A sea-to-shore perspective littoral and liminal spaces of the medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean

• Published in: Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 2 - 15
• Main Authors: Baader, Hannah, Wolf, Gerhard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2014
• ISSN: 0342-1201

Harbor cities look in two directions, to the land and to the sea; this double engagement is often reflected in their urban structure. Harbor cities are constructed to see and to control the sea from strategic points, as they are built to be seen from the sea. This paper looks at visual constructions at actual littoral spaces and at their pictorial representations or evocations. The questions posed relate to the materiality of borders, the ways they were made visible by means of architecture, things, and images, the specific aesthetics of variety that characterize harbor cities, and the spatial dynamics of the coast. It argues that in the liminal spaces of the littoral and of the sea, significant legal concerns structure the ambivalent realities of seafaring and maritime trade; they have visible and invisible impact on the making and transformation of space. Two case studies, regarding the miniature of Palermo mourning the death of William II in Peter of Eboli's "Liber ad honorem Augusti" (1196/97) and the table in pietra dura showing the harbor of Livorno by Jacopo Ligozzi and Cristofano Gaffurri (1601/1604) introduce the main arguments of the essay and those of the volume in general. [Revised Publication Abstract]