Job resources: Careers for Medievalists?

The ‘Careers for Medievalists?’ event, sponsored by the British Archaeological Association at the Courtauld Institute of Art, offered insights into the diverse career paths available for those with a background in medieval studies. This informative session featured discussions on fields such as heritage and conservation, curating, the art market, tour guiding, freelancing, university roles, archives, libraries, publishing, and editing. Speakers from academia, museums, and the art market shared valuable advice for recent graduates and job seekers.

Couldn’t make the event? Watch it below:

Useful websites highlighted during the event include:

Teaching:

Publishing:

Curating/Museums/Dealers:

Heritage Management:

Archives:

Paid Internships:

Groups:

For more information on the event, visit the Courtauld Website.

Conference: Illuminated Cuttings im Germanischen Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg, 29-30 April 2024

Find out more on the Institut für Kunstgeschichte website.

Among the holdings of the Cabinet of Prints of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (GNM) in Nuremberg is a major collection of illuminated cuttings, consisting of pages, initials, and ornamental borders, excised from German, Bohemian, Flemish, French, and Italian manuscripts from the 9th to 16th century. Their status changed in both time and space from Middle to Modern Age: they went from being part of a book to being cut out and collected as Curiosities, then becoming ‘Monuments’ of lost primitive Art, or models in the wake of the Art & Crafts Movement, of the new reproduction technologies and academic disciplines.

29 April: The symposium will bring together an international team of scholars and curators: session I and session II will offer an insight into the fragments at the GNM, exploring their history, style, the relationship with Monumental Arts, and different topics related to their material production; session III will be devoted to on-going Projects of Cataloguing collections of German Miniatures, discussing cataloguing perspectives in connection with international databases.

30 April: During the morning, the conference attendees will have the opportunity to examine the miniatures in the Studiensaal of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Special emphasis will be placed on the Illuminated fragments presented by the scholars the previous day, further encouraging discussion about their style and provenances.

Organization and contact:
Dr. Beatrice Alai (beatrice.alai@fau.de)

Conference Programme

29 April 2024 | Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Konferenzraum, Kornmarkt 1, Nuremberg

9.00–9.10:  Welcome

9.10–9.20: Introduction: Hans von und zu Aufsess and the Birth of the Kupferstichkabinett, Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
Christian Rümelin (Kupferstichkabinett, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg)

SESSION 1: Working with Italian, Flemish, and Bohemian Illuminated Cuttings at the GNM

Chair: Francesca Manzari (Sapienza Università di Roma)

9.20–9.40: Some observations on the „Bohemian“ fragments of the GNM in Nuremberg. Maria Theisen (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut für Mittelalterforschung / Abt. Schrift- und Buchwesen)

9.40–10.00: Discovering the Italian Fragments Collection at the GNM. Beatrice Alai (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

10.00–10.20: Scattered Leaves: The Hastière Bible as a case-study. Peter Kidd (Peter Selley Fellow, Bodleian Library, Oxford)

10.20–10.50: Discussion +  Coffee break

SESSION 2: Working with German Cuttings at the GNM

Chair: Christine Beier (Universität Wien)

10.50–11.10: Alte und neue Bekannte: Wiedersehen mit Fragmenten des Spätmittelalters aus Mitteleuropa im Germanischen Nationalmuseums in Nürnberg. Regina Cermann (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Institut für Mittelalterforschung / Abt. Schrift- und Buchwesen)

11.10–11.30: Little-known Cuttings at the GNM and Their Siblings: New Insights into Manuscript Illumination at the Turn of the 16th Century from the Rhenish Lowlands. James Marrow (Professor Emeritus, Princeton University)

11.30–11.50: The Birth of God in the Soul in Newly Discovered Devotional Drawings from St. Walburg in Eichstätt. Jeffrey Hamburger (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA)

11.50–13.40: Discussion + Light Lunch Break

SESSION 3: Cataloguing collections of German Miniatures: on-going Projects in Germany, and international experiences

