Art History

Studies of early Southeast Asia focus largely on its ‘classical states’, when rulers and their entourages from Sukhothai and Ayutthaya (Thailand), Angkor (Cambodia), Bagan (Myanmar), Champa and Dai Viet (Vietnam) clashed, conquered, and intermarried one another over an approximately six-century-long quest for legitimacy and political control. Scholarship on Southeast Asia has long held that such transformations were largely a response to outside intervention and external events, or at least that these occurred in interaction with a broader world system in which Southeast Asians played key roles. As research gathered pace on the prehistory of the region over the past five decades or so, it has become increasingly clear that indigenous Southeast Asian cultures grew in sophistication and complexity over the Iron Age in particular. This has led archaeologists to propose much greater agency in regard to the selective adaptation of incoming Indic beliefs and practices than was previously ...

Indagare sugli esordi della prospettiva è possibile soltanto se si tenta di comprendere il modus operandi e la forma mentis di Brunelleschi. Ricostruendo la cornice concettuale possiamo attendibilmente azzardare quali siano state le strategie cognitive e quali le modalità operative che portarono, nella prima metà del Quattrocento a Firenze, a mettere in atto un sistema di rappresentazione spaziale che tutt’ora chiamiamo prospettiva rinascimentale. Cercheremo pertanto di dimostrare che Brunelleschi fu protagonista in un ambiente ove artisti, letterati e mercanti ritenevano i concetti di accertamento e dimostrazione, strettamente correlati all’esperienza concreta: un elogio del sapere pragmatico che anticipa, sotto l’aspetto della verificazione sperimentale, la scienza moderna. Fu proprio in seno a questo sapere pragmatico che prese corpo il concetto di verifica e dimostrazione e, nello specifico, il processo si realizzò nelle botteghe e nei cantieri degli architetti e degli artisti rinascimentali, le cui opere furono valorizzate dagli umanisti fiorentini ai fini di una glorificazione della storia cittadina. Non a caso Ernst Gombrich pose in evidenza che l’idea di progresso nacque nel quadro delle conoscenze applicative: è a partire da Brunelleschi e da Ghiberti che l’artista iniziò a lavorare come uno scienziato poiché le sue opere servivano anche a illustrare «in modo insolito e ingegnoso come il maestro risolve un problema artistico».

1758 : François Boucher réalise le portrait de Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, maîtresse du roi Louis XV mieux connue sous le nom de Madame de Pompadour. Le peintre rococo place judicieusement des touches de rose — sur des rubans, ses joues et ses lèvres — afin de dénoter du pouvoir de la favorite qui a su imposer son influence sur les arts et la mode en jouant des apparences et de la séduction. 2014 : héritière d’un empire hôtelier et star de téléréalité, Paris Hilton apparait à Beverly Hills entièrement vêtue de rose et sortant d’une Bentley rose bonbon. Moquée par les medias qui ne manquent pas de la photographier, elle est comparée à une poupée et réduite superficiellement à sa plastique, ce qui ne l’empêche pas d’asseoir sa supériorité financière et sociale au travers de la haute-couture et de l’automobile de luxe. Quelques siècles séparent Pompadour de Hilton, et pourtant, elles se servent toutes deux du rose avec habileté et stratégie : elles revendiquent leur féminité et leur usage des cosmétiques et de la mode à des fins de séduction, tout en soulignant leur statut social, leur pouvoir politique ou financier, et leur influence. Revendiquée avec un certain excès, cette hyperféminité en rose joue du stéréotype du rose-pour-les-filles en forçant le contraste entre une supériorité de classe et la position inférieure des femmes dans un système patriarcal où elles demeurent dans une posture d’impuissance. En articulant études de genre, études des couleurs et histoire, il s’agit de mettre en évidence la manière dont le rose et sa symbolique féminine ont pu être utilisés par les femmes dans des stratégies visibles de pouvoir. En adoptant une approche comparative entre une figure aristocratique du XVIIIe siècle et une personnalité médiatique du XXIe siècle (par ailleurs également héritière d’une fortune), je montrerai comment l’usage de la couleur rose comme marqueur de féminité, dans ses ressemblances et ses différences, a su s’adapter au contexte social et culturel qui modifie la perception et la réception de ses symboliques.

