Medieval Art Research

CFP: Heraldry in Medieval and Early Modern State-Rooms

Münster, Germany, March 16 – 18, 2016
Deadline: Dec 15, 2015

Heraldry in Medieval and Early Modern State-Rooms: Towards a Typology
of Heraldic Programmes in Spaces of Self-Representation

Heraldry was an ubiquitous element of state-rooms. Whether in palaces
of kings and princes, castles of noblemen, residences of patricians,
city halls or in cathedral chapters, heraldic display was a crucial
element in the visual programme of these spaces. Despite its
omnipresence, however, heraldic display in state-rooms remains largely
understudied so far.

Given the fundamental role of heraldry in medieval and early modern
visual communication, it seems essential to incorporate the study of
heraldry into our understanding of the state-rooms and their functions.
The heraldic programmes appear to have been intimately tied to the
functions of those rooms and the strategies of self-representation and
communication employed by commissioners and users of such places.

This workshop aims to explore these heraldic programmes in state-rooms
in medieval and early modern Europe and to suggest an initial typology
of this phenomenon. We would like to include case studies showcasing
different social and institutional examples. In the context of the
workshop, we understand state-rooms to be rooms used for ceremonies and
receptions, and spaces able to construct and express identity that were
meant to be witnessed by members of a community itself as well as by
outsiders.

Heraldry in state-rooms was displayed in a variety of media, including,
but not limited to, paintings, stained-glass, sculptures, tiles,
tapestries, curtains, furniture. As part of ceremonies, it also
appeared as ephemeral decor. The topics of such heraldic programmes
were diverse. They could represent genealogical, chivalric, legendary
as well as historical and commemorative themes, reflect political
networks and convey political and imaginary ideas.

We particularly welcome comparative papers on the heraldic display of
state-rooms and groups of state-rooms from different geographical,
social and institutional contexts. Rather than only identifying the
displayed coats of arms, contributions should address the heraldic
ensembles in their entirety and locate them in their specific social
and institutional contexts, aiming to further our understanding of the
functions of heraldic display in the state-rooms and their visual
programme.

Papers can be presented in English or French. Proposals (200 words in
French or English) should be sent to heraldica@uni-muenster.de by 15
December 2015.

The workshop is organised by Miguel Metelo de Seixas (Lisbon) and
Torsten Hiltmann (Münster) as part of the Portuguese-German research
project “In the Service of the Crown: The Use of Heraldry in Royal
Political Communication in Late Medieval Portugal”, funded by the
VolkswagenFoundation.

Lecture: Professor Robert Bork, “Drawings and the Transmission of Geometrical Knowledge across Time, Space, and Media”

Tuesday 24 November 2015 – 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

The Sackler Research Forum Seminar Room, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN

Open to all, no booking required! image001-723x1024

In this talk Robert Bork will consider Gothic architectural drawings as vehicles for the transmission of geometrical information, placing their development in the context of a broader tradition of geometrical design that reaches with a surprising degree of continuity across the long Middle Ages. After brief discussion of the geometrical toolkit used by the creators of early medieval manuscripts and jewelry, he will explore the flourishing of architectural drawing in the Gothic era and its impact on both design practice and the sharing of visual information across temporal and geographical boundaries. He will devote particular attention to the analysis of a fantastic drawing produced in or near Regensburg around 1400 that shows a single-spired façade, whose close geometrical relationship to the thirteenth-century choir of Regensburg Cathedral has not formerly been recognized. In conclusion, he will demonstrate that many of the same geometrical techniques used by Gothic church designers were also used not only by some northern fifteenth-century painters, but also by Italian painters active in the decades around 1500, including Piero di Cosimo and Piero della Francesca.

St Stephen’s Chapel live

Ever wondered how a medieval palace chapel was built? St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster (constructed 1292-1363) was one of the most influential buildings of its age, and extensive records of its creation survive in the National Archives, London. From 21^st November 2015, we will be using Twitter to post a live feed of a whole year of the chapel’s building accounts (1323-24) in real time. It will be updated twice weekly, showing details of materials, workmen and techniques which give a unique glimpse into the world of medieval building.

Follow along at https://twitter.com/SSC_Live.

