New Publication: Treasure, Memory, Nature: Church Objects in the Middle Ages, by Philippe Cordez

Precious metalwork, relics, chess pieces, ostrich eggs, unicorn horns, and bones of giants were among the treasury objects accumulated in churches during the Middle Ages. The material manifestations of a Christian worldview, they would only later become naturalia and objets d’art, from the sixteenth and the nineteenth century onwards, respectively.

Philippe Cordez traces the rhetorical origination, economic development, and later history of church treasures, and explores the forms and functions of the memorial objects that constituted them. Such objects were a source of wonder for their contemporaries and remain so today, albeit for quite different reasons. Indeed, our fascination relates primarily to their epistemic and aesthetic qualities. Dealing also with these paradigm shifts, this study opens up new paths toward an archeology of current scholarly and museum practices.

For more information see the link below:

http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9781912554614-1

Online Lecture: A Rock-Hewn Revolution in Early Medieval Ethiopia, by Dr Mikael Muehlbauer, Courtauld Institute of Art, 28 October 2020, 5-6pm

Following the collapse of the late antique empire of Aksum, northern Ethiopia entered a “dark age” period, wherein little is known of the region. However, around the year 1000, a triad of cruciform churches were hewn out of rock in East Tigray, unparalleled in scale, form and the use of vaulting. This talk argue that these rock-cut churches were built in a period where Fatimid Egyptian investment in the Red Sea trade promoted a post-Aksumite state which in turn provided economic and political stability in northern Ethiopia. This also involved the sending of new ecclesiastical authorities from the Coptic Patriarchate, newly relocated to Fustat. These churches as such exhibit experimental forms in Ethiopian architecture, including spatial hierarchy based around a central module, and barrel vaulting: features which were not found in the region earlier. This paper locates these enigmatic buildings within broader historical citations and revivalism that occurred in the art and architecture of the Mediterranean, produced around the year 1000. It proposes that the radical plan and articulation the three churches embody was effectively a reinvention of the aisled cruciform churches of late antiquity, engineered through new architectural techniques introduced from Fatimid Egypt. 


Dr Mikael Muehlbauer is a specialist in the architecture of Medieval Ethiopia and Egypt. He is currently a Core-Lecturer in Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University where he earned his PhD in 2020. His book project is the first monographic study of cruciform churches in northern Ethiopia, informed by extensive field research and site documentation there. Mikael Muehlbauer’s research has been supported by grants and fellowships from Dumbarton Oaks, the American Research Center in Egypt, the Historians of Islamic Art Association, the Society of the Architectural Historians and the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. He has published articles in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, West 86th and Aethiopica. 

Find out more here.

Booking is essential – register here.

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 one hour 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. 

Call for Submissions: Authenticity Studies. International Journal of Archaeology and Art, Deadline 15 February 2021

Authenticity Studies-International Journal of Archaeology and Art is an international and independent journal, based on a peer review system and dedicated to the study of the methods of attribution and authentication of archaeological and art-historical artifacts.

Founded by Monica Salvadori (Editor in Chief), Federica Toniolo, Andrea Tomezzoli, Marta Nezzo, Monica Baggio and Luca Zamparo, Authenticity Studies is a journal of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padua and is published by Padova University Press. Authenticity Studies is an open access electronic journal (with ISSN). It is based on an anonymous and international double peer review system.

Authors submitting a contribution to Authenticity Studies guarantee the originality of their works, the intellectual property of the contribution and the absence of conflicts of interest or economic interests arising from the publication of the attribution/authentication. Authenticity Studies does not accept attribution or authentication researches of objects of uncertain or incorrectly reconstructed provenance (and/or ownership).

Authenticity Studies does not accept attributions or authentication of items offered for sale. Authenticity Studies publishes a yearly issue in October. Manuscripts must be sent to authenticity.studies.dbc@unipd.it by February 15th, 2021. Publication is free of charge.

Info: luca.zamparo@unipd.it (Managing Editor)

For more updates on Authenticity Studies see the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/MemO.UNIPD

CFP: Ninth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies (June 21-23, 2021 Saint Louis University Saint Louis, Missouri), Deadline December 31, 2020

The Ninth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies (June 21-23, 2021) is a convenient summer venue in North America for scholars to present papers, organize sessions, participate in roundtables, and engage in interdisciplinary discussion. The goal of the Symposium is to promote serious scholarly investigation into all topics and in all disciplines of medieval and early modern studies.