This volume offers a rich tapestry of psychoanalytic thought. The authors demonstrate bold creativity in their use of psychoanalytic concepts to think about a wide range of problems in philosophy, art and the clinic. The collection grew out of ‘Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society,’ a conference for postgraduate students and research fellows organised by the Centre for Psychoanalysis, Middlesex University, London, in June 2014. The range of themes addressed at the conference demonstrates the interdisciplinary character of psychoanalytic studies.

Anche in Storia della civiltà europea. Vol. 16 - il Novecento. Arti visive, pp. 104-108.

Dal mondo antico allʼinizio del terzo millennio: migliaia di saggi e oltre 10.000 immagini, un imponente corpus testuale e iconografico organizzato in periodi cronologici e in aree tematiche: storia, filosofia, arti visive, scienza e tecnologia, musica, letteratura e teatro, comunicazione. Unʼopera curata da Umberto Eco, che propone nuove modalità di esplorazione della storia e del sapere e che offre potenti strumenti capaci di intrecciare e collegare, grazie a percorsi dinamici, i personaggi, le idee e gli eventi che hanno formato la nostra cultura. Lʼidea di partenza di Umberto Eco è quella di realizzare unʼopera a carattere enciclopedico che aiuti ad avere il senso delle distanze storiche, a stabilire rapporti di contemporaneità tra eventi di natura diversa e che consenta di ricostruire fenomeni di lunga durata, dinamiche sociali e culturali, comportamenti della vita quotidiana. Il progetto della Storia della Civiltà Europea, nato nel 1993, antesignano di unʼeditoria multimediale di qualità, raggiunge solo il suo compimento editoriale e la sua maturità tecnologica, organizzando i propri contenuti in ogni formato disponibile per ogni tipo di pubblico.

Nel Novecento gli intrecci fra arte, politica, società hanno prodotto ribaltamenti, cancellazioni e rinascite di modelli artistici oscillanti fra la ricerca di un ordine nuovo e la fascinazione per l’irrazionale, fra l’assunzione dell’arte come strumento politico e il rigetto di ogni ideologia, fra la tensione a un’arte individuale e aristocratica o al contrario anonima e collettiva. Nella collisione di fine Ottocento fra tradizione e novità dirompenti cola a picco l’idea di continuità nella storia: il secolo si apre all’insegna della rottura e delle sperimentazioni più ardite in termini di linguaggio e di contenuti. Le avanguardie, tra cui si contano cubismo, espressionismo, futurismo, neoplasticismo e costruttivismo, alleate in un percorso di astrazione, tagliano traguardi che paiono senza ritorno: la cancellazione del soggetto, la forma come forma assoluta, la nuova preminenza del linguaggio, la negazione del racconto, l’esilio dei sentimenti, tutte conquiste che sanciscono il primato culturale dell’Europa. Finché nell’arco di alcuni decenni si verifica un capovolgimento di prospettiva col ritorno al figurativo e con lo spostamento del cuore culturale dall’Europa verso New York e Los Angeles, rimesso più tardi in discussione dall’emergere della nuova polarità dell’Asia. In questo ebook si possono trovare tutte le maggiori espressioni artistiche del Novecento, in cui l’ideale dell’arte subisce un progressivo spostamento verso il futuro, arrivando, nelle sue forme più estreme, a produrre un’arte internazionalista, senza radici e senza memoria, dotata di una lingua aniconica universale, che cancella i confini delle identità nazionali e si proietta nella realtà globalizzata.

The seven branched lampstand within a church was thus a symbol of Christ and his Church. In theological terms, it had nothing to do with Jews – except to supersede them. This is a very important point in dealing with the Petersberg Lampstand, and all Christian lampstands.
— The biblical lampstand in Christian contexts was not a Jewish »menorah« as some today would call it, but the lampstand of Christ Jesus. It is a mistake, then, to refer to the Christian lampstand as
a menorah, as I myself did in The Menorah: From the Bible to Modern Israel. This use of Jewish terminology, drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures for Christian lampstands, wipes away what is distinctly Christian in these lamps and what is distinctly Jewish about the menorah. While such elision may be comforting in our own world,
it takes away from the history of both communities, asserting
false closeness between the majority and the minority in medieval (and modern) Europe. When adopted by contemporary Christians
– Evangelicals and sometimes Catholics and mainline Protestants –
it is for their own theological and cultural purposes in their own search for a »usable history«.19 In Germany it is all the more complex, a facet of the regrettably not-yet-complete postwar rapprochement between Christians and Jews. My sense is that the next steps require us to reassert and celebrate the distinctive in each community, even as we continue to seek out all that Jews and Christians share(d).

