Recientemente, diversos estudios han puesto de relieve ciertos puntos de conexión entre las filosofías de Leibniz y Wittgenstein. El propósito de la presente contribución es prolongar y profundizar en esta misma línea de investigación, explorando, particularmente, tres tesis comunes que subyacen a las doctrinas que ellos desarrollan respectivamente en la Monadología y el Tractatus logico-philosophicus, a la luz de tres metáforas empleadas por uno de ellos o ambos: i) la simplicidad de las substancias u objetos a partir de la metáfora de las mónadas sin ventanas (Leibniz); ii) las relaciones entre las substancias u objetos a partir de la metáfora de la mónada o ‘yo metafísico’ como espejos del mundo (Leibniz y Wittgenstein), y; iii) la posibilidad -o imposibilidad- de la metafísica a partir de la metáfora de la escalera (Wittgenstein).

La novela The Unicorn (1963) de Iris Murdoch relata la historia de una mujer que vive encerrada en una casa aislada para expiar su culpa por un crimen que cometió en el pasado. Convive con varios personajes que la cuidan y vigilan al mismo tiempo. La trama se inicia cuando la aparente tranquilidad de la casa se ve alterada por la llegada de una profesora contratada, que querrá sacar a esta mujer de su reclusión. La convivencia entre los personajes va mostrando el carácter moral de cada uno, sus dependencias amorosas, sus relaciones de poder, y sobre todo, sus proyecciones fantasiosas sobre los demás. La novela está marcada por el juego entre realidad y fantasía, que queda expresado en una serie de dicotomías: Dios y Satanás, poder y sometimiento, bondad y maldad, amor y odio, violencia y resignación, erotismo y santidad, interior y exterior, oscuridad y luz, libertad y arrepentimiento, culpa y arrepentimiento. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar cómo aparecen estas dualidades en el argumento y, cuando es posible, determinar cuál de los dos elementos prevalece. Esto permite realizar un análisis moral y simbólico de la obra.

Abstract Entombed Images and Monumental Icons. The Intentional Conservation of the Santa Susanna Paintings in Rome The paintings discovered in the 1990s beneath the sacristy of the Church of Santa Susanna in Rome are exceptional, among early medieval works, for their excellent state of preservation. This paper reexamines evidence concerning the dating of the paintings and suggests that their deliberate concealment within a sarcophagus was most likely carried out during works promoted by Pope Leo iii (795–816). It considers potential rationales for this seemingly unprecedented act of preservation, taking into account the perception and status of the images when they were still on their original support. The Santa Susanna paintings thus provide a valuable perspective from which to rethink the status of sacred images in eighth- and ninth-century Rome.

Abstract The Lost Apse Mosaic in Lyon Cathedral in Light of its Titulus . Proposed Iconography and Argument for a Carolingian Attribution The now-lost apse mosaic of the ancient cathedral of Lyon is attested exclusively through the ten hexametric verses of its titulus , transcribed in the ninth century by Mannon, a disciple of the deacon Florus. In accordance with the ekphrastic tradition, the text poetically evokes the theophanic vision once displayed above in the conch, providing crucial evidence for reconstructing its iconographic program. The composition likely comprised a Maiestas Domini , the Apostolic College, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the four rivers of Paradise, the Agnus Dei , and possibly John the Baptist (perhaps represented symbolically through the allusion to the River Jordan). This study proposes a hypothetical visual reconstruction of these elements and their spatial configuration within the apse, highlighting the dialectic between figural representation and liturgical implications. Furthermore, several arguments are presented in support of assigning the titulus (and the mosaic work of which it was part) to Florus’s initiative. This is not an obvious attribution, considering the numerous references to early Christian culture present both in the verses of the inscription and in the iconographic subjects mentioned therein.

Abstract The “Right Hand” of Giovanni Pisano. Marco Romano and the Scrovegni Chapel Altar Statues Of the three marble statues on the altar of Padua’s Scrovegni Chapel, dated to 1303–1305, only one is signed by Giovanni Pisano, although all three have been attributed without hesitation to this innovative fourteenth-century sculptor active in northern Italy. This essay seeks to demonstrate that only two of the figures – the Madonna with Child and the right-hand Angel bearing a candelabrum – were directly sculpted by Giovanni Pisano. The third – the Angel on the left of the group – should be ascribed to a different sculptor. Drawing on a combination of stylistic-formal and technical-executive analysis, enabled by a new, in-depth photographic survey, the essay argues that this second sculptor – the “right hand” of Giovanni Pisano – was none other than Marco Romano, who collaborated with Giovanni Pisano in the 1290s in the workshop responsible for the portals of Siena Cathedral. As scholars have long recognized, Marco Romano’s work for Enrico Scrovegni is known to have led to his commission at San Simeone Grande in Venice in 1318.

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Ivo of Chartres (1040–1115) offers a case study about how objects – ivories in particular – knitted together social relations and established kinship networks across medieval France. An active reformer amidst the Investiture Controversy, Ivo is best known today for his lively and compelling correspondence. This article, however, argues that Ivo should also be remembered for the carved ivories in his possession. At least three ivories from the late eleventh century (although two are now lost) can be associated with Ivo: a comb, a set of tablets (probably a diptych), and his crosier, which is now in Florence’s Bargello Museum. Interweaving Ivo’s written reflections on the role of ivory objects in his life as reformer, bishop, politician, and friend, the essay further traces the history of Ivo’s crosier as it was passed to following generations of reform-minded canons.