Chair: Martin Roland (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut für Mittelalterforschung / Abt. Schrift- und Buchwesen)

13.40–14.00: The collection of manuscript fragments and cuttings of the „Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum“ in Leipzig – Workshop report: results and open questions. Matthias Eifler (Universitätsbibliothek, Leipzig)

14.00–14.20: Making manuscript fragments in museum collections online accessible: Web portals for the presentation of the European manuscript heritage. Christoph Mackert (Universitätsbibliothek, Leipzig)

14.20–14.40: Fragmentarium und das GNM. Die Möglichkeiten der digitalen Katalogisierung. Marina Bernasconi Reusser (Fragmentarium)

14.40–15.00: Display Scripts and how to Describe them. Christine Jakobi-Mirwald (Independent Scholar)

15.00–15.20: Framing the gaze: some thoughts on Illuminated manuscript cuttings in a museum context. Catherine Yvard (V&A Museum)

15.20–16.30: Discussion + Coffee break

Keynote lecture:

16.30–17.30: Painting and Illumination in Nürnberg in the time of Albrecht Dürer’s artistic formation. The activity of Hans Traut as illuminator in the light of five recently rediscovered fragments from a broken – up missal. Gaudenz Freuler (Universität Zürich)

30 April 2024 | Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Studiensaal, Kornmarkt 1, Nuremberg

9.30–11.30: Round-table discussion with the miniatures in the Studiensaal (with Christian Rümelin)

12.00: Conclusion

New publication: ‘Giants in the Medieval City’, by Assaf Pinkus

With the participation of Noeit Williger Aviam, Orly Amit and Michal Ozeri

ISBN 978-2-503-60768-9

Find out more about this book on the Brepols website.

The visual landscape north of the Alps between the 14th and 16th centuries was shaped by colossal representations of epic and mythological giants, reincarnated and cast as Christian heroes. In contexts religious or lay, private or public, giants dominated urban spaces but also rural ones. They were painted on church facades and stood tall as sculptures in town squares. Rather than portraying specific characters from particular texts, the figures embodied the notion of “the gigantic” as it appeared in contemporary writings: superhuman creatures from foreign lands and liminal geographies, often associated with supernatural powers, magic, hypermasculinity, and,  concomitantly, matriarchy. Since the naming and identity of these giants do not always correlate–thus destabilizing the images’ semiotics–the gap could be filled by fabricated memories of the ancient world. Hence, imagery of giants bridged mythological, biblical, and contemporary times, while producing novel political metaphors. This book explores the role and function of the vision and the experience of the gigantic. Executed “out of scale” and communicating ideas about excess, giants were experienced as physically and ethically abject and, at the same time, as magnificent, apotropaic, and redemptive; as such they came to embody the very notion of the medieval sublime.

Assaf Pinkus is Professor of Art History at Tel Aviv University and Professor Honorarium at the University of Vienna. His diverse studies engage with Gothic art and late medieval culture; workshop practices and economic models; patronage, narrative and spectatorship; nonreligious experience and response; imagination and somaesthetics; violence imagery; and, most recently, the global history of giants. He is a recipient of ISF, Minerva, GIF, and Gerda Henkel research grants and several international prizes.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction: Toward a Global Genealogy of Giants (Assaf Pinkus)
  • Chapter 1: Being a Giant: Geographies and Temporalities (Assaf Pinkus)
  • Chapter 2: Out of Scale: Experiencing the Gigantic (Assaf Pinkus)
  • Chapter 3: A Giant in the City: The Protective Roland (Assaf Pinkus)
  • Chapter 4: Chaos and Order in the Cities: Roland and his Companions (Assaf Pinkus and Noeit Williger Aviam)
  • Chapter 5: Giants of London (Orly Amit)
  • Chapter 6: The Gigantic as the Late Medieval Sublime: St. Christopher in the Alps (Michal Ozeri)
  • Epilogue: More Good then Evil (Assaf Pinkus)
  • Notes – Bibliography – Index

Exhibition: ‘Wonderful Treasure of Oignies: 13th century sparks of brilliance’, Musée de Cluny, Paris, from 19 March to 20 October 2024

The Treasure of Oignies, recognised since 1978 as one of the Seven Wonders of Belgium, is leaving its home country almost in its entirety for the first time. From 19 March to 20 October 2024, the Musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge is presenting these pieces of gold and silversmithery in an exhibition entirely dedicated to them: “The Wonderful Treasure of Oignies: 13th Century Sparks of Brilliance”. 