Bad Manners is an original history of non-consensual collaboration between artists, from the first decades of the twentieth century to the present day. Narrated by artist Jake Chapman and art historian Yuval Etgar, this book takes the reader through a wealth of artworks and anecdotes involving cannibalistic acts of modification or alteration of another artist’s work, the hijacking of authorship through the addition of a signature, and occasions when the identities of artists or their creations are cast in doubt. Among the works in discussion are thanks(?) a drawing by Pablo Picasso signed as Henri Matisse, a coffee table executed by Martin Kippenberger using a painting by Gerhard Richter as its surface, and a performance by David Hammons documenting the artist urinating on a Richard Serra sculpture.

Published to accompany an exhibition of the same name at Luxembourg + Co., London, Bad Manners raises questions concerning the nature of artistic authorship, standards of collegial etiquette, plagiarism and ownership.

Softcover
64 pages
Publisher: Ridinghouse

ISBN: 978-1-909932-70-8

The Lightbox in Woking is commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael in an interesting exhibition inspired by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria’s passion for the Italian master. The exhibition displays works from the Raphael Collection at Windsor Castle created by the couple that includes original works and also copies of Raphael’s artwork in the form of pictures, photographs, printed reproductions, woodcuts, lithographs, engravings and etchings. They are part of a project that Prince Albert pursued. He commissioned photographers and artists such as Charles Thurston Thompson, George Baxter, Giovanni Battista Franco and Leopoldo Alinari to reproduce Raphael’s work. The collection was subsequently put together by Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward and Sir Richard Rivington Holmes in 1876. It contains over 4,600 pieces and traces the history of reproduction techniques with a special emphasis on photography.

RESUMO: O artigo apresenta resultados de pesquisas relacionadas especificamente às atividades corais a capella desenvolvidas e/ou patrocinadas pela Sociedade de Cultura Artística Brasílio Itiberê (SCABI), desde a sua criação, em Curitiba, Paraná, em 1944 até meados década de 1960, período em que a entidade realizou cerca de 30 apresentações com grupos vocais nacionais e internacionais. Dos conjuntos nacionais, investigou-se, em particular, da Associação Orfeônica de Curitiba, cuja regência coube ao maestro Luiz Eulógio Zilli (1907-1990); dos conjuntos internacionais pesquisou-se a vinda de Os meninos cantores de Viena (Die Wiener Saengerknaben), em 1949 e 1961.
Palavras-chave: Sociedade de Cultura Artística Brasílio Itiberê (SCABI); coral a capella; atividades musicais no Estado do Paraná do século XX.
ABSTRACT: The article presents results of a research specifically related to the choral activities a capella developed and/or sponsored by the Sociedade de Cultura Artística Brasílio Itiberê (SCABI), in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. The research covers SCABI activities since its creation, in 1944 until mid 1960s. During this period SCABI featured about 30 presentations with national and international vocal groups. Among the national sets, the research focused particularly on the Associação Orfeônica de Curitiba, under regency of the conductor Luiz Eulógio Zilli (1907-1990); among the international sets the studies concentrated on the visits of the Viena Boys Singers (Die Wiener Saengerknaben), in 1949 and 1961
Keywords: Socidade de Cultura Artística Brasílio Itiberê (SCABI); choral a capella; musical activities in the State of the Paraná of century XX.

Las investigaciones realizadas para la elaboración del informe histórico-artístico encargado para la restauración de la torre campanario de la iglesia parroquial de Ricla (Zaragoza) han permitido trazar con bastante precisión la historia constructiva y la correspondiente crítica de autenticidad del monumento. Así, hoy estamos en condiciones de afirmar que fue levantada por Juan Lucas Botero el Joven en 1542 y recrecida durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVI. También se ha podido precisar que ese cuerpo superior terminó generando graves problemas estructurales, que fue derribado a comienzos del siglo XVIII, y reconstruido poco después, para reformarse a mediados del siglo XIX y, por última vez, un siglo más tarde, a mediados del XX. Para entonces, su característico chapitel bulboso fue sustituido por el remate edicular inspirado en el de la torre de Utebo que todavía puede contemplarse en la actualidad.

