CFP: ‘Across Seas, Across Cultures: The Transmission of Female Saint Cults from East to West’, Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, deadline 10 August 2025

 Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America in San Francisco, 19-21 February 2026.

Organiser: Ioanna Christoforaki, Academy of Athens

This panel invites papers that explore the cross-cultural transmission, reception, and reinvention of female saint cults from the Christian East to the Latin West in the centuries leading up to and following the Crusades, with particular attention to their resonance during the Renaissance (1300-1500 C.E.). During this period of intensified contact between East and West—through crusades, pilgrimage, trade, and manuscript circulation—the cults of women, such as Catherine of Alexandria, Thecla, Barbara, Pelagia, Marina/Margaret of Antioch and others, were reimagined to suit the spiritual, political, and cultural needs of Latin Christendom.

The panel seeks to explore how these Eastern-origin saints were integrated into the devotional, artistic, and intellectual frameworks of Renaissance Europe, and how their stories were reshaped through translation, visual culture, and localized liturgical practice. We are particularly interested in papers that interrogate the interplay between gender, sanctity, and cross-cultural exchange in the construction of saintly authority during this transformative period. We seek contributions that examine how these cults were transmitted, adapted, and appropriated across cultural, linguistic, and theological divides. Interdisciplinary approaches are particularly welcome.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • The role of the Crusades, pilgrimage and holy sites in the movement of relics and saint cults from East to West
  • The role of Crusader memory and pilgrimage in sustaining or reshaping devotion
  • Visual representations of these saints in Renaissance Italy, Iberia, or Northern Europe
  • Theological or political uses of female saintly models in the context of ecclesiastical reform or royal patronage
  • Gendered readings of martyrdom, asceticism, and virginity across cultures
  • Monastic, mendicant, or courtly promotion of Eastern female saints
  • Gender, virginity, and martyrdom in cross-cultural saint narratives
  • Eastern case studies of individual saints and their cultic journeys
  • Political and theological motivations behind the promotion of Eastern female saints
  • Comparative East–West perspectives on virginity, martyrdom, and asceticism

Submission Guidelines

Proposals should include:

  • Paper Title (15-word maximum)
  • Abstract (150–200 words)
  • Curriculum Vitae (in .pdf or .doc format, maximum 2 pages)
  • PhD or other terminal degree completion date (past or expected)
  • Primary discipline

Abstract Submission: Please submit paper title, abstract and CV to ichristoforaki@yahoo.co.uk or christof@academyofathens

Deadline: 10 August 2025. 

Papers should be no longer than 20 minutes and must be delivered in English. Presenters must be RSA members at the time of the conference.

We welcome proposals from scholars across disciplines focused but not limited to art history, history, literary studies, theology, and manuscript studies. Graduate students and early-career researchers are especially encouraged to apply.

CFP: ‘Troubling Desires: Queer and Trans Approaches to Medieval Art’, Congress of the Swiss Association of Art Historians, deadline 12 September 2025.

6th Swiss Congress for Art History, 7 – 9 September 2026, University of Geneva, Uni Mail

Congress of the Swiss Association of Art Historians (ASHHA) in collaboration with the Art History Unit, University of Geneva

The 6th Swiss Congress for Art History will be held in Geneva from 7 to 9 September 2026. Organized jointly by the Swiss Association of Art Historians (VKKS | ASHHA | ASSSA) and the Division of Art History at the University of Geneva, the congress is aimed at art historians, art researchers and experts from all fields (including both practice and theory), and all institutions. 

Find out more about the congress here. 

Papers are invited for this session which aims to foster exchanges between those who work on gender and sexuality in the field of medieval art history. It is premised on the idea that the tools required to study premodern sexuality and gender in and as related to the visual arts are not necessarily those that have been so central to modern and contemporary histories of these topics. As such, this session aims to present a series of case studies that offer new approaches to works of art and explore medieval configurations of sexuality and gender that are distinct from and complementary to contemporary studies in this field.

Deadline is 12 September 2025.

You are invited to submit proposals for 20-minute papers. Acceptance decisions will be made by the conveners of the individual sessions, supervised by the advisory board of the 6th Swiss Congress for Art History.

We welcome contributions in German, English, French, and Italian, in the hope of assembling multilingual sessions that reflect the topical and institutional diversity of the field and foster young academics.

Please send an abstract (1 page, max. 3ʹ000 characters) and a short curriculum vitae including institutional affiliation and contact details to the relevant session conveners by 12 September 2025.

