Medieval Art Research

Online Conference: Germanias & Other Renaissance Revolts: Art & Architecture, University of Valencia, 3-4 December 2020

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Revolt of the Germanías (1519–1522), or ‘Brotherhoods’, this seminar focuses on the precedents, events and aftermath of this rebellion and some other European upheavals in art, architecture and visual culture, in order to evaluate the unique features of the Valencian revolt and its commonalities with other contemporary uprisings in Spain and the rest of Europe.

Indeed, this period appears to be a turning point in terms of major artistic changes requiring approaches that could assess the impact of war, of social and political upheaval and of religious unrest on art and architecture. Not only new objects, images and buildings from that period are considered, but also the reception of the past and the cultural memory of these events will be object of study.

What role did patrons, clients and artists play in visual culture, in architecture and in shaping the urban landscape? While infrastructure was being damaged, Moorish communities were being attacked, mosques converted into churches and palaces and churches plundered, what role did visual culture play in these conflicts? How were commemorative and exaltation programmes, ex-votos and the historical illustration and recreation of past events negotiated in the context of the birth of national consciousness and modern nation states?

International and Spanish experts from several disciplines will address these and related issues in a representative number of European conflicts during the Renaissance. Examining the effects of these difficult social circumstances on artistic destruction and (re)construction and comparing them from different perspectives will be one of the major aims of this international event.

See the conference programme here.

Registration

Attendance is free, but registration before 2 December 2020 is required.

Please send an email to germanias@uv.es with ‘webinar registration’ in the subject line, and in the email body, include your full name and academic institution (or indicate that you are an independent scholar).

Once you have provided these details, you will receive a link to attend the conference. After the webinar, participants can claim a certificate of attendance, if needed, as long as they have followed 70% of the sessions.

Online Conference: The church of Santa Maria dei Servi & the Venetian community of the Servants of Mary, 3-4 December 2020

When the Servites arrived in Venice in 1314 they were a small religious community. Thanks to the immediate support they received from both the local authorities and population, they settled in the neighborhood of Cannaregio, in the parish once of San Marziale, where they build their first wooden oratory in 1316. In 1330 they began the foundation of their mother church, Santa Maria dei Servi, a monumental Gothic construction which extended for three quarters of the Servite island and whose massive proportions are still perceivable in Jacopo de Barbari’s View of Venice (1500). Once completed around mid-sixteenth century, Santa Maria dei Servi could be compared for its architectural magnificence and its splendid furnishings to the main churches of the other Mendicant Orders, first and foremost the Dominican Santi Giovanni e Paolo and the Franciscan Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

What remains of the Servite Church today is a pale memory of its past grandeur. After the fall of the Republic of Venice and the subsequent Napoleonic suppressions, Santa Maria dei Servi was slowly torn down, its altars dismantled or sold in pieces, and all the paintings and sculptures either lost or disseminated in Venice or elsewhere. Fragments of the perimeter’s walls, two portals, and the outer shell of the Chapel of Lucchesi merged with the Institute Canal-Marovich. This conference has the primary scope to reconstruct the history of the church and its convent, which was the headquarter of the Servite Order in Venice. From their arrival in Venice until the eighteenth century, the Servite friars played a major role in the city’s political, social-economic, and cultural context. The prestigious commissions engaged by the friars for the decoration of their church (such as the numerous altars and the Doges’ tombs), the relationships established with a number of powerful patrician families, and the friars’ literary production serve to attest the predominance of their order in the lagoon.

The conference will take place online, using Zoom platform. To participate, you must register by filling the form available here by December 1st 2020.

Fill in the form indicating all the sessions of the conference you intend to attend. Participants will receive an email with instructions on how to access the telematic platform.