La figura femenina a dos décadas del siglo XXI ha ocupado un lugar importante en la sociedad, sin embargo, en el arte mexicano del siglo XX el papel más importante de la mujer sólo pertenecía al de la musa. Hoy en día es posible dar crédito a aquellas mujeres creadoras que fueron subestimadas por su género, a pesar de tener el 1 talento para ser reconocidas. Uno de los propósitos de este texto es analizar tres autorretratos pictóricos realizados por mujeres mexicanas María Izquierdo, Rosa Rolanda y Nahuí Olin para comprender tanto sus biografías como la época en la que vivieron. De tal manera, al analizar cada obra, hay rastros de la identidad mexicana, de un espacio político, de supuestos filosóficos del sujeto que permiten al arte darle un valor trascendental. En cuanto a la metodología, se presenta la propuesta de análisis a profundidad por medio del método iconográfico, teoría semiótica y la filosofía de la imagen.

Early modern Amsterdam was an ultra-modern city, laid out conforming to the triple demand of functionality, beauty and profit; a city that takes a unique place in European urban history because of its location, design, and impressive scale. 'Metropolis in the Making' tells the story of Amsterdam becoming one of the largest cities in Europe in the seventeenth century. Amsterdam was one of the cradles of capitalism, but at the same time one of the most meticulously planned cities in the world.
After the Fall of Antwerp in 1585, Amsterdam took over its position as the main trade hub in northwestern Europe. The city grew rapidly to become the central harbour town – and one of the largest European cities. The boom in harbours and industry went hand in hand with an explosive population growth. This resulted in two huge city extensions in 1613 and 1663, multiplying the territory of Amsterdam by five. Around the old town, the now famous ring of canals was constructed. Beyond this residential zone mixed-use and industrial districts were laid out, with a series of harbour islands along the borders of the IJ. This book deals with the question how Amsterdam’s administration managed to realize these immense projects from the viewpoints of urban design, infrastructure, logistics, and finance.
The first part of this book is dedicated to the extension projects. A thorough analysis of all remaining administrative archives and a great many cartographic documents has enabled the author to reconstruct the decision process about the scale, design, and realization of the extensions. The second part contains chapters concerning land use, public space and water management. 'Metropolis in the Making' tells the story of one of the cradles of early modern capitalism and at the same time one of the most meticulously planned cities in the world.

Il saggio approfondisce le opere di architettura e scultura realizzate nel castello di Fontainebleau intorno al 1540, individuando un progetto unitario basato su un preciso programma politico e simbolico di auto-rappresentazione di Francesco I. Il coordinatore di questo progetto variegato e complesso è identificato in Francesco Primaticcio

Presented at the Sotheby's Institute's Conference on  Refugee Art Dealers in Britain, in this paper I looked at the inspiration that Dusseldorf gallerist Mutter Ey may have provided for Erica Brausen and her Hanover Gallery. An abridged version of the paper is available on Sotheby's Institute's website: please contact me for the full paper.

In this innovative and lavishly illustrated study, John Harvey examines the visual expression of religious and spiritual concepts in Nonconformist Wales. He discusses his subject within a broad cultural context which includes fine art, architecture, preaching, hymnology and such intangible manifestations as visions.

The author argues that the Bible had a strong influence on the visual ideolect of Nonconformists during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and that this permeated their perception, interpretation and representation of life. This is perhaps most apparent in the imagery of hymns and sermon illustrations and in the vocabulary and phraseology of preachers, but its effects on Welsh visual culture was also profound and far-reaching and affected both the mode and idiom of religious visions as well as the exterior and interior features of the chapel.

John Harvey explores his subject with particular reference to the intertwined concepts of religion and mining in the south Wales coalfields. He examines the tradition of biblical identity and fusion as manifest in the visionary experiences of miners and their families since the 1904 revival: the architectural similarities between chapels, collieries and Old Testament places of worship, and sermon illustrations which derived spiritual meanings and lessons from the harsh realities of coal-mining. Latterly, this tradition is evident in the paintings of Nicholas Evans. Arguably, this principle of visualization whereby heavenly realities are clothed in tangible earthly garb constitutes one of the most distinctive manifestations of Welsh visual culture.