Among the items in the treasure, usually exhibited at the Musée des Arts anciens du Namurois in Namur, the thirty-or-so that can travel will be on display at the Musée de Cluny. These include pieces of gold and silverware, mainly reliquaries, and a selection of textiles. The display brings together major works such as the Reliquary of the Virgin’s Milk, Reliquary of the rib of Saint Peter, bookbinding plates of the Oignies evangeliary or the chalice and paten said to have belonged to Gilles de Walcourt. The exhibition looks back at the history of the priory of St Nicolas of Oignies, a community of Augustine canons founded at the end of the 12th century, around three central figures: Marie d’Oignies (1177-1213), Jacques de Vitry (1185-1240) and the talented gold and silversmith Hugues de Walcourt, known as Hugo d’Oignies († circa 1240). His creations and those of his workshop, recognisable by the abundance of niello, filigree, naturalistic and hunting motifs, are a masterful example of precious metalwork. 

A few years after the priory was founded, the mystic Marie d’Oignies settled there. Several pieces in the exhibition tell the story of the woman who was beatified shortly after her death and who is still venerated today. At the same time, Jacques de Vitry, an illustrious preacher and, for a time, bishop of Acre in the Holy Land, became the priory’s principal patron and provided it with relics and valuable materials. His support enabled the priory to become a key centre for the creation of gold and silver objects. The exhibition shows the constant evolution of Hugo d’Oignies’ craft, followed by that of his workshop. 

This is the first time that this prestigious treasure, many pieces of which were added to the list of items classified as the “Treasury of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation” in 2010, will leave Belgium almost in its entirety, 100 years after a partial presentation of three pieces at the Musée du Louvre in 1924. 

Interactive terminals will also make it possible to take the visitor experience further, by looking back on the life of Jacques de Vitry or seeing the bookbinding plates of Hugo d’Oignies’ in minute detail. 

The exhibition “The Wonderful Treasure of Oignies: 13th Century Sparks of Brilliance” is presented at the Musée de Cluny in the current events room. The curators are Christine Descatoire, Chief Curator at the Musée de Cluny, responsible for the gold and silversmithery collection, and Julien De Vos, Chief Curator, Director of the Cultural Heritage Department of the Province of Namur. It is organised with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation, which owns the Treasure of Oignies.

Find out more about the exhibition over on the Musée de Cluny website.

Second Phylactère De Saint André, Hugo d’Oignies et atelier, Vers 1230 – 1235, Bois, métal (non précisé), or, cristal de roche, argent, pierreries; 21 cm ø; Don des Sœurs de Notre-Dame de Namur; TreM.a (Musée des Arts anciens du Namurois-Trésor d’Oignies); N° inv. TO 11

Call for Submissions: ‘Storytelling and the Middle Ages’, deadline 1 May 2024

Trivent Publishing, H-1119 Budapest, Etele u. 59-61
Imprint: Trivent Medieval

ABOUT THE SERIES

This series examines the cultural practice of storytelling in and about the Middle Ages. It aims at advancing our understanding of the art and practice of storytelling in the global Middle Ages in different languages and media. It places particular emphasis on the combination of narration and performance, and it extends its scope to include contemporary storytelling of medieval stories and themes. Moreover, the series invites contributions researching the stories we tell today about the Middle Ages, and so welcomes perspectives on medievalism and the ways our narratives about our cultural past connect with historical reality.

The series welcomes a global perspective and a comparative point of view.

