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Studies of medieval art have often focused on works of art featuring, or patronised by, those in positions of authority. More recently scholars have moved towards a wider understanding of the ways in which works of art established a sense of authority and impacted the identity of the communities who viewed and used them. However, concepts of ‘authority’ and ‘identity’, and their complex interrelationship, are rarely interrogated in a holistic way.
The two concepts are often inextricably linked. Identities were shaped by those in positions of authority; images endowed with ‘authority’ could influence how those interacting with them self- identified; patrons claimed authority through images, often forging their public identity as charitable, pious figures. But what does it mean to claim authority in the Middle Ages? And what exactly did it mean to have an identity? Even today, these concepts are complex and multi-faceted – most notably one self-identification can differ dramatically from that imposed by others.
In this colloquium, we want to address these topics afresh, exploring how art and material culture reflect and produce concepts of identity and authority. We will also consider how alternative perspectives could reinforce or subvert ideas of an authoritative voice or image.
The colloquium begins at 10am at The Courtauld Institute of Art in Vernon Square.
Conference Programme
Session 1 – Power of Popes and the Shaping of Monastic Identity (chaired by Sam Truman, Courtauld PhD student)
- Emma Iadanza, Courtauld PhD student, ‘A New Reconstruction of Leo X’s Liturgical Manuscripts’.
- Vittoria Magnoler, PhD student, University of Genoa, ‘Stating the Authority of Aquinas. The Triumph by Bonaiuti as an Identity Manifesto of the Dominicans of Santa Maria Novella’.
- Blanche Lagrange, PhD Student, University of Poitiers (CESCM), ‘The reform at Saint-Bertin during the 10th century: new institutional authority and identity in Boulogne-sur-Mer, BM, MS. 107’.
12.15 – 13.15: Break
Session 2 – Religion and Shaping of Individual Identity (chaired by Sophia Dumoulin, Courtauld PhD student)
- Sophia Adams, Courtauld PhD student, ‘“Þat tyme þis schrowyll I dyd wryte”: Canon Percival of Coverham’s Prayer Roll, Morgan Library and Museum, Glazier MS 39’.
- Natalia Muñoz-Rojas, Courtauld PhD candidate, ‘ “We first settlers”: The altarpieces of San Bartolomé and Virgen de la Antigua in the Parish Church of San José in Granada’.
- Lucy Splarn, PhD student in the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent, ‘The identity of pilgrims through the art of souvenirs’.
14.45 – 15.15: Break
Session 3 – Church Architecture and Shaping of Community Identity (chaired by Helen Dejean)
- Florence Eccleston, Courtauld PhD student, ‘Moral and Political Identity in Late Medieval English Wall Paintings of Sin’.
- Klaudia Sniezek, PhD student, Jagiellonian University in Cracow, ‘Unveiling Identities in Stone: Burial in the Portico of Czerwinsk Abbey’.
- Isabelle Chisholm, MPhil student, University of Cambridge, ‘The “Afterlife” of The Rajhrad Dormition of the Virgin (1375-1380): defining Czech Nationaism Across Transcultural Impulses’.
16.45: Drinks Reception
Organised by Courtauld PhD students Jane Stewart, Laura Feigen, Irakli Tezelashvili and Florence Eccleston.
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