Thèse de doctorat en histoire de l'art, soutenue le 13 novembre 2020 à l'université Paris Nanterre, sous la direction de Rémi Labrusse et Christian Joschke.

PhD dissertation "Graphic Propaganda : Photomontage in the Visual Culture of the French Left (1925-1939)". Université Paris Nanterre, 2020. Under the supervision of Rémi Labrusse and Christian Joschke.

Cette étude porte sur la place du photomontage dans le graphisme français de l’entre-deux-guerres, plus particulièrement dans la presse illustrée, l’affiche et la propagande politique. Fondé sur la combinaison d’éléments photographiques de façon à créer des images composites, généralement reproduites par impression photomécanique, le photomontage a été promu par les graphistes d’avant-garde mais aussi par les éditeurs de presse à grand tirage. Il devient à partir des années 1920 un élément caractéristique de la culture visuelle moderne, jusqu’à investir très largement les pavillons de l’Exposition internationale de 1937. Si les développements du photomontage en URSS et en Allemagne sont bien connus, la France a souvent été considérée comme réticente à l’usage de ce procédé, privilégiant un modernisme mesuré et un ancrage dans le dessin. En analysant le rôle des réseaux culturels communistes dans le développement du photomontage politique, nous identifions des phénomènes de transferts culturels étroitement liés à la sociabilité militante. L’étude de la production imprimée des organisations de gauche permet d’expliciter les fonctions attribuées à l’image comme moyen d’influence politique. Sur le plan iconographique, les photomontages se caractérisent par des procédés rhétoriques qui orientent la lecture du document photographique. Sur le plan du montage, s’opère une conjonction de temporalités hétérogènes. En prêtant une attention particulière à la fois aux conditions de production, aux réseaux d’acteurs et aux discours de légitimation, nous proposons un essai en iconologie politique qui en même temps se situe au plus près de la matérialité des images.

This study examines the place of photomontage in French graphic design between the two world wars, particularly in the illustrated press, posters and political propaganda. Based on the combination of photographic elements to create composite images, generally reproduced by photomechanical printing, photomontage was promoted by avant-garde graphic designers but also by editors of large-circulation magazines. From the 1920s onwards, it became a characteristic element of modern visual culture, until it was widely used in the pavilions of the 1937 Exposition internationale in Paris. While the developments of photomontage in the USSR and Germany are well known, France was often considered to be reluctant to this technique, favouring instead a measured modernism and drawn illustrations. By analysing the role of communist cultural networks in the development of political photomontage, we identify phenomena of cultural transfer closely related to militant sociability. The study of the printed production of left-wing organisations makes it possible to clarify the functions attributed to the image as a means of political influence. On the iconographic level, photomontages are characterised by rhetorical processes which guide the reading of the photographic document. On the level of montage, they allow for a conjunction of heterogeneous temporalities in a single image. By paying attention to the conditions of production, to the networks of actors and to the discourses of legitimation, this essay in political iconology remains as close as possible to the materiality of images.

La puesta en vigor de las catacumbas romanas a lo largo del siglo XVIII, supuso un nuevo auge en el culto a las reliquias, que eran ampliamente solicitadas y vendidas a diferentes personas llegadas a Roma. Aunque generalmente eran vendidas en sencillas tecas ovales, también se creó un tipo de relicario de gran vistosidad y muy decorativo, pero de escaso valor económico, ya que estaban labrados en una fina chapa de plata que se aplicaba sobre una estructura de madera. Numerosos son los ejemplares de este tipo que se conservan en iglesias de la Península, siendo tal su éxito que se imitaron en talleres hispanos, como Zaragoza o Córdoba.

The impulse that experience the Roman catacombs throughout the eighteen century, supposed a new height in the cult to the relics, that widely were asked for and sold to different people who arrived to Roma. Although usually they were sold in simple oval thecas, also was created a type of reliquary very showy and ornamental, but of little economic value, because they were wrought with a fine plate of silver, that was applied on a wood structure. There are many reliquaries of this type in Spanish churches, being so its success which they were imitated in Hispanic workshops, as Saragossa or Cordova.