We invite proposals for monographs, edited collections and conference proceedings on all subjects related to storytelling in and about the Middle Ages. Topics include but are not limited to: 

  • history, tradition and practice of storytelling in the Middle Ages
  • medieval storytellers, their media and methods
  • transmission and reception of medieval stories
  • medieval stories and contemporary audiences
  • stories about the Middle Ages in contemporary narrative media, including games and gaming
  • telling stories and telling histories
  • storytelling and teaching the Middle Ages. 


The series will consider proposals from established scholars, as well as early career scholars and storytelling practitioners. All suitable submissions will undergo a double blind peer review process.

Abstracts of c. 250 words, a provisional title, and a short bio should be sent to Dr. Kleio Pethainou by May 1st, 2024. 

Find out more here.

SERIES EDITOR

Kleio Pethainou, University of Edinburgh, Kleio.Pethainou@ed.ac.uk

Conference: ‘Jan van Eyck and the Northern Renaissance in Bruges: New Interdisciplinary Research’, Musea Brugge, 25-26 April 2024

Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies (Ghent University) & BRON Research Centre (Musea Brugge) are organising a two-day conference on new and ongoing research on Jan van Eyck and the Northern Renaissance in Bruges. 

Fifteenth-century Netherlandish painting, and Bruges as one of its main centres, have long been classic research topics in art history. This is epitomized by the study of Jan van Eyck and his oeuvre, which has resulted in an extensive body of work by important (art) historians. In the last few years social historians have started new investigations of the archival sources while archaeologists have also increasingly begun to look into the relationship between painting and material culture in this period.

The aim of this workshop is to present stimulating new and ongoing research on Jan van Eyck and Northern Renaissance Bruges within the context of the wider Burgundian Low Countries, in an interdisciplinary conversation between leading scholars in the fields of art history, socio-economic and political history and archaeology.

Practical info

Conference Programme

Thursday 25 April 2024

09:00-09:25 Registration and coffee

09:25-09:35 Word of welcome: Anne van Oosterwijk (Musea Brugge)

SESSION 1: BRUGES, THE BURGUNDIAN STATE AND THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE I

Chair: Anna Koopstra (Musea Brugge)

09:35-10:00 Stephan Kemperdick (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin), ‘Hernoul le fin’ and Portraits of Couples

10:00-10:25 Maxime Poulain (Ghent University) and Mathijs Speecke (Ghent University), An Alchemist’s Workshop? New Evidence on the Production of Pigments in Late Medieval Bruges.

10:25-10:50 Bert Verwerft (Ghent University), Wim De Clercq (Ghent University) & Jan Dumolyn (Ghent University), Arnolfini, Bladelin, and their Social Networks in Bruges

11:10-11:40 Coffee break

SESSION 2: BRUGES, THE BURGUNDIAN STATE AND THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE II

Chair: Frederik Buylaert (Ghent University)

11:40-12:05 Susan Frances Jones (Independent scholar, London), Jan van Eyck and his Workshop: the ‘Master-and-Assistants’ Model, the Van Maelbeke Virgin and the Question of Chronology

12:05-12:30 Niels Fieremans (Ghent University), Pirates, Paintings and Portinari. The Case of the Burgundian Galley

12:30-12:55 Sophie Caron (Musée du Louvre, Paris), The Madonna with Chancelor Rolin: Two Functions for One Object?

13:15-14:45 Lunch break

SESSION 3: PATRONAGE AND CIRCULATION

Chair: Lisa Demets (Ghent University)

14:45-15:10 Leen Bervoets (Ghent University), Patronage of the Northern Renaissance in Numbers. A Statistical Analysis of the Social Context of Early Netherlandish Painting

15:10-15:35 Till-Holger Borchert (Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen), Barthélémy d’Eyck and Eyckian Manuscript Paintings Between the Courts of Burgundy and Anjou

15:35-16:00 Hendrik Callewier (State Archives of Belgium, Bruges), Van Eyck’s “Virgin and Child” as A Monument to a Vain and Ambitious Canon: A New Biography of Joris van der Paele