PROGRAM

3 December 2020, 9.30-13.00

SESSION 1: “I Servi e Venezia: il radicamento della comunità e la chiesa nel XIV secolo. Prima parte”

9.30-9.45: Welcome
9.45-10.00: Introduction, Eveline Baseggio Omiccioli, Tiziana Franco, Luca Molà
10.00: Raffaella Citeroni (Padova), “L’arrivo dei Servi di Maria nel Veneto e il loro insediamento a Venezia”
10.30-11.00: Ludovica Galeazzo (Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies) “L’isola dei Servi: trasformazioni del tessuto urbano e sociale tra XIV e XIX secolo”
11.00-11.30: break
11.30-12.00: Davide Tramarin (Università degli Studi di Padova), “Santa Maria dei Servi. L’architettura della chiesa e del convento nel contesto della Venezia tardogotica”
12.00-12.30:Angela Squassina (Università Iuav di Venezia), Francesco Trovò (Soprintendenza ABAP per il Comune di Venezia e laguna), “La muratura della chiesa dei Servi nella storia della costruito materiale di Venezia. Conoscenza e valorizzazione”
12.30-13.00: discussion

3 December 2020, 15.00-18.00

SESSION 2: “I Servi e Venezia: il radicamento della comunità e la chiesa nel XIV secolo. Seconda parte”

15.00-15.30: Tiziana Franco (Università degli Studi di Verona), “Le tombe di epoca medievale”
15.30-16.00: Eveline Baseggio Omiccioli (Fashion Institute of Technology, NY), “The choir screen at Santa Maria dei Servi: its layout, decoration, and function”
16.00-16.30: break
16.30-17.00: Luca Molà (Warwick University), “Le manifatture nell’area di S. Fosca: il saponifico della famiglia Vendramin (XIV-XVI secolo)”
17.00-17.30: Valentina Baradel (Università degli Studi di Padova), “L’oratorio del Volto Santo: decorazione e culto”
17.30-18.00 discussion

4 December 2020, 9.30-13.00

SESSION 3: “La chiesa dei Servi. Arte, devozione e cultura dal XV al XVII secolo. Prima parte”

10.00-10.30: Valentina Sapienza (Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia), “Una pala per la scuola dei Tintori ai Servi : Leonardo Corona e l’eredità dei grandi maestri veneziani del Cinquecento”
10.30-11.00: Damir Tulić (Università degli Studi di Rijeka/Fiume), “Le sculture e gli altari del Settecento nella chiesa di Santa Maria dei Servi”.
11.00-11.30: break
11.30-12.00: Manlio Leo Mezzacasa (Università degli Studi di Padova), “Un Tesoro perduto: le orificerie sacre della Chiesa dei Servi”
12.00-12.30: Alessia Giachery (Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venezia), “Libri dispersi e libri ritrovati: sulle tracce dei Serviti di Venezia”
12.30-13.00 discussion

4 December 2020, 15.00-18.00

SESSION 4: “La chiesa dei Servi. Arte, devozione e cultura dal XV al XVII secolo. Seconda parte”

15.00-15.30: Liv Deborah Walberg (Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania), “The Cult of the Madonna of Loreto in Early Modern Venice and the Cecchini Altar at Santa Maria dei Servi”
15.30-16.00: Amy Namowitz Worthen (Des Moines Art Center), “Gasparino Borro at Santa Maria dei Servi”.
16.00-16.30: Eloise Davies (Peterhouse, University of Cambridge), “Sarpi, Micanzio and Bedell: an Anglo-Venetian encounter at the monastery of Santa Maria dei Servi, 1607–10”
16.30-17.00: break
17.00-17.30: Alessandra Schiavon (Archivio di Stato di Venezia), “Santa Maria dei Servi: la soppressione della comunità e la conseguente dispersione del suo patrimonio storico artistico”
17.30-18.00: Nora Gietz (Warwick University), “Il destino dei Servi in età napoleonica (1806-14) e oltre”
18.00-18.30: discussion

Online Conference: ‘The Afterlife of Medieval Sculpture’, 7th Annual Ards Conference, 3, 4 & 10 December 2020, 13:00 – 18:00 (CET)

