The British Archaeological Association will hold the seventh in its series of biennial International Romanesque conferences in association with the British School at Rome on 28-30 March, 2022.
The theme of the conference is Image and Narrative in Romanesque Art, and the aim is to examine the deployment and nature of imagery in the 11th and 12th centuries. While illustrated codices, sequential pictorial narratives, apse mosaics, devotional statues were well established before c.1000, several important new image types and settings came into being over the Romanesque period – moralizing programmes, historiated cloisters, figuratively enriched portals, imagery in glass. How might we understand image and narrative in the Latin West between c.1000 and c.1200? We welcome proposals for papers concerned with narrative modes, the significance of spatial positioning, accessibility and visibility, the uses and physical trappings of devotional images, the relationship between static and portable forms, and the extent to which media play a role in the development or importation of new iconographical formulae. Are images invested with singular meanings, or are they intentionally polysemous? Does the interest in architectural ‘articulation’ initiate a new understanding of the expressive and aesthetic potential of imagery, and/or emphasise its didactic purpose? Are viewers provided with guidance as to interpretation – through inscriptions or compositional and visual triggers? What are the preconditions for change – theology, monasticism, political and ecclesiastical reform? How does medium and setting affect imagery?
Proposals for papers of up to 30 minutes in duration should be sent to John McNeill and Grazia Fachechi on romanesque2022@thebaa.org by 31 July, 2021. Papers should be in English. Decisions on acceptance will be made by the end of August.
The Conference will be held in the British School at Rome (immediately north of the Borghese Gardens) from 28-30 March, with the opportunity to stay on for two days of visits to buildings in and around Rome on 31 March and 1 April.
Medieval Art Research 