16:00-16:20 Project presentations Ghent University and Musea Brugge

Friday 26 April 2024

9.30-10.00 Registration and coffee

SESSION 4: VAN EYCK AND BEYOND

Chair: Wim Blockmans (Professor Emeritus, Leiden University)

10:00-10:25 Danny Praet (Ghent University), The Virtues on the Ghent Altarpiece

10:25-10:50 Maximiliaan P.J. Martens (Ghent University), A Newly Discovered Blessing Christ by Quinten Metsys

10:50-11:15 Kathleen Froyen (KIK-IRPA, Brussels), The Challenges of the Third Phase of the Restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece

11:15-11:40 Emma Capron (The National Gallery, London), The Van Eyck Renaissance


11:40-12:00 General discussion and closing remarks chaired by Marc Boone (Ghent University)

CFP: ‘Southeast European Silversmithing: Artisans, Donors And The Concept Of Piety During The Early Modern Period’, deadline 15 May 2024

The Institute of Art Studies, BAS, invites you to participate in the international conference Southeast European Silversmithing: Artisans, Donors, and the Concept of Piety During the Early Modern Period.

The conference will be held on 17 and 18 October 2024 in the building of the Institute on 21 Krakra Str.

Deadline for sending abstracts and CVs: 15 May 2024.

Commissioning and donation of liturgical objects is among the most vivid manifestations of religiosity and an expression of pious devotion to God. Through the centuries, gradually, more sacred silver objects and various sources of information about them reached us which gave the art historians a unique opportunity to examine and understand the impact of material culture in shaping the religious life of Christians. Despite the increasing number of studies dedicated to the historical, technological, iconographical, and functional aspects of liturgical objects which undoubtedly are giving us a much better understanding of them, we still know comparatively little about the silversmiths, the organisation of their profession and the artistic process, the donors and the circumstances of their commissions. In other words, we, as researchers in that field, often struggle to identify all the stipulations that resulted in the emergence of church utensils made of precious metals.

The conference will focus on the issues regarding the manufacturing and circulation of liturgical objects as well as their role in the construction of the pious image of the believers in Southeast Europe during the early modern period. We believe that this research area offers a good potential for academic discussion and interdisciplinary investigations combining art historical methods with critical analysis of a variety of written sources, archival documentation, and contemporary approaches in humanitarian studies. We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers exploring material across the topic that deal with either case studies or broader methodological questions. Papers that take an interdisciplinary approach, breaking the traditional boundaries between art history and history, especially economic history and the history of guilds, and museum studies, are particularly welcome. Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to: 

  • Commission and donation of liturgical objects. 
  • Objects reflecting personal and collective piety through the mechanisms of production and donorship. 
  • Social status of donors and silversmiths within the society and their “biographies”. 
  • Production of liturgical objects, issues of artistic process and technological peculiarities. 
  • Silversmiths’ guilds, professional organization, state regulations and control on precious metals. 
  • Interaction of silversmiths’ guild with local Church authorities and other institutions. Manufacturing and trading liturgical objects. 
  • Circulation of liturgical objects and mobility of silversmiths. 
  • Provenance and hallmarks on liturgical objects, style, attribution and authorship. 
  • The „afterlife“ of profane silver as liturgical objects in the secondary use, transformation and utilisation of exotic materials for sacred purposes. 
  • Liturgical silver as a deposit for the state economy in peace and war.
  • Liturgical objects in written sources such as various types of chronicles, inventories, wills, travel accounts, memoirs, marginal notes, etc. 
  • Inscriptions on liturgical objects and their interpretation.

Academic research on wider aspects of the topic such as exploring the destiny of liturgical objects through time, their later “life”, and changes in form and function, the place of church utensils and silversmithing in art historiography, archival documents and photographs, and museum and private collections, will also be considered. 

We are inviting papers in all relevant disciplines and scholars working on similar topics in areas other than art history are encouraged to apply. 

The conference’s working languages will be English and Bulgarian. Please submit your abstracts of 400 words in English no later than 15 May 2024 and a short biography of 300 words, including email and current affiliation. 