Please also CC the Congress Bureau of the 6th Swiss Congress for Art History in Geneva at vkks2026@unige.ch. All speakers will receive a contribution to their travel and accommodation costs and will be exempt from the congress registration fee.

Congress Direction: Régine Bonnefoit (VKKS / Université de Neuchâtel); Frédéric Elsig, Marie Theres Stauffer, and Giovanna Zapperi (Université de Genève).

Congress Organization: The scientific assistants of the Division of Art History at the University of Geneva; Catherine Nuber (VKKS). 

Advisory Board: Jan Behrendt, Marie-Eve Celio-Scheurer, and Milan Garcin (Musée d’art et d’histoire, Genève); Régine Bonnefoit (VKKS / Université de Neuchâtel); Lionel Bovier (Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Genève); Babina Chaillot-Calame (Service cantonal des monuments historiques du Canton de Genève); Frédéric Elsig, Marie Theres Stauffer, and Giovanna Zapperi (Université de Genève); Joanna Haefeli and Lada Umstätter (HEAD – Genève, Haute école d’art et de design); Urte Krass (Universität Bern).

CFP: ‘Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Medieval Roofing Systems from Europe to the Christian East’ (ICM Leeds 2026), deadline 14 September 2026

International Medieval Congress (IMC 2026), University of Leeds, July 6-9, 2026

One of the most important structural elements in the formulation of the architectural language of sacred space in the Middle Ages was the creation of varied roofing systems (wooden roofs, stone vaults, domes). It is the roofs that decisively conditioned the internal spatiality and assumed a primary importance also in formulating the external form of the churches, because the entire construction is based on the shape that the roof will have.

Roofing systems, therefore, have an enormous potential for the study of sacred spaces: if these structures are studied with an interdisciplinary approach they can be compared, contextualised and better understood.

The aim of this session is to delve deeper into some case studies from Europe to the Christian East in a multidisciplinary perspective, integrating seamlessly elements of the history of architecture and restorations, archaeometry, archaeology, and art history. Although these methods are native to different disciplines, they constitute indispensable and complementary approaches for a holistic analysis of medieval roofing systems.

Potential topics include, but need not be limited to, the following:

  • The structure of roofing systems and the construction phases of individual buildings
  • Analysis of groups of buildings: contextualization and regional or international comparison of building ensembles
  • Dating and structural analysis of timber roof frameworks
  • Stereotomy and construction techniques of vaulted stone structures
  • Nineteenth- and twentieth-century restoration campaigns

This session forms part of the activities of the CaMeRoofs (Cataloguing Medieval Roofs) project, coordinated by the University of Cyprus and funded by the European Commission under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions.

If you are interested in participating, please send an abstract of max. 200 words, 2-4 relevant index terms (https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-index-terms/), a short bio with full affiliation details (department, institution, email address) to: passuello.angelo@ucy.ac.cy

Deadline: 14 September 2025.

This is planned as a hybrid session. Please make sure to indicate whether you intend to participate in person or online.

  • Sponsor: Archaeological Research Unit (ARU) of the University of Cyprus
  • Organizers: Angelo Passuello and Michalis Olympios (Univ. of Cyprus)

CFP:  ‘Contesting the Sacred: Profanation, Theft, and Claims over Religious Images’ (ICMS Kalamazoo 2026), deadline 13 September 2025

This session investigates the complex dynamics involving sacred images and relics in the medieval period, focusing on profanation, theft, and disputes over ownership that reshaped their spiritual, social, and cultural significance. It examines acts of contestation that challenged established hierarchies and redefined sacrality. The panel will explore how medieval communities negotiated power, devotion, and identity through their relationships with sacred objects, with particular emphasis on the intertwined role of images and relics in religious life and social contexts.

Interdisciplinary contributions are encouraged, particularly in art history and anthropology. Through in-depth case studies covering various media, geographic areas, and historical periods, participants will analyze both symbolic meanings and practical implications of possession and contestation. The session will explore the social, legal, and theological frameworks that shaped late medieval perceptions of ownership, sacrality, and profanation, highlighting their role in conflicts and negotiations surrounding sacred objects.

This session aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how medieval societies engaged with sacred images and relics beyond veneration. It will highlight the cultural, devotional, and political tensions underpinning these interactions, offering new perspectives on authority, piety, and subversion within the medieval religious landscape.