Bien que les chamanes de l'Altaï-Saïan soient réputés capables de se métamorphoser en animaux, on peine à trouver dans l’iconographie traditionnelle de la région des images donnant
à voir ce phénomène à l’oeuvre. Cet article examine pourquoi la métamorphose ne se laisse pas représenter. Loin de témoigner d’une sorte de relâchement cognitif, l’idée de métamorphose s’appuie sur des principes essentialistes rigoureux. Leur identification permet de discerner des
modèles de métamorphose typiques des contextes pragmatiques particuliers que sont mythes,
légendes sur des chamanes anciens, rituels de chasse, rituels chamaniques. Selon les scénarios, identité animale, identité humaine et identité individuelle, loin de se chasser l’une l’autre, se superposent dans des combinaisons originales.

One of the most momentous cross-cultural collisions occurred in the Caribbean in 1492, heralding a period of rapid change in both ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Worlds. During the early years of the colonial period, when new relationships were being established, material objects became active agents in the interactions between the indigenous Taíno and the Spanish. The Taíno gifted the Spanish with objects that had significance in their own world, in an attempt to enmesh the Spanish into Taíno socio-political and economic networks. In turn, Spanish objects entered into Taíno value
systems. Glass and jet beads, mirrors and brass ornaments were integrated into prestigious objects, such as the two surviving Taíno cotton sculptures that form the focus of this paper: a belt in the collections of the Weltmuseum Wien and a composite sculpture in the Museo Nazionale
Preistorico Etnografico ‘Luigi Pigorini’, Rome. These pieces offer a glimpse into how Old World exotics were reinterpreted and integrated into indigenous value systems during a period of cultural transition and change.

Full, open access volume:
http://www.archaeopress.com/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B75FFD4AC-966D-406F-A3A7-CBE6F4CF613B%7D

Gaṇeśa is 1. Marut, kharva, 'dwarf', dancer, kavi, Brahmaṇaspati, Br̥haspati, 2. त्रिधातु, 'aggregate of 3 minerals', 3. R̥bhu founder of yajña, artist, rayi, 'wealth'.

Gaṇeśa is a कवि kavi, m. a singer , bard , poet (but in this sense without any technical application in the वेद) RV. VS. TS. AV. S3Br. i , 4 , 2 , 8Kat2hUp. iii , 14 MBh. Bhag. Bha1gP. Mn. vii , 49 R. Ragh.

Gaṇeśa is a scribe, a R̥bhu, 'artist' In the tradition of Indus Script, a scribe is also an artist because the writing system is composed with hypertextss incorporating hieroglyphs -- both pictorial motifs and 'signs or symbols', say, syllabic representations in Brāhmī or 'signs' of the Indus Script Corpora.

Since Mahābhārata is the fifth Veda itihāsa with ākhyāna-s and upākhyāna-s, the scribe of the sacred kāvya, by the kavi, -- is Gaṇeśa who is kavīnām kavi, he is the suprme kavi among kavi-s. The scribal narratiave is an affirmation of divine sanction for the documented narratives.

Hence, Gaṇeśa utters the praṇava, says 'om' accepting the terms stipulated by Vyāsa.

This tradition is exemplified by many manuscripts of Mahābhārata which are profusely illustrated to communicate the narrative effectivey.
Battle Between Ghatotkacha And Karna, Illustrated Folio

Battle of Kurukshetra.


Page from a Manuscript of the Mahabharata: Kichaka and Draupadi Disguised as the Maidservant Shairandhri 1670.
Indian, India, Deccan, Southern Karnataka 17th century opaque watercolor, ink, gold on paper 8 x 19⅜ in 20.32 x 49.21 cm Friends of Indian Art in memory of Dr. Meena Hazra 95.6

Read more at https://vmfa.museum/collections/art/page-manuscript-mahabharata-kichaka-draupadi-disguised-maidservant-shairandhri/#OpbYhP0yIZ7h6MRW.99

Illustrated palmleaf manuscripts in the collection of Orissa State Museum. Read more at:  http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/02-07/features555.htm

H: 11.8 W: 16.6 cm. Probably Seringapatam, South India, India


Newari Mahabharata, 14th-15th c. Philadelphia Museum of Art

Gaṇeśa is 1. scribe of Mahābhārata, 2. kavi; Brahmaṇaspati, Br̥haspati, 3. त्रिधातु, 'aggregate of 3 minerals', 4. R̥bhu founder of yajña, artist, rayi, 'wealth' Gaṇeśa is a Marut, R̥bhukṣa, who wields a thunderbolt. This is a metaphor for his tusk used as a writing instrument. That Gaṇeśa is a member of Marut Gaṇa is signified on a sculptural frieze of Kanchipuram Kailāsanātha temple.