You should also provide a personal photo for use on the conference website. 

Prospective conference participants will be notified if their paper has been accepted no later than 25 May 2024. Please note that the accommodation costs for speakers will be covered.

The conference papers are planned to be published by 2026. All information about the conference, including participants and proposed abstracts will be made available on the website of the conference and the website of the Liturgical Objects in the Context of Silversmith’s Art During the Ottoman period (Based on Materials from the Diocese of Plovdiv) project. Please send your applications to: southeasteusilversmithing@gmail.com or liturgicalobjectsproject@gmail.com

Academic Committee: 

  • Darina Boykina, PhD, Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
  • Republic of Bulgaria
  • Mateja Jerman, PhD, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and
  • Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Republic of Croatia
  • Vuk Dautović, PhD, Department of History of Art, Faculty of Philosophy, University
  • of Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

Organising Committee:

  • Darina Boykina, PhD, Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
  • Republic of Bulgaria
  • Tereza Bacheva, PhD, Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
  • Republic of Bulgaria

Timeline:

  • Open CFPs: 15 March 2024
  • Deadline for submission of abstracts and CVs: 15 May 2024
  • Feedback on abstracts: 25 May 2024
  • Date of the conference: 17 – 18 October 2024
  • Submission of papers for publication: 30 June 2025

Further Information

  • You can download the invitation for the conference here.
  • You can download the application form here.
  • Find out more here.

New Publication: ‘The Routledge Handbook of Byzantine Visual Culture in the Danube Regions, 1300-1600’, Edited By Maria Alessia Rossi and Alice Isabella Sullivan

This volume aims to broaden and nuance knowledge about the history, art, culture, and heritage of Eastern Europe relative to Byzantium. From the thirteenth century to the decades after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the regions of the Danube River stood at the intersection of different traditions, and the river itself has served as a marker of connection and division, as well as a site of cultural contact and negotiation.

The Routledge Handbook of Byzantine Visual Culture in the Danube Regions, 1300–1600 brings to light the interconnectedness of this broad geographical area too often either studied in parts or neglected altogether, emphasizing its shared history and heritage of the regions of modern Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia. The aim is to challenge established perceptions of what constitutes ideological and historical facets of the past, as well as Byzantine and post-Byzantine cultural and artistic production in a region of the world that has yet to establish a firm footing on the map of art history.

The 24 chapters offer a fresh and original approach to the history, literature, and art history of the Danube regions, thus being accessible to students thematically, chronologically, or by case study; each part can be read independently or explored as part of a whole.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Maria Alessia Rossi and Alice Isabella Sullivan

Chapter 1: Byzance après Byzance: The Paradigm

Ovidiu Cristea and Ovidiu Olar

Part I: Art Historical Overviews

Chapter 2: The Afterlives of Byzantine Art in the Wider Adriatic

Margarita Voulgaropoulou

Chapter 3: Art and Architecture in the Balkans and the Lower Danube Regions

Jelena Bogdanović, Ljubomir Milanović, and Marina Mihaljević

Chapter 4: The Visual Culture of Wallachia before and after 1453

Elisabeta Negrău

Chapter 5: Moldavian Visual Culture before and after 1453

Vlad Bedros

Chapter 6: Byzantine Elements in Wall Painting in the Kingdom of Hungary

Zsombor Jékely

Chapter 7: Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art in Modern Slovakia

Vladislav Grešlík

Part II: Contacts and Patronage Beyond Borders

Chapter 8: Framing Silk Patronage in the Late Medieval Eastern Adriatic

Iva Jazbec Tomaić and Danijel Ciković

Chapter 9: A Ruler and a Churchman: Collaborative Patronage of Monasteries in Medieval Serbia

Anna Adashinskaya

Chapter 10: The Danubian Lands, Mount Athos, and Mount Sinai: Meaningful Connections

Alice Isabella Sullivan

Chapter 11: Greek Merchants and the Genoese Lower Danube in the Late Fourteenth Century