The plenary speakers for this year will be David Abulafia, of Cambridge University, and Barbara Rosenwein, of Loyal University, Chicago.

The Symposium is held annually on the beautiful midtown campus of Saint Louis University. On campus housing options include affordable, air-conditioned apartments as well as a luxurious boutique hotel. Inexpensive meal plans are also available, although there is a wealth of restaurants, bars, and cultural venues within easy walking distance of campus.

While attending the Symposium participants are free to use the Vatican Film Library, the Rare Book and Manuscripts Collection, and the general collection at Saint Louis University’s Pius XII Memorial Library.

The Ninth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies invites proposals for papers, complete sessions, and roundtables. Any topics regarding the scholarly investigation of the medieval and early modern world are welcome. Papers are normally twenty minutes each and sessions are scheduled for ninety minutes. Scholarly organizations are especially encouraged to sponsor proposals for complete sessions.

For more information please visit:

 https://www.smrs-slu.org/

Fellowship: Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellowship,CASVA – Deadline 15 November 2020

Washington, DC—The National Gallery of Art’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) has announced the creation of the Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellowship—an appointment for two consecutive academic years. This fellowship will be offered every other year and was made possible through the generosity of Frederick W. Beinecke and his family in response to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 75th Anniversary Endowment Challenge Grant.

During the first year, the Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellow will carry out research and writing for publication while residing in Washington, with access to the Gallery’s collection, library, and image collections as well as the Library of Congress and other regional research libraries and collections. In the second academic year, while continuing research and writing in residence, the Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellow will teach one course by arrangement at a neighboring university. While this fellowship supports research in the history, theory, and criticism of the visual arts of any period or culture, CASVA particularly encourages applications in underrepresented fields.

“In this moment of fewer opportunities for recent PhDs in art history and related fields, we are especially grateful for the opportunity to establish a new fellowship that enables them to carry out groundbreaking scholarship and to gain valuable teaching experience,” says Steven Nelson, dean of the Center.

The inaugural Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellowship will be awarded for the period September 2021–August 2023. Applications are open now and due by November 15, 2020.

See the link below for more information, and application instructions:

https://www.nga.gov/research/casva/fellowships/beinecke-postdoctoral-fellowships.html

Job: Project Manager, Network for Medieval Arts and Rituals, University of Cyprus – Deadline: 30 October 2020

The Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Cyprus has one opening for a Special Scientist (Administration Support Staff)to act as a Project Manager for the Twinning project: “Network for Medieval Arts and Rituals”(NetMAR), which is funded by the European Commission. The position is for 1 year with the possible renewal for another 2 years.

Applicants with an MA in Byzantine Studies, Medieval Studies or Classics are encouraged to apply. The selected candidate will also enroll in the graduate school of the University of Cyprus, and while acting as the NetMAR project manager s/he will work towards her/his Ph.D. in Byzantine Studies and the Latin East. Applicants must thus regularly follow the process of admission for Spring Semester 2021, in parallel with the submission of the application for the Project Manager position. Applicants are expected to write their Ph.D. thesis in English or Greek on a topic related to the NetMAR research clusters.

See the link below for further information:

Click to access ProjectManagerNetMAR.pdf

Online Lecture: Rethinking Byzantine Masculinities: Gender, Sexuality, Emotions, Devotion, 30 October 2020 2pm-3:30pm (ET)

Derek Krueger, Mark Masterson, Claudia Rapp, Shaun Tougher

(30 October 2020 2pm-3:30pm Eastern Time)

Rethinking Byzantine Masculinities: Gender, Sexuality, Emotions, Devotion, Derek Krueger, Mark Masterson, Claudia Rapp, Shaun Tougher

For the past five decades, Byzantinists have explored gender and sexuality. More recent work has turned to gendered emotions and religious devotion. While much of this research has its origin in women’s history, there has been an increasing interest in men, including monks and eunuchs, and in the articulations and performances of masculinity. 

This conversation brings together scholars across the globe who have actively promoted this research to reflect on their work and its evolving academic and nonacademic contexts.