This twitter feed forms part of the Virtual St Stephen’s Project based at the University of York, a facet of the wider AHRC-funded interdisciplinary project St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster: Visual & Political Culture 1292-1941. The accounts we are using are being transcribed and translated for publication as a critical edition by Dr Maureen Jurkowski and Prof. Tim Ayers. This project is generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Virtual St Stephen’s Project site

Leverhulme Project page

CFP: Dialogue and Difference in the Middle Ages (University of Bristol, February 25-6, 2016)

Dialogue and Difference is an interdisciplinary conference bringing together scholars from all fields to explore the ways in which cultural, social, political, religious, scientific and intellectual exchange and interaction unfolded throughout the Middle Ages. Dialogues took place both across borderlines and within the heart of medieval societies, in monasteries, universities, courts and market places as well as on battlefields and high-roads. How did these dialogues shape the societies of the Middle Ages, and how did new ideas, people and cultures interact with old? Did difference lead to conflict, or to coexistence?

This conference aims to explore these issues across societies from medieval Europe, Byzantium, the Near East and beyond, and spanning from Late Antiquity to the 16th century.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

societies built on cultural, political and religious borders
inter-religious dialogue and polemic
the emergence of the university
conquest and colonisation
heresy and reform
inter and intra-textual dialogues
gender and the body
technological or scientific developments
conversion and assimilation
material histories and the dialogue of artefacts

Postgraduate and early-career researchers are invited to submit abstracts of 200-300 words for 20 minute papers

We are also accepting abstracts of 100 words for 10 minute flash papers, or 100 words for poster presentations

All abstracts are to be submitted by Wednesday 25th November 2015 to Sophie and Teresa, at: sophie.burton@bristol.ac.uk and teresa.witcombe@bristol.ac.uk

For all additional information, please contact:sophie.burton@bristol.ac.uk and teresa.witcombe@bristol.ac.uk

Upcoming Event: London Medieval Society Meeting- Forging Ahead (November 14, 2015)

The first London Medieval Society Colloquium of the new academic year welcomes Dr Alfred Hiatt as the Society’s new President. To celebrate the program explores themes central to his research: – Medieval Forgeries, Medieval Maps, Places and Spaces

Speakers are:

Catherine Delano-Smith on understanding medieval maps;

Leonie Hicks on medieval voyaging;

Marianne O’Doherty on medieval ideas of the Indian Ocean;

Yossef Rapoport on Islamic cartography;and

Lawrence Warner on medieval forgers and Piers Plowman

Members attend free; non-members are also very welcome to attend. Please see website for membership details – you may pay your temporary or annual membership on the day (£10/5 concessions per colloquia: it is £20/10 for annual membership: there are three events each year).

The event will be held in the beautiful Charterhouse Square (nearest Tube: Barbican)

WHEN: Saturday, 14 November 2015 from 11:00 to 18:00
WHERE: Lecture Theatre – Joseph Rotblat Building, Charterhouse Square. London EC1M 6BQ GB – View Map

CFP: University of North Texas Medieval Graduate Symposium (March 3/4, 2016)

The annual graduate symposium on Medieval Studies at the University of North Texas provides a platform for graduate students of any discipline to present their work on any aspect of the Middle Ages.

This year’s theme is “The Technical Details of Everyday Life.” Submissions for papers on any topic from the Late Antique to the Early Renaissance will be considered. Preference will be given to those that address the conference theme.

The Symposium will be held March 3^rd and 4^th, 2016 at the University of North Texas, Denton, TX.

The keynote speaker for 2016 is Nicola Coldstream, “Behind the Scenes at the Medieval Entertainment.”

300-word abstracts are due December 1, 2015 via email to Mickey.Abel@unt.edu

There will also be a $200 prize sponsored by AVISTA for an outstanding paper.

CFP: Time and Temporality in Medieval and Early Modern Art (May 18 – 19, 2016, The Open University of Israel, Raanana), deadline 31 December 2015

IMAGO – The Israeli Association for Visual Culture of the Middle Ages, and the Department of Literature, Language and Arts, The Open University of Israel

The subject of time was frequently encountered in medieval and early modern thinking and culture, from the notion of eternity as an abiding “now” outside of time (as defined by Gregory of Nazianzos, in Oratio 39.12, “Christ, the Maker of time . . . is not subject to time”) to the aphorism Tempus vitam regit (“Time rules life”) engraved on more than one sundial. Ranging from the discussion of the reception of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic concepts of time and temporality (Pasquale Porro, The Medieval Concept of Time) to the analysis of temporality and anachronism in art (Elizabeth Sears, The Ages of Man: Medieval Interpretations of the Life Cycle; Alexander Nagel and Christopher Wood, Anachronic Renaissance), scholars have engaged with the conceptualization and problematics of notions of time and temporality, eternity and historicity, continuum and momentarity during the medieval and early modern periods.