Marco Cassioli

Chapter 12: Medieval Wall Paintings in Transylvanian Orthodox Churches: Signs of Cross-Cultural Interactions

Elena-Dana Prioteasa

Chapter 13: Charles IV and Byzantium: Icon Painting and Stone Incrustation in Fourteenth Century Prague

Jana Gajdošová

Part III: Ideals and Ideologies in Images and Texts

Chapter 14: The Bowing Prince: Post-Byzantine Representations of Christian Rulership in Moldavian Wall Painting

Andrei Dumitrescu

Chapter 15: Ethics, Piety, and Politics in The Teachings of Neagoe Basarab to His Son Theodosie

Ioana Manea

Chapter 16: Sophia: The Personification of Divine Wisdom in the Lower Danube Region

Zofia A. Brzozowska

Chapter 17: Shaping Images of Sanctity and Kingship between Byzantium and Serbia during the Nemanjići Dynasty

Irene Caracciolo

Chapter 18: Eastern Roman and Bulgarian Perceptions of Each Other in the Thirteenth Century

Grant Schrama

Part IV: Adaptations and Transmissions across Media and Geographies

Chapter 19: Silversmiths in Southeastern Europe: Visual Culture between Islam, Byzantium, and the Latin West

Anita Paolicchi

Chapter 20: Late Medieval Balkan Dress beyond Byzantium

Nikolaos Vryzidis

Chapter 21: Overhanging Rooms in Dwellings of the Danubian Regions

Serena Acciai

Chapter 22: The Byzantine Alexander Romance in Slavonic

Antoaneta Granberg

Chapter 23: Genres and Translations: The South Slavonic Versions of the Palaea Historica

Małgorzata Skowronek

Chapter 24: Communication and Memory in Medieval Church Slavonic Paratexts in the Balkans

Izabela Lis-Wielgosz and Ivan N. Petrov

Find out more about the book here.

New Publication: ‘The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages’, by Sara J. Charles

Pre-order the hardback via Waterstones. 

This book takes the reader on an immersive journey through medieval manuscript production in the Latin Christian world. Each chapter opens with a lively vignette by a medieval narrator – including a parchment-maker, scribe and illuminator – introducing various aspects of manuscript production. Sara Charles poses the question ‘What actually is a scriptorium?’, and explores the development of the medieval scriptorium from its early Christian beginnings through to its eventual decline and the growth of the printing press. With the written word at the very heart of the Christian monastic movement, we see the immense amount of labour, planning and networks needed to produce each individual manuscript. By tapping into these processes and procedures, we can experience medieval life through the lens of a manuscript maker.

Sara J. Charles works and studies at Senate House, University of London. She has previously published on various aspects of the history of the book.

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Virtual Exhibition: ‘Opus Venetum: The Forgotten Venetian Heritage’

‘Opus Venetum: The Forgotten Venetian Heritage’ 

The virtual exhibition called OPUS VENETUM: The Forgotten Venetian Heritage is a result of a collaboration between the Ph.D. Iva Jazbec Tomaić (Academy of Applied Arts, University of Rijeka), Ph.D. Danijel Ciković (Academy of Applied Arts, University of Rijeka) and Ph.D. Valentina Baradel (Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: archeologia, storia dell’arte, del cinema e della musica, Università degli Studi di Padova). The project is financed by The University of Rijeka and co-financed by the Foundation of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Francis Haskell Memorial Fund. 

The implementation of this virtual exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of other foreign institutions namely Almae Matris Alumni Croaticae – United Kingdom Association of Alumni and Friends of Croatian Universities and Laboratoire HiSoMA, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée / Université Lumière Lyon 2 and is a result of several years of project work on the systematization and analysis of preserved Venetian 14th-century embroidery heritage.

The exhibition is of a permanent nature, and new content is planned to be added through the work on this topic in the coming period. The website’s content refers to the virtual exhibition, information about the project and work process as well as information about team members and finally acknowledgements with a list of institutions thanks to which the exhibition was made possible.  