Organizers: Claudia Rapp (University of Vienna and Austrian Academy of Sciences) and Derek Krueger (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)

Participants 

Derek Krueger is the Joe Rosenthal Excellence Professor of Religious Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He serves as chair of the United States National Committee for Byzantine Studies (2016–2021) and as a senior fellow at Dumbarton Oaks (2015–2021). His current project is entitled “Monastic Desires: Homoeroticism in Byzantine Ascetic Literature.”

Mark Masterson is senior lecturer of classics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His major research interest is same-sex desire between men in classical antiquity and medieval Byzantium. His Between Byzantine Men: Desire, Brotherhood, and Male Culture in the Medieval Empire is forthcoming from Routledge.

Claudia Rapp is professor of Byzantine studies at the University of Vienna, director of the Division of Byzantine Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and scholarly director of the Sinai Palimpsests Project. She serves as president of the Austrian Association for Byzantine Studies and as a senior fellow at Dumbarton Oaks (2019–2021). Her research and publications (including Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Monks, Laymen, and Christian Ritual) focus on social and cultural history, often from the angle of religious history and manuscript studies.

Shaun Tougher is professor of Late Roman and Byzantine history in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University. He works especially on Constantinian and Macedonian dynastic history and on eunuchs. His Roman Castrati: Eunuchs in the Roman Empire is forthcoming this autumn.

Register your attendance via the link below:

https://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/scholarly-activities/rethinking-byzantine-masculinities-gender-sexuality-emotions-devotion?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=byzmasculinities&utm_campaign=events

Online Lecture: Paroma Chatterjee, ‘Visual Mastery of the Hippodrome?: Rethinking the Imperial Image in Byzantium’, 9 October 2020, 12-1pm (EST)

This is the second in a series of Yale Lectures in Late Antique and Byzantine Art and Architecture. The lecture series is organized by Robert S. Nelson, Robert Lehman Professor in the History of Art, and Vasileios Marinis, Associate Professor of Christian Art and Architecture at the ISM and YDS. Support is provided by the Department of Classics and the Department of the History of Art.

Zoom lectures begin at 12 noon Eastern Time; registration is required. You can register at any time to join a lecture. Your registration is valid for the whole series; attend as many as you like.  

Paroma Chatterjee is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research focuses on artistic encounters in the medieval Mediterranean, medieval image theories, ekphrasis, relics and icons, and Byzantine sculpture, among other subjects. 

Respondent: Jacqueline Jung, Yale.

Click here for more information and how to register.

Conference: British Archaeological Association Post Graduate Conference 2020, Thursday & Friday, 19-20 November 2020, 1-5.15 pm (GMT)

We are excited to present a diverse conference which includes postgraduates and early career researchers in the fields of medieval history of art, architecture, and archaeology. The British Archaeological Association postgraduate conference offers an opportunity for research students at all levels from universities across the UK and abroad to present their research and exchange ideas.

This year the conference will take place online over two days: Thursday & Friday, 19-20 November 2020, beginning from 1pm (GMT)

Please register here: https://yale.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIlcuugqDsuGtUPD3L_NMpdKeDaCmZ6iwn9

Conference Programme

Thursday 19 November 2020, 1 -5.15 pm (GMT)

1:00 – 1:10 pm – Welcome

1:10 – 2:30 PM – Panel 1: Iconography: Transmission, Adaptation and Interpretation

Chair: Dr Emily Guerry (University of Kent)

  • Elena Lichmanova (School of History, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow), An Alternative to the Cross Pattern in Early Christian and Early Medieval Art
  • Nadezhda Tochilova (Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design), New perspectives on studying art of the Baltic region in the 10th -12th centuries: The issue of artistic interaction between Scandinavia and Ancient Rus´
  • Millie Horton Insch (UCL), Skeuomorphic Exchange Between Embroideries and Wall Paintings in Eleventh and Twelfth-Century England

2:30 – 2:55 pm – Break

3:00 – 4pm – Panel 2: Making and Meaning of Medieval Tombs

Chair: Dr Tom Nickson (Courtauld Institute of Art)

  • Jack Wilcox (University of Kent), The Mystery of the Tree of Jesse Tomb Slab in Lincoln Cathedral
  • Richard Asquith (Royal Holloway, University of London), Epigraphy, Executors, and Encounters: contextualising the trope of the ‘bad executor’ on pre-Reformation English tombs