This conference strives to expand the existing body of research by exploring the inventive nature of forms and ways of reckoning time in art. We hope papers will consider questions such as: What is the phenomenology of works of art representing ever-stretching, eternal, or circular time? How has the idea of linear and progressive historical time been appropriated or challenged in artistic objects and works? What is the nature of the artwork when submitted to different regimes of historical temporality? What are the specific artistic devices that give form to past appropriation and temporal experience? What is the nature of the work of art that records the passage of time in nature? How has the notion of time been used for purposes of patronage and identity?

Proposals for talks may refer (but are not limited) to the following topics:
– Conceptualizing the idea of time and temporality in art
– The aesthetic rendering of time: color/grisaille, inaccurate measurements, distorted notions of space
– Temporal characteristics of atemporal divinities
– Material culture as a marker of time
– Time, creation and continuity in art
– Reconfiguring the past in the present: biblical time and political images
– Liturgical time and divine continuity in art
– Memory as a constructor of historical images
– Motion and time: temporal geographies in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic visual space
– Spatial time and temporal space
– Visual indications of eternity versus time
– Temporality and identity in art
– Physiognomy, body, and traces of time
– Imaging medical and astrological temporality
– The question of trauma in the interpretation of art
– Use and abuse of the past in visual memory

Keynote Speaker:
Professor Charles Barber, Princeton University

Please send an English abstract of up to 250 words to the conference organizer, matim@openu.ac.il, before 31 December 2015. Abstracts should include the applicant’s name, professional affiliation, and a short CV. Each paper will be limited to a 20-minute presentation, followed by discussion and questions. All applicants will be notified regarding acceptance of their proposal by 31 January 2016.

For more information or any further inquiries please contact the conference chair, Mati Meyer – matim@openu.ac.il.

Conference: Die Architektur der Bettelorden im Mittelalter (Mainz, 19 Nov 15)

Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Georg Forster-Gebäude, Hörsaal
02-521, 55128 Mainz, 19.11.2015

Repräsentative Armut. Die Architektur der Bettelorden im Mittelalter

Zu Beginn des 13. Jhds. bildeten sich infolge des
Urbanisierungsprozesses und der damit entstandenen Kluft zwischen Reichen und Armen die Bettelorden der Dominikaner (1215) und Franziskaner (1217). Diese neuen Orden waren in erster Linie eine Armutsbewegung, die sich im Gegensatz zu älteren mönchischen Bewegungen, innerhalb des städtischen Gefüges niederließen. Mit der
Wahl des städtischen Lebensraumes und der damit verbundenen Übernahme seelsorgerischer Tätigkeiten, erschlossen sie den bis dahin für das klösterliche Leben kaum berücksichtigten Raum der Städte. Bereits im 13. Jhd. hatten sich die Bettelorden rasant in Europa ausgebreitet und
konnten bis um 1300 allein im deutschsprachigen Raum in 232 Städten 293 Konvente gründen.

Ein Blick auf die Forschungsgeschichte zeigt auf, dass gerade die älteren Forschungsarbeiten den Begriff der Volks- bzw. Predigtkirche prägten – eine Auffassung die sich z.T. bis heute aufrechterhalten hat. Die Predigt der Mendikanten, so die zentrale These, gilt hierbei als formenbestimmendes Moment ihrer Architektur. Die Kirchen dienten demnach ausschließlich der Predigt und diese Zweckbestimmung äußert sich wiederum an der „ärmlich“ erscheinenden Außen- wie Innenwirkung. Dieser alte Forschungsansatz löst die Kirchen der Bettelorden jedoch aus ihrem historischen Kontext und unterstellt ihnen den Charakter einer rein funktionalen Zweckarchitektur. Neue Forschungsansätze konnten jedoch aufzeigen, dass die Bettelordenskirchen, trotz eines weitesgehenden Verzichtes auf plastische wie malerische Ausgestaltung, Gewölbe und Turmbauten, sehr wohl eine anspruchsvolle sowie subtil auf Repräsentation ausgerichtete Architektur bieten, die im Austausch mit anderen Kirchenbauten des städtischen Raumes stand, aber auch mit diesen konkurrierte.