The 7th ARDS annual colloquium, which celebrates new research in the field of renaissance and medieval sculpture will focus on the theme of the Afterlife of medieval sculpture. At the Ards conference in 2017 in Paris we already touched upon the theme of the Collecting of Medieval sculpture and at Ards 2018 in Utrecht, Michael Rief provided us with a very interesting keynote on the repurposing of (amongst others) some Mechelen Christ child statues. This year we want to explore the theme of the ‘nachleben’ (afterlife) of medieval sculpture in more depth. The idea of ‘nachleben’ is to be understood in a broader sense than the pure Warburgian interpretation. Not only the ‘nachleben’ of the image, but also that of the object is of interest for the study of sculpture.

How were medieval and late-gothic sculptures used, understood, copied, altered, re-used, recycled, repurposed and treated (or mistreated) in the centuries after the moment of their production? From the medieval period until the present, Gothic art has undergone shifts in taste and appreciation. Nowadays prices for medieval art are soaring at auctions but in the 17th and 18th centuries many churches and cloisters were refurbished in the style of the period and medieval art and furniture had to make room. And e.g. in the 1790’s many churches were stripped of their medieval furniture (if extant) and they were sometimes sold by the pound if not thrown away or burnt. Even in the fifteenth century, some sculptures made in the earlier Middle Ages were restored, remade, cleaned and polished, whereas others were neglected.

The conference committee consists of Dr. Jessica Barker (The Courtauld Institute of Art), Dr. Peter Carpreau (M Leuven/Ards), Dra. Marjan Debaene (M Leuven/Ards), Drs. Lloyd De Beer (The British Museum) and Dra. Michaela Zöschg (Victoria and Albert Museum).

We had a record number of proposals and were able to select a fascinating and diverse program in 4 large thematic sessions, with 25 speakers, over 3 conference days via Teams, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

See the programme here.

Call for Papers: 10th Annual Háskóli Íslands Student Conference on the Medieval North, Deadline 5 December 2020

We invite submissions to our 10th annual Háskóli Íslands Student Conference on the Medieval North, which will take place at the University of Iceland April 15–17, 2021. Featured are keynote speakers Dr. Luke John Murphy and Dr. Beeke Stegmann.

This student-organized three-day event is intended as an interdisciplinary forum for postgraduate students (MA- and PhD-level) of Old Norse and medieval Scandinavia. The aim is to create an environment where postgraduate students can present their research projects to an international academic audience and to engage with fellow Early Career Researchers. The conference was established as an interdisciplinary forum for students of Old Norse and Medieval Scandinavia including but not limited to Archaeology, History, (Comparative) Literature, Old Nordic Religion, Linguistics, Editing and Digitization, Manuscript Studies, Gender Studies and Modern Reception Studies. Students who have presented papers at an academic conference before are especially encouraged to submit.

In accordance with the HÍ Student Conference‘s previous instalments, the theme of this year is left broadly open for any independent research related to the medieval North. This year we will celebrate our 10th anniversary and are excited to expand our event for our audience at home and abroad. Ours is a vibrantly international conference attended by speakers from many different countries, and interested students from all over the world are encouraged to submit proposals.

Submission Guidelines

If you wish to present a paper or poster at the conference, please e-mail an abstract of 250-300 words, alongside a brief biography containing your name, institution, and program of study, to <histudentconference@gmail.com> by December 5, 2020. If you were an accepted presenter for last year’s COVID-cancelled conference and would like to present the same paper, simply resubmit the same abstract and it will automatically be accepted. The student conference committee reserves the right to make selections based on timely submissions and quality of abstracts. Make sure to read the – submission guidelines that can be found at the following URL: histudentconference.wordpress.com/abstract-submission-guidelines.

The languages of the conference are Icelandic and English. Individual paper presentations will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Students may apply for either a paper or a poster; the conference committee may offer a poster presentation to some paper applicants. In light of the recent rise of global COVID-19 cases, we are now also accepting submissions for virtual presentations. Further information can be found on the conference blog at <histudentconference.wordpress.com>. Please direct any further inquiries to the student conference committee via e-mail (see above).