See:

Bhāratīya ādhyātmikā itihāsa of tridhātu Gaṇeśa, śarva Śiva, Rāma, Kr̥ṣṇa 
https://tinyurl.com/yc95usjo

Tridhātu as Gaṇeśa, Tridhātu on Indus Script metalwork for crucible steel, ādhyātmikā metaphor pr̥thvyaptejorūpadhātu (R̥gveda)
http://tinyurl.com/kptlbz3

Gaṇeśa is Brāhmī scribe of Mahābhārata in the tradition of Indus Script cipher of Bronze Age
https://tinyurl.com/y79j8rxp

http://sanskritdocuments.org/mirrors/mahabharata/mahabharata-sarit.html

Gaṇeśa -- the leader of Marut Gaṇa, a scribe with dāt, an ivory stylus -- and Kṣṇadwaipāyana Vyāsa -- the black narrator, a Ganga-island dweller --  unite together after Gaṇeśa consents to be a scribe utteringom and together start with an invocation for success to Nara and Nārāyaṇa (nārāyaṇaṃ namaskṛtya naraṃ caiva narottamam; 1.1.0) and to goddess Sarasvatī (devīṃ sarasvatīṃ caiva tato jayam udīrayet; 1.1.0). Om is part of the iconography, pratimā, 'ādhyātmikā symbol' which refers to ātman (soul, self within) and Brahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge). So, they start with ओम् Om pratimā which is प्रणव, praṇava. Om is the last sound a Yogi hears before entering the state of Turīya level of language, script and reality. The mystic syllable is affirmation of something divine in the narration and scripted text of Mahābhārata.

Why does Gaṇeśa uttar Om assenting to be a scribe of Vyasa's oral narrative?

Om (ॐ) is the pratigara (agreement) with a hymn. Likewise is tatha (so be it) with a song. But Om is something divine, and tatha is something human.
— Aitareya Aranyaka 23.6

तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥

His word is Om.

— Yogasutra 1.27

ओं नमः (Oṃ namaḥ) Siddhanam (6 syllables), Om Nhi (2 syllables) and just Om (1 syllable) are the short forms of the Paramesthi-Mantra, also called Namokar Mantra or Navkar Mantra in Jainism

"Om Mani Padmi Hum" to be AUM,  the totality of sound, existence and consciousness in Bauddham

Oankar ('the Primal Sound') created Brahma, Oankar fashioned the consciousness,
From Oankar came mountains and ages, Oankar produced the Vedas,
By the grace of Oankar, people were saved through the divine word,
By the grace of Oankar, they were liberated through the teachings of the Guru.

— Ramakali Dakkhani, Adi Granth 929-930, Translated by Pashaura Singh.

Tamil version of the great epic venerates Gaṇeśa as scribe of the epic:

The information is given in the very first verse of Villi Bharatham and is quite famous as the "Kadavul Vaazhththu" (Prayer to the Divine). A rough/prosaic but literal translation would be:
"To make it firm as the fifth along with the four Vedas
On this sea-girt earth,
When the Mahabharata was spoken by the King of sages
Who possess unfading askesis and Truth,
Vinayaka wrote with the Mount Meru
As the cadjan leaf,
And His own tusk as the sharp stylus.
I salute Him with shoreless love."