Im Rahmen des von Prof. Dr. Matthias Müller zusammen mit Dr. Hauke Horn und Karola Sperber M.A. veranstalteten Symposiums „Repräsentative Armut. Die Architektur der Bettelorden im Mittelalter“ am 19. November 2015, referieren hierüber zunächst drei Kenner mittelalterlicher Ordensbaukunst – Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schenkluhn, PD Dr. Jens Rüffer, Dr. Achim Todenhöfer – und stellen ihren methodischen Ansatz sowie ihre neuesten Forschungsergebnisse vor. Daran anschließend folgt eine Podiumsdiskussion. Die Konzeption und Organisation des Symposiums erfolgt im Rahmen des DFG-Forschungsprojekts „Regionale Vernetzung und überregionaler Anspruch. Mittelalterliche Sakralarchitektur am Mittelrhein (ca. 1220 bis 1350)“.

Programm:

18.15 Uhr Begrüßung: Prof. Dr. Matthias Müller

Vorträge:

Prof. Dr. Wolfang Schenkluhn (Halle):
Bemerkungen zur Erforschung der Bettelordensarchitektur

PD Dr. Jens Rüffer (Bern):
Die Mendikanten in Erfurt –Methodische Überlegungen zur
Bettelordensarchitektur

Dr. Achim Todenhöfer (Bremen):
Aspekte der Historischen Bauforschung zu Bettelordenskirchen.
Fallbeispiele aus Sachsen-Anhalt

ca. 19.45h Podiumsdiskussion

Der Eintritt ist frei!

CFP: Performance (Medieval Graduate Conference at the University of Pennsylvania)

8th Annual Medievalists @ Penn

Graduate Conference: Performance (3/18/16)
Keynote Speaker: Theresa Coletti
Professor of English,
University of Maryland

Papers are encouraged to address any aspect of the performances, whether planned or improvised, exceptional or everyday, which formed an integral part of medieval culture. While the rich tradition of mystery cycles, saints’ plays, and morality plays has been studied as great literature and continues to be performed, medieval drama challenges our modern notions of “theater” by flowing off the stage and by eluding the scripted page. Medieval “performance” extends beyond staged drama to include a wide range of religious and secular rituals including events such as the Mass, Papal processions, royal entries, courtly games, and civic theatricality. How did these events transform spaces and everyday objects through performance? How might a king perform power through his sumptuous clothing, or a bishop inspire devotion by leading a procession through a beautiful sacred space?

This conference will also seek to understand how performance enables critical readings of medieval texts by considering communal reading as a dramatic enterprise, from the rhetorical techniques of lectores to the responses of audience members . Numerous genres (such as lyric, romance, saints’ lives, and fabliaux) were read out loud, and the culture of minstrelsy intimately bound text with oral performance. Performance thus emerged out of “scripted traditions” that are often mistakenly characterized as silent a romance could be read aloud to a group of listeners at court, or a saint’s life could entertain a religious community during mealtimes. Similarly, how does performance complicate our understanding of recorded legal texts, such as laws and marriage banns, which would have existed both as physical texts and as oral performances? In what circumstances could the delivery of a now seemingly innocuous sermon have provoked political controversy?

Papers may approach the topic of performance from a wide range of scholarly disciplines:
History, Art History, Musicology, Literary Studies, Theater History, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Cultural History, to name only a few.

We invite abstracts for 15-20 minute papers that explore and expand the definition of “medieval performance.” Please submit abstracts as attachments to
pennmedieval@gmail.com by January 10, 2016 . Submissions should include your name, paper title, email, and institutional and departmental affiliation. The deadline for full paper submission, not to exceed 10 pages, is March 6, 2016 . If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at pennmedieval@gmail.com .

Conference: Late Romanesque Sculpture in European Cathedrals: Stages, Narratives and Materiality (18-20 November 2015, Tarragona)

The TEMPLA research group has convened a conference to discuss the usefulness of traditional stylistic terminology, and consider the questions posed by the categorisation of medieval European artistic production, specifically as this affects our understanding of work from the second half of the 12^th century. Nowadays it is still difficult to grasp with any subtlety how late Romanesque sculpture was used across Latin Europe, and how it interacted with other media and other styles. Our purpose is to analyse the role of sculpture as both programme and scenery – foreground and background – specifically with regard to the solutions adopted in cathedrals.