Job: Professor in European, Mediterranean Medieval, or Early Modern Art History, University of Hong Kong, deadline 10 December 2020

Applications are invited for appointment as Professor/Associate Professor on tenure terms or Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in European and/or Mediterranean Medieval or Early Modern Art History in the School of Humanities (Art History) (Ref.: 502323), to commence on September 1, 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter. Appointment as Assistant Professor will be made on a three-year fixed-term basis, with the possibility of renewal and consideration for tenure before the expiry of a second three-year fixed-term contract.

Applicants must have the Ph.D. degree in hand at the time of appointment. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to rigorous and innovative research, and to high standards of teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Teaching load is three courses per year and all instruction is in English.

Find out more here.

Job: Assistant Professor of Ancient or Medieval Art and Architecture, Tufts University, deadline 15 December 2020

The Department of History of Art and Architecture at Tufts University invites applications to fill a full‐time faculty position at the rank of assistant professor, starting in September 2021 in the field of Ancient or Medieval art and architecture. Particular interest in issues of cultural heritage, digital humanities, the history of technology, premodern race-making and diasporas, and cultural exchanges/ interactions. Primary region of focus is open. Teach four courses a year, from broad undergraduate surveys to graduate seminars, and advise at both the undergraduate and MA levels.

Qualifications
Ph.D. in ancient or medieval art and architecture and evidence of scholarly potential or accomplishment required. Teaching experience and ability to engage successfully with diverse students with different pedagogies.

Find out more and apply here.

Online Book Launch: Continuous Page: Bringing Art Online in a Pandemic, 23 November 2020, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm (GMT)

To celebrate the launch of the latest volume in the Courtauld Books Online series—Continuous Page: Scrolls and Scrolling from Papyrus to Hypertext—this roundtable discussion will reflect on art history’s recent rush online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As well as being joined by the book’s contributors, a panel of experts from various fields of digital art history will consider the impact of the pandemic in their different lines of work, from museums and journals to digital research projects and public history.

Together, we hope to offer a variety of solutions for crafting an intelligent and responsible digital art history in these troubled times, thinking through how in spite of the devastating lockdowns and closures of recent months, new opportunities are presenting themselves for our community to flourish online.

This is a live online event. Please register for more details. The platform and log in details will be sent to attendees at least 48 hours before the event. Please note that registration closes 30 minutes before the event start time. If you have not received the log in details or have any further queries, please contact researchforum@courtauld.ac.uk.

Organiser: Jack Hartnell – UEA / Editor, Continuous Page

New Publication: ‘Tree of Jesse Iconography in Northern Europe in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries’ by Susan L. Green

This book is the first detailed investigation to focus on the late medieval use of Tree of Jesse imagery, traditionally a representation of the genealogical tree of Christ. In northern Europe, from the mid-fifteenth to the early sixteenth centuries, it could be found across a wide range of media. Yet, as this book vividly illustrates, it had evolved beyond a simple genealogy into something more complex, which could be modified to satisfy specific religious requirements. It was also able to function on a more temporal level, reflecting not only a clerical preoccupation with a sense of communal identity, but a more general interest in displaying a family’s heritage, continuity and/or social status. It is this dynamic and polyvalent element that makes the subject so fascinating.

Introduction

Chapter One: The Tree of Jesse and the Speculum Humanae Salvationis

Chapter Two: The Tree of Jesse and Saint Anne

Chapter Three: The Tree of Jesse, the Carmelites, and other Religious Orders

Chapter Four: The Tree of Jesse and the Schöllenbach Altarpiece: A Case Study

Chapter Five: The Tree of Jesse and Antwerp Carved Altarpieces

Chapters Six: The Tree of Jesse in Northern France

Conclusion

Susan L. Green is an associate lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art and visiting lecturer at the New College of the Humanities, London.