Scholars are invited to submit a 300-word abstract, excluding references. Proposals should also include name, affiliation, email address, the title of the presentation, 6 keywords, a selective bibliography, and a short CV. Please send the documents to kalamazoocallforpapers@gmail.com by September 13, 2025.

CFP: ‘Moving in the Medieval Apse’ (ICM Leeds 2026), deadline 12 September 2025

International Medieval Congress (IMC 2026), University of Leeds, July 6-9, 2026

The medieval apse – adorned with its altar/piece, reliquaries, liturgical objects, or religious scenes – becomes a place of permanent movement(s) by bridging the spiritual to the corporal, the immaterial to the material, and the divine to the mortal. As these movements occur in time, one’s relation with the divine is changed, shaped, or negotiated.

The proposed session focuses on movements of devotional objects, images, and texts in the medieval apse. Suggested topics on movements in the medieval apse, from any geographic area or time period ,(between 300-1500), may include, but are not limited to:

  • Altarpieces: change in iconography, composition, materials
  • Reliquaries: multiplication of, change in materials, form or function
  • Liturgical objects: crosses, books, votive offerings
  • Frescoes, paintings, statues: composition, iconography, materials
  • Liturgy, feasts, music cultures, ritual in relation to objects

Submissions from a variety of disciplines are accepted including but not limited to: history, art history, visual culture, social history, cultural history, hagiography, religious studies, cultural studies, textual studies in a transdisciplinary perspective.

Please submit a 250- 400 word proposal (in English) for a 15-20 minute paper. Proposals should have an abstract format and be accompanied by a short CV, of no more than 800 words, including e-mail, institution, and profession. The session is planned to be in-presence. Please submit all relevant documents by 12 September 2025, to the e-mail address: andreabianka.znorovszky@udl.cat

Contact information:

Andrea-Bianka Znorovszky, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain (andreabianka.znorovszky@udl.cat)

CFP: ‘Buboes, Orifices, and Horns: Non-Normative Medieval Bodies Reconsidered’ (ICMS Kalamazoo 2026), deadline 15 September 2025

This panel examines medieval conceptualisations and representations of (non-)normative bodies, and aims to better understand the demarcations between the human and non-human, the abled and disabled, the white and non-white/racialised, the gender conforming and gender non-conforming body. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches, including art history, literary criticism, disability studies, critical race studies, and gender studies. We adopt a broad definition of the ‘medieval world,’ and invite contributions on material from all geographic regions and time periods between ca. 500-1500, as well as the later re-appropriation of medieval material. Contributions that study the intersection of two or more bodily markers are encouraged.

We welcome papers from researchers, curators, conservators, librarians, and graduate students working on medieval bodies. This session will be held in person. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted via the Confex proposal portal by 15 September 2025.

For more information or questions, please contact the organisers, Imke Vet (imke.vet@yale.edu) and Se Jin Park (sejin.park@yale.edu).

Find out more here.

Conference: ‘Good Governance and the Built Environment of Late Medieval Cities (1200-1700)’, Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels, 3-5th September 2025

Location: Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels (KBR), Kunstberg 28, 1000 Brussels, Salle Panorama

Join the Royal Library of Brussels to discuss and explore how the built environment of late medieval cities was conceptualized and physically shaped in relation to ideals of good governance. The conference covers a broad historical period (1200–1700) and includes urban centers ranging from Northwestern Europe to the Middle East.

Attendance is free of charge, but registration is required. Please register via this form.

Find out more information on the Governing and Building website.

Conference Programme

Wednesday 3 September 2025

13:00 Welcome

13:30-15:15 Session 1: Governing and Building the City: An Introduction (Session chair: Jan Dumolyn)

  • Nele De Raedt (UCLouvain) – Good Governance and the Built Environment: Central Themes and Questions
  • Philip Muijtjens (UCLouvain) – A Curriculum for a City? The Library in the Palazzo Comunale of Pistoia (1458-1461)
  • Minne De Boodt (KU Leuven/UCLouvain) – Building Brussels in Time of Political Transformation: Dialogues on Good Governance and the Built Environment (1400-1466)

15:45-17:00 Session 2: Governing Ideals and the Built Environment (Session chair : Jelle Haemers)

  • Niklas Groschinski (Oxford University) – Leisure Spaces, Sensorial Pleasure, and Public Health in Premodern City Planning
  • Julien Régibeau (ULiège) – Order and Architecture: Policing the City of Liège during the Chiroux–Grignoux Conflict