Cambra de Comer (Av. Pau Casals, 17, 43003 Tarragona)

Price (attendance to the sessions and cafe-break): standard €50
students and unemployed €30
(conference proceedings included)

For more information on joining email dir.irh@udg.edu, stating the name of the conference.

Wednesday: 18 November

09h00-09h05. Reception and opening

09h05-09h45 Opening lecture: Xavier Barral i Altet (Universtà Ca Foscari – Venezia)

Què és l’anomenada escultura romànica tardana?

Session I: Late Romanesque sculpture in the cathedrals of Europe I

Chair: Emma Liaño Martínez (Universitat Rovira I Virgili)

09h45-10h30. Marcello Angheben (CESCM – Université dePoitiers)

Programas iconográficos y experiencias plásticas en Avallon y Chartres en las décadas centrales del siglo XII

10h30-11h00. Discussion

11h00-11h30. Cafe-Break

11h30-12h15. Quitterie Cazes (Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès):

La escultura monumental en las catedrales y su entorno en el país tolosano alrededor de 1200

12h15-13h00. Free papers

13h00-13h.30. Discussion

13:45-15:45. Lunch

Session II: Late Romanesque sculpture in the cathedrals of Europe II

Chair: Jaime Nuño González (Fundación Santa María La Real para el Patrimonio Histórico – Centro de Estudios del Románico. Aguilar de Campoo)

15h45-16h30. Claudia Rückert (Adolph Goldschmidt Zentrum, Humboldt Universität Berlin)

Alrededor de 1200. La escultura monumental en Alemania. Viejas y nuevas concepciones

16h30-17h15. Elisabetta Scirocco (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz-Biblioteca Herziana di Roma)

La scultura nello spazio liturgico in Italia meridionale, XI-XIII secc.

17h15-18h00. John McNeill (University of Oxford Continuing Education)

Late Romanesque Sculpture in English Cathedrals: How far can the evidence take us?

18h00-18h30. Discussion

18h30. Visit to Santa Maria del Miracle

19 NOV. 2015 (CATED RAL METROPOLITANA I PRIMADA DE TARRAGONA)

Session III. The Cathedral of Tarragona: visit to the church and cloister

09.30-13.30 Emma Liaño (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Antonio Martínez Subías (Arxiepiscopat de Tarragona), Marta Serrano (URV-TEMPLA), Gerardo Boto

13.45-15.45 Lunch

Session IV: Sculptural Programs in the Cathedrals of the Iberian Kingdoms I

Chair: Marc Sureda i Jubany (Museu Episcopal de Vic)

15h45-16h30. Marta Poza Yagüe (Universidad Complutense deMadrid)

La recepción de esquemas borgoñones a finales del siglo XII, ¿canto del cisne de la escultura románica en Castilla?

16h30-17h15. José Carlos Valle Pérez (Museo de Pontevedra).

La escultura tardorrománica en las catedrales de Orense y Lugo

17h15-17h45. Discussion

17h45-18h15. Cafe-Break

18h15-19h00. Francisco Prado-Vilar (Real Colegio Complutense – Harvard University)

‘Aula siderea’: el esplendor de la Catedral de Santiago en los albores del siglo XIII / ‘Aula siderea’: The Splendor of the Cathedral of Santiago at the Dawn of the 13th Century

19h00-19h20. Free papers

19h20-19h45. Discussion

20 NOV. 2015

Session V: Sculptural Programs in the Cathedrals of the Iberian Kingdoms II

Chair: Javier Martínez de Aguirre (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

09h00-09h45. José Luis Hernando Garrido (UNED Zamora- TEMPLA) – Antonio Ledesma (Universidad de Salamanca).

‘De la Eglesia de Sancta María de la Sey de Salamanca’¿Prolongación o final de la escultura tardorrománica en los viejos reinos de León y de Castilla?

09h45-10h30. Free papers

10h30-10h00. Discussion

11h00-11h30. Cafe-Break

11h30-12h15. César García de Castro Valdés (Museo Arqueológico de Asturias-TEMPLA).

La renovación escultórica de la Cámara Santa de la catedral de Oviedo en el contexto del tardorrománico del occidente peninsular

12h15-13h00. Esther Lozano López (UNED Tarragona-TEMPLA)

Imágenes que transforman espacios en las catedrales del Ebro: montaje y puesta en escena

13h00-13h30. Discussion

13h30. End of conference. Summary of contributions and conclusion.

Optional visit: 16h30. La presència romana a la Tarragona medieval (guided visit directed by Joan Menchón).