraron en las colecciones del cardenal. Más específicamente, se identifican objetos de Brasil, objetos prehispánicos y coloniales mesoamericanos, así como un grupo de objetos «indianos» coloniales, cuya procedencia específica es difícil de averiguar. Los objetos mesoamericanos son aquellos para los cuales se pueden identificar con mayor especificidad las formas en que llegaron a manos de Flavio Chigi: algunos de ellos proceden de un grupo de objetos llevados a Italia la segunda mitad del siglo xvi (c. 1564-1570) por un religioso cuyo viaje fue registrado en la Descrittione dell'India occidentale. Otros fueron enviados a Italia a partir de 1664 por Alejandro Favián, un sacerdote criollo de Puebla correspondiente del jesuita Athanasius Kircher, el mismo que actuó como intermediario entre el sacerdote y Flavio Chigi. Al final del texto se ofrece un apéndice con una selección del inventario de 1692 del Museo delle curiosità naturali, peregrine e antiche, limitada a los objetos de posible procedencia americana.
A synthesis of the current understanding of Teotihuacan writing system
Catalogue entry of the Mesoamerican mosaic mask today geld at the MUCIV (Rome)
D. Buti, C. Grazia, F. Pottier, A. Michelin, C. Andraud, V. M. Lladó-Buisán, D. Domenici, A. Romani, A. Sgamellotti, C. Miliani. 2023. Evidence of the Use of a Dye Chemically Related to Commelinin in Mesoamerican Codices, in J. Kirby (ed.), Dyes in History and Archaeology 37/40, Archetype, p. 26-37 Non-invasive analytical campaigns carried out on several Mesoamerican codices pointed to the pres... more Non-invasive analytical campaigns carried out on several Mesoamerican codices pointed to the presence of a blue dye (and associated hybrid pigments) different from Maya blue, the most widespread blue painting material used in artistic and cultural products in Mesoamerica. The scientific and historical literature suggests that the dye is chemically related to commelinin, an anthocyanin extracted from the blue petals of Commelina species. UV-visible and FTIR reflectance spectroscopy have been used to identify the spectral markers of the petals' extract, and its hybrid pigments, for non-invasive identification. Furthermore, since some Commelinabased painted areas appear highly faded and degraded, artificial ageing tests were performed on laboratory mock-ups to investigate this phenomenon. Spectroscopic and colorimetric analyses were performed to follow the degradation process upon light exposure. Preliminary results indicated that different techniques for colour preparation were employed by the codices' painters. These technologies are most probably responsible for the different extent of degradation observed by experiment.
In a path-breaking volume published in 1972, Alfred Crosby coined the expression the "Columbian E... more In a path-breaking volume published in 1972, Alfred Crosby coined the expression the "Columbian Exchange" to refer to the global circulation of people, animals, plants, and microbes initiated by the European "discovery" of America, an historical phenomenon which shaped the modern world in a radical and unprecedented way. In this chapter, I review the impact the Columbian Exchange had in food habits and health, two fields where the entanglement between biological and cultural facts is of outmost relevance, as shown by the intimate relationship linking epidemics, colonial violence, and demographic collapse. The Columbian Exchange, inducing the global circulation of several animal species, also had a profound impact on human-animal relationships. Given the relevance that European dogs had in the spread of rabies in the Americas, in the last part of the chapter I summarize the results of scholarly studies which explored the changing relationships between animals and humans in the post-colonial Americas.
Una storia della cultura materiale associata al consumo di cacao, tra Mesoamerica ed Europa
The article explores the cultural biographies of a series of Mesoamerican knives brought to Italy... more The article explores the cultural biographies of a series of Mesoamerican knives brought to Italy during the 16th century by Dominican missionaries. Even if many of these knives were subsequently lost, at least three of them (actually, two mosaic-encrusted bladeless handles and a whole specimen) are still preserved in museum collections in Italy and UK. Besides contributing to the study of the Italian reception of Mesoamerican material culture, the article explores the five centuries-long biographical trajectory of the knives which, by going through diverse cultural contexts and regimes of value, were able to elicit an array of discourses on topics such as the humanity of Indigenous American peoples, religious difference and – even if much less than expected – human sacrifice.
The Friedenstein Palace in Gotha, Germany, holds a Late Postclassic Mesoamerican bird head sculpt... more The Friedenstein Palace in Gotha, Germany, holds a Late Postclassic Mesoamerican bird head sculpture made of wood encrusted with precious stone and shell mosaic. Although known since the nineteenth century, scholars have not given the artifact the attention it deserves. Based on observations made during a thorough in situ inspection, we provide a detailed description of the object, stressing both technological and aesthetic aspects, documented through new photos and reconstructive drawings prepared by Nicolas Latsanopoulos. Then, we offer an interpretation of the artifact’s iconography, demonstrating it should be understood as a representation of theWind God in its manifestation as a Tzitzimitl, a category of deities associated with creation and destruction; an aspect made evident in the small figure adorning the avian forehead.We finally reconstruct the collection history of the object, suggesting that the Giustiniani family, a prominent Roman noble family renowned for its collecting activities, once owned the sculpture; in turn, this proposal might imply that the Dominican friar Domingo de Betanzos brought the mosaic to Italy in 1532 and that it might be originally from the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley or, more broadly, from the south-central area of the modern state of Puebla.
The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) holds an important collection of Mesoamerican m... more The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) holds an important collection of Mesoamerican mosaic-encrusted masks and shields, which were accessioned by the museum at two different moments. The chapter tries—by means of a comparative analysis with similar objects held in other collections, as well as on the basis of iconographic, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic data—to reconstruct their original archaeological contexts in order to provide a hypothesis on the symbolism and ritual function of the masks, shields, and associated artifacts.
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Monographs and edited collections by Davide Domenici
Papers by Davide Domenici
Alexander von Humboldt. subsequently, Borg. mess. 2 was the basis for Agostino Aglio’s reproductions of Codex Cospi published in 1830-1831 in the second volume of Lord Kingsborough’s Antiquities of Mexico and, through the mediation of the latter, even influenced modern editions of Codex Cospi.
Alexander von Humboldt. subsequently, Borg. mess. 2 was the basis for Agostino Aglio’s reproductions of Codex Cospi published in 1830-1831 in the second volume of Lord Kingsborough’s Antiquities of Mexico and, through the mediation of the latter, even influenced modern editions of Codex Cospi.
Once in Italy, the objects entered local art collections in Bologna, Rome, Florence, and other Italian cities, where they aroused an antiquarian approach to their study. The investigation of the collection history of these objects, which in some instances ended up in museums in other European countries, shows that our knowledge of many of the most iconic Mesoamerican artworks known today can be traced back to the actions of the Dominican friars.
4 March-29 April 2021
Missionary objects and collecting (16 th-20 th centuries) is a new seminar series inspired by the heated debate surrounding the Humboldt Forum's opening in Berlin. The aim is to contribute to the interdisciplinary undertaking of plurally thinking the future of ethnological objects and collections in Europe today. This international initiative will present and discuss ongoing historical research dealing with missionary practices of attention, selection, and exposition of artefacts across time and space. The set of seminars will explore entanglements of missionary objects within the competitive and conflictual colonial spaces and address the essential role of the religious dimension in defining and expanding the complex meanings of these objects, as well as in continuously reconfiguring their contexts.
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2F3l4_KQD_VDJUKjDUOP_w