Thursday 4 September 2025

09:00-10:15 Session 3: Municipal Authorities and the Design, Instrumentalization and Regulation of the Built Environment (Session chair: Chris Fletcher)

  • Frans Camphuijsen & Nathan van Kleij (Amsterdam University) – A Matter of Morals: Stone Fines, Good Governance and the Urban Fabric in Late Medieval Towns
  • Anna Pomierny-Wąsińska (University of Warsaw) – Just Measures: Surveyors, Space, and Urban (Good) Governance in Late Medieval Florence

10:45-12:30 Session 4: The Endowment of Semi-Public Organisations (Session chair: David Napolitano)

  • Angela Isoldi (Radboud University) – Spatial and Social Networks: Endowments Shaping the Urban Fabric in Mamlūk Cairo (1250-1517)
  • Theodora Giovanazzi (Swiss Federal Technology Institute Lausanne) – Governing through Housing: The Scuole Grandi and Urban Welfare in 16th-Century Venice
  • Emine Öztaner (Ibn Haldun University) – Nurbanu Sultan’s “Waqf Neighborhood” in Üsküdar: Constructing, Populating and Governing Ma‘mûre (16th and 17thCenturies)

13:30-15:00 Visit to collections of the KBR

15:00-16:45 Session 5: Collaborating Social Groups (Session chair: Minne De Boodt)

  • Merlijn Hurx (KU Leuven) – “Civic” and “Royal” Meat Halls in the Low Countries in the 15th and 16th Century
  • Emmanuel Joly (UCLouvain/IRPA) – The Prince and the Canons: Collaboration and Decision-Making in the remodelling of Liège’s Built Environment in the First Half of the 16th Century
  • Giuliana Mosca (Independent Scholar) – “In grande honore de la cità”: Government, Urban Space, and Architecture in 15th-century Perugia

Friday 5 September 2025

09:00-10:15 Session 6: The Representation of Governance (Session chair: Philip Muijtjens)

  • Elizabeth Den Hartog (Leiden University) – Local Lords on the Façade of Veere’s Town Hall (Netherlands). The Lords of Veere and their Relations with the Habsburg Regime in the Late 15th and Early 16th Centuries
  • Susan Tipton (Independent Scholar) – Good governance and the Built Environment: The Great Map of Augsburg (1626) and the Renewal of Civic Architecture in the Imperial City around 1600

10:45-12:00 Session 7: Ideal of Good Governance and Architectural Theory (Session chair: Nele De Raedt)

  • Miara Fraikin (KU Leuven) – “Building on the Foundations of Piety”: Architecture and Female Governance in 16th-Century France and the Low Countries.
  • Mats Dijkdrent (UCLouvain) – Engelbert of Admont as an Architectural Theorist: Ideas on Morally Good Architecture in 14th-Century Mirror Literature

13:30-15:00 Final discussion

CFP: ‘Polyptychs’ fortune and misfortune: Provenance, reconstruction, restitution’, Lucca (October 7-9 2025), deadline 20 July 2025

This conference explores the themes of dispersion and unity in the context of artistic production, encompassing both the materiality of works and their contextual significance and reception. The altarpiece is selected as a case study to examine these questions across different centuries, geographical areas, and artistic techniques.

Selected papers will address the dismantling of altarpieces over time, the dispersion of their components, and the possibilities for their reconstruction. Contributions are invited that explore the methods of reuniting dispersed elements – whether physically or digitally – as well as the conservation challenges involved. The dismantling of altarpieces is indicative of intricate historical dynamics, encompassing shifts in artistic taste, fluctuations in market demand, and evolving practices in preservation and art management. Furthermore, it invites a reconsideration of the epistemology of art history.

The reconstruction of dismantled polyptychs necessitates an interdisciplinary approach, underscoring the need for collective reflection on the epistemological foundations of art history. Addressing the disintegrating unity of these objects necessitates multifaceted research, encompassing domains such as conservation and restoration practices, as well as the global geography of art. History of art exhibitions and artworks restitution offers opportunities for the temporary reconstitution of these fragmented works, further enriching the discussion.

Submissions that engage with epistemological questions alongside data-driven research in areas such as technical art history, connoisseurship, iconographic analysis, provenance studies, museum studies, collecting history and restitution are invited.

The organisers will provide accommodation for two nights. Participants will be responsible for covering their own travel and meal expenses.