(fifth along with the four Vedas -- Bharatah Panchamao Vedah; Vyasa is described as the king of sages; the sages are described as possessing unfading askesis and Truth (vaadaa thavam meymmai muni raajan); Mount Meru is described as "edu" which is palm or cadjan leaf).
Some copies of the work tack this and the following verse which is also a prayer to Vinayaka to the verses of praise by Villi's son Varantharuvaar that are always printed as a preface to the work.
http://mahabharata-resources.org/variations/prema-villi1.html

Two anient manuscripts announce Gaṇeśa as scribe of the epic:

Arrival of Heramba Gaṇeśa to write Mahābhārata announced in ādiparva:
सौतिरुवाच ।
एवमाभाष्य तं ब्रह्मा जगाम स्वं निवेशनम् ।
भगवान्स जगत्स्रष्टा ऋषिदेवगणैः सह ॥
ततः सस्मार हेरम्बं व्यासः सत्यवतीसुतः ॥
स्मृतमात्रो गणेशानो भक्तचिन्तितपूरकः ।
तत्राजगाम विघ्नेशो वेदव्यासो यतः स्थितः ॥
पूजितश्चोपविष्टश्च व्यासेनोक्तस्तदानघ ।
लेखको भारतस्यास्य भव त्वं गणनायक ॥
मयैव प्रोच्यमानस्य मनसा कल्पितस्य च ॥
श्रुत्वैतत्प्राह विघ्नेशो यदि मे लेखनी क्षणम् ।
लिखतो नावतिष्ठेत तदा स्यां लेखको ह्यहम् ॥

व्यासोऽप्युवाच तं देवमबुद्ध्वा मा लिख क्वचित् ।
ओमित्युक्त्वा गणेशोपि बभूव किल लेखकः ॥
ग्रन्थग्रन्थिं तदा चक्रे मुनिर्गूढं कुतूहलात् ।
यस्मिन्प्रतिज्ञया प्राह मुनिर्द्वैपायनस्त्विदम् ॥
अष्टौ श्लोकसहस्राणि अष्टौ श्लोकशतानि च ।
अहं वेद्मि शुको वेत्ति संजयो वेत्ति वा न वा ॥
तच्छ्लोककूटमद्यापि ग्रथितं सुदृढं मुने ।
भेत्तुं न शक्यतेऽर्थस्यं गूढत्वात्प्रश्रितस्य च ॥
सर्वज्ञोपि गणेशो यत्क्षणमास्ते विचारयन् ।
तावच्चकार व्यासोपि श्लोकानन्यान्बहूनपि ॥
तस्य वृक्षस्य वक्ष्यामि शाखापुष्पफलोदयम् ।
स्वादुमेध्यरसोपेतमच्छेद्यममरैरपि ॥
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायं वृत्तान्तं सर्वपर्वणाम् ।
इदं द्वैपायनः पूर्वं पुत्रमध्यापयच्छुकम् ॥
ततोऽन्येभ्योऽनुरूपेभ्यः शिष्येभ्यः प्रददौ प्रभुषष्टिं शतसहस्राणि चकारान्यां स संहिताम् ।
त्रिंशच्छतसहस्रं च देवलोके प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥
पित्र्ये पञ्चदश प्रोक्तं रक्षोयक्षे चतुर्दश ।
एकं शतसहस्रं तु मानुषेषु प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥

http://sarit.indology.info/exist/apps/sarit/works/%C4%81diparva.html
 





http://asi.nic.in/asi_books/9002.pdf






Gaṇeśa with Gaṇa-s in Kailasanatha temple, Kanchipuram (685 to 705 CE, Rajasimha, Pallava dynasty)
Source: http://swamisblog.blogspot.in/2009/12/
These Marut Gaṇa are associated with the smelter work as seen on Bhuteshwar sculptural friezes.


 
Smelter. Kharva, dwarfs venerate linga atop smelter and tree (kuṭi 'tree' rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter'). Ekamukha Sivalinga atop smelter.

Gaṇeśa with Saptamatrikas, Aihole, Karnataka, 8th century CE.

The Devi Matrikas (flanked by Shiva and Ganesha), representing various Shakti aspects, from 9th-century Madhya Pradesh

Saptamātr̥kā-s with Gaṇeśa, at Panchalingeshvara temple in Karnataka.

Gaṇeśa. Entrance to Ellora caves.


Ellora Caves - Kailasa Temple - Group Of mātr̥kā-s with Gaṇeśa

Stone sculpture in National Museum, New Delhi, India. Śiva and Saptamātr̥kā-s.

Nataraja–Shiva (left) with Virabhadra and the first three mātr̥kā-s depicted with children – Ellora