ISBN 9780367664732
Published September 29, 2020 by Routledge
256 Pages

Find out more and order here.

Online Conference: Precious and Rare: Islamic Metalwork from The Courtauld, 26 November 2020, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm (GMT)

This symposium will explore curatorial, practical and public engagement aspects of The Courtauld’s touring display of Islamic metalwork to four venues in the UK. Beginning with a keynote lecture uncovering the historic importance of the works on display, the rest of the talks will reflect on the opportunities and results achieved in each instance, alongside the challenges posed by the ongoing Covid-19 emergency. As such, the event will be of particular interest to students in the humanities and colleagues in the museum and heritage sector, from curators and collection managers to educators and public engagement professionals.

Conference Programme

Welcoming Remarks

Dr Alexandra Gerstein, McQueens Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Courtauld &
Dr Rebecca Bridgman, Curatorial and Exhibitions Manager, Birmingham Museums Trust and Chair of the Islamic Art and Material Culture Subject Specialist Network

Keynote: Uncovering the inlays

Professor James Allan, Emeritus Professor of Eastern Art, University of Oxford

The Courtauld’s collection of inlaid Islamic metalwork is very small but consists of a group of exquisite pieces. Not only are they a joy in themselves, but they are also rich with associations, and lend themselves to small exhibitions on particular themes. These stretch from collectors, like Thomas Gambier Parry, who gathered these pieces together, to how such inlaid objects were actually made, by whom they were made (one is signed by Mahmud al-Kurdi – but who was he?), how they were traded and used (and their use varied in different cultures!), and the artistic significance of their decoration. These are some of the ‘inlays’ which we can uncover, ‘inlays’ whose themes we can draw out to enthuse and educate our audiences and visitors.

Panel of four talks

Moderated by Dr Francesca Leoni, Assistant Keeper and Curator of Islamic Art, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

‘Precious and Rare’: Layouts, Logistics and Lockdowns
Amy Graves (Exhibition Registrar, The Courtauld)

Islamic Metalwork in Bradford: Heritage, Culture and People
Sonja Kielty (Volunteer Co-ordinator, Libraries, Museums and Galleries, Bradford Museums and Galleries)

Cultures in Conversation: Volunteers and Community Engagement at the History of Science Museum
Federica Gigante (Curator of the Collection from the Islamic World, History of Science Museum, University of Oxford)

Curating ‘Precious and Rare’ at the Holburne Museum during the Covid-19 crisis
Sylvie Broussine (Assistant Curator, The Holburne Museum, Bath)

Discussion and Q&A

Closing remarks

Professor Sussan Babaie, Professor of the Arts of Iran and Islam, The Courtauld.

Online Lecture: ‘The Munich Talmud: a unique manuscript and its place in Jewish Book History’ with Professor Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, 25 November 2020, 6:00-7:30 pm (GMT)

Lecture from Judith Olszowy-Schlanger (Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies) about this 14th century manuscript, one of the most important and intriguing medieval Hebrew works in existence.

The Hebrew manuscript 95 of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek of Munich (BSB Cod. Hebr. 95) or the “Munich Talmud” is without doubt one of most important and intriguing medieval Hebrew manuscripts in existence. Its 14th-century scribe accomplished a challenging feat: in a relatively small volume he copied the six orders of the Mishna, all the existing Gemara Tractates of the Babylonian Talmud, and added some more extra-canonical texts. In this lecture, we will discuss the possible origin of this manuscript, its unique material features and its unique place in the history of the founding text of Judaism, the Babylonian Talmud.

Professor Judith Olszowy-Schlanger FBA (PhD University of Cambridge, 1995) President of the Oxford Centre of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, and Professor of Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscript Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris. She has published extensively on Hebrew codicology, palaeography, diplomatics, Cairo Geniza Studies and the study of Hebrew among medieval Chrsitian Hebraists. She is the head of the international project “Books within Books: Hebrew Fragments in European Libraries”.