Contributors are requested to submit an abstract in Italian, English or French (maximum 300 words) and a brief CV by 20th July 2025 to:

  • ilaria.andreoli@inha.fr
  • emanuele.pellegrini@imtlucca.it
  • giulia.puma@univ-cotedazur.fr

New Publication: ‘The Medieval Mediterranean between Islam and Christianity: Crosspollinations in Art, Architecture, and Material Culture’, Edited by Sami Luigi De Giosa and Nikolaos Vryzidis

Christian–Islamic encounters through religious arts, architecture, and material culture in the medieval era

The coexistence of Christianity and Islam in the medieval Mediterranean led to an interchange of knowledge in architecture and material culture that went well beyond religious and geographical boundaries. The use of Islamic objects in Christian contexts, the conversion of churches into mosques, and the mobility of craftsmen are only some manifestations of this process. From crosses found in mosques to European-Christian coins with pseudo-shahada inscriptions, medieval material culture is rich with visual evidence of the two faiths intermingling in both individual objects and monuments.

In this volume, thirteen international scholars explore various aspects of pan-Mediterranean Christian-Islamic encounters in material culture and art, from textiles to precious oils, and from metalwork to ceramics, covering most of the Mediterranean, as well as parts of its extended hinterland, from Spain and Italy to Egypt and Georgia.

Within this frame, one of the most relevant, yet underexplored lines of investigation is that of the “aesthetic space,” the notion that aesthetic pleasure transcends boundaries, paving the way to a cross-religious experience and appreciation. “Indeed, God is beautiful, and He loves beauty,” as mentioned in a Hadith narration, a universal cry of visual beauty that resonates with all cultures and civilizations.

Contributors:

  • Paschalis Androudis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
  • Faruk Bilici Inalco, Paris, France
  • Maria Bormpoudaki Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Piraeus, Greece
  • Sami Luigi De Giosa University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • Hélène Fragaki University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
  • Hani Hamza Independent scholar, Cairo, Egypt
  • Ana Cabrera Lafuente Instituto de Turismo de España (Turespaña/Tourspain), Madrid, Spain
  • Alison Ohta Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London, United Kingdom
  • Richard Piran McClary University of York, York, United Kingdom
  • Nino Simonishvili Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Nikolaos Vryzidis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

Arielle Winnik Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, USA
For more information and to access the volume, please see The American University in Cairo Press website.

Study day: ‘La sculpture monumentale médiévale à l’épreuve du musée: enjeux, conceptions, réceptions’, Musée du Louvre (30 June-1 July 2025) and Université de Toulouse (2-3 October 2025)

Paris, musée du Louvre, Centre Dominique-Vivant Denon, 30 juin-1er Juillet 2025

Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, IUT Paul Sabatier, 2-3 Octobre 2025

La présentation de sculptures provenant d’édifices religieux du Moyen Âge dans des musées pose de nombreuses questions. Les visiteurs peuvent légitimement être déroutés par des œuvres arrachées à leur cadre architectural et détachées de leur contexte culturel. Comment répondre aux attentes du public et « faire parler les pierres », pour reprendre le beau titre d’une exposition récente ? À partir des interrogations du musée des Augustins à Toulouse, dont les collections sont exemplaires à cet égard, et d’un programme de recherche mis en œuvre il y a quelques années à l’Institut national d’histoire de l’art, nous avons convié des spécialistes provenant d’horizons géographiques et professionnels très variés, pour réfléchir ensemble aux défis que posent la transmission, l’interprétation et la réception du message (ou plutôt des messages) de ces sculptures souvent magnifiques, mais parfois difficiles à appréhender sans quelques clés.

See the programme here.

Organisation

  •  Musée du Louvre, département des Sculptures (Sophie Jugie, Pierre-Yves Le Pogam), direction des études muséales et de l’appui à la recherche (Julie Botte, Philippe Cordez)
  • Musée des Augustins de Toulouse (Charlotte Riou)
  • Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherches Appliquées en Sciences Sociales, Université de Toulouse (Patrick Fraysse)
  • Groupement d’intérêt scientifique « Patrimoines en partage », réseau de chercheurs en sciences humaines et sociales et de professionnels du patrimoine sous la direction de Sylvie Sagnes, avec le soutien de l’Institut des sciences humaines et sociales du CNRS
  • Avec la collaboration de Mathieu Beaud, maître de conférences à l’Université de Lille