4:00 – 4:15 pm – Break

4:15 – 5:15 pm – Panel 3: Visual Culture in English Religious Spaces

Chair: Dr Richard Plant (BAA. Publicity Officer)

  • Lydia McCutcheon (University of Oxford), Children and Families in the ‘Miracle Windows’ of Canterbury Cathedral
  • Crystal Hollis (University of Exeter), Graffiti as a Historical Resource: Parish History on Church Walls

5:15 pm – End

Friday 20 November 2020, 1 – 4.50pm (GMT)

1:00 – 1:10 pm – Welcome Back

1:10 – 3:00 pm – Panel 4: Encountering Architecture and the Urban Space

Chair: John McNeill (BAA. Honorary Secretary)

  • Giulia Bison (University of Leicester), Metalworking and the transformation of Late Antique Rome
  • Marta Vizzini (Università degli Studi di Firenze), A miniature Rome, away from Rome: Montefiascone and its medieval San Flaviano church
  • Thomas Pouyet (Université de Tours-CNRS), The Romanesque tower of the monastery of Cormery in the Loire valley: some architectural and liturgical aspects
  • Virginia Grossi (Scuola Normale Superiore – Università di Pisa) and Giuseppe Tumbiolo (University of Pisa), When colour matters: materials and historical significance of stone polychromy in medieval Pisa

3:00 – 3:20 pm – Break

3:20 – 4:40 pm – Panel 5: Art & Patronage of Royalty & Nobility

Chair: Dr. Jana Gajdošová (Sam Fogg, London)

  • Cécile Lagane (Centre Michel de Bouärd – CRAHAM / UMR 6273 Caen), The “throne of Dagobert”: real royal artefact or tool of propaganda by Suger?
  • Laura Castro Royo (University of St Andrews), Royal Symbols from Above: Sīmurgh and the representation of Kings in medieval Persian manuscripts
  • Dr Katherine A. Rush (University of California, Riverside), Ivories and Inventories: Tracing Production and Patronage in Late Medieval French Household Records

4:40 – 4:50 pm – Closing Remarks

Don’t forget to register here: https://yale.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIlcuugqDsuGtUPD3L_NMpdKeDaCmZ6iwn9

BAA postgraduate conference 2020Download

New Publication: The Ancient Throne: The Mediterranean, Near East, and Beyond, from the 3rd Millennium BCE to the 14th Century CE, edited by L. Naeh and D. Brostowsky Gilboa

Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, April 2016
International Series OREA 14. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

The volume features studies focusing on specific thrones known from historical texts, artistic depictions, or excavations, or that offer an overview of the role of thrones from as early as ancient Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BCE to as late as Iran and China in the 14th century CE. Its diverse articles all present thrones as a meaningful category of material culture, one that may inspire both inter-cultural and intra-cultural insights on how types of chairs may embody or induce notions of kingship and a range of concepts pertaining to the religious, ideological, and social spheres.

Table of Contents

Preface by the Series Editor

Liat Naeh – Dana Brostowsky Gilboa: Preface

Liat Naeh: In the Presence of the Ancient Throne: An Introduction

Claudia E. Suter: The Play with Throne Designs in Third Millennium BCE Mesopotamia

Caroline J. Tully – Sam Crooks: Enthroned Upon Mountains: Constructions of Power in the Aegean Bronze Age

Christina Ruth Johnson: To Sit in Splendour: The Ivory Throne as an Agent of Identity in Tomb 79 from Salamis, Cyprus

Yael Young: Throne Among the Gods: A Short Study of the Throne in Archaic Greek Iconography

Aaron Koller: Thrones and Crowns: On the Regalia of the West Semitic Monarchy

Elizabeth Simpson: The Throne of King Midas

Niccolò Manassero: The Ivory Thrones from Parthian Nisa: Furniture Design between Philhellenism and Iranian Revival

Sheila Blair: Women Enthroned: From Mongol to Muslim

Allegra Iafrate: Solomon as Kosmokratōr and the Fashioning of his Mechanical Throne from a Comparative Perspective

Index

More information can be found here.

ISBN 978-3-7001-8556-7
Print Edition
ISBN 978-3-7001-8802-5
Online Edition
OREA 14 
2020,  216 Seiten mit zahlr. Farb- und s/w-Abb.29,7x21cm, gebunden, englisch
€  120,–