According to a traditional distinction, quantitative and qualitative research approaches are the exclusive domain of the hard sciences, the former, and the humanities, the latter. Taking as its starting point E. Panofsky's reflections on the disciplinary status of Art History in relation to its method of investigation (1940), this paper aims to demonstrate the anachronism of the hierarchy between disciplines based on the adoption of quantitative or qualitative methods, in favour of a more transversal scientific methodology. Looking at Art History in particular, it is undeniable that the digital revolution has enabled and strongly stimulated quantitative approaches and at the same time fostered transdisciplinary collaborations between different scientific areas. Based on these premises, the article presents the research methodologies and some results of the project Mapping Sacred Spaces: Forms, Functions, and Aesthetics in Medieval Southern Italy, in which the management of a large amount of fragmentary data is addressed. These are either fragmented artistic artefacts scattered over a wide geography, to be analysed at different topographical scales, or a single case study to which a large number of sources and research materials are linked, requiring a systematic and simultaneous management of data. In particular, a preview of the digital archive of the project will be offered, while the preliminary reconstructive 3D model (realised with HBIM technology) of the choir screens and ambo of the Cathedral of Monreale (c. 1180) will be presented for the first time.

By focusing on Liturgical screens. this contribution addresses issues of liminality in medieval art and ritual performance in the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. Serving as shrines for the holiest spaces within church edifices, liturgical separations created areas of inclusion or exclusion for the diverse categories of actors. in both Byzantine and Roman rites, the history of the sanctuary and choir screen is intertwined with the congregation's experiential transition from the direct visual participation in rites to being confronted with increasingly high screens that concealed the holiest part of the celebration and facilitated the rnultisensory engagement in the liturgy. By assessing the nature of these barriers as liming devices, this study emphasizes the role of church screens in shaping rituals and generating devotional responses.

The title of this editorial must come as a surprise in a journal on the art of the medieval Mediterranean. When we began to include editorials in Convivium , our purpose was to provide space for the editors to discuss, beside the articles in the volume, broad topics vital for art history itself. Scholarship is closely linked to the world context in which it is conducted. In this volume’s “Chronicle & Debates” section, Michele Bacci announces a new discovery in the baptistery of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. Bacci’s discovery, made just months ago, on 21 June 2019, would never have been possible if it were not for the ongoing political, cultural, and religious turmoil in the Levant. The Palestinian National Authority had made possible, since 2014, a dialogue between all the religious commu -nity present within the Nativity Church. Thanks to it and, after more than one and half century, restoration of the basilica began. It is in this very context, with the Palestinian National Authority acting as mediator between diverse Christian communities, that an extraordinary basin, dating probably to the sixth century, was discovered

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsLinda Safran, The Medieval Salento: Art and Identity in Southern Italy. (The Middle Ages.) Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014. Pp. vii, 469; 149 black-and-white figures and 20 color plates. $95. ISBN: 978-0-8122-4554-7.Elisabetta SciroccoElisabetta SciroccoBibliotheca Hertziana, Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Speculum Volume 91, Number 4October 2016 The journal of the Medieval Academy of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/688012 Views: 53Total views on this site Copyright 2016 by the Medieval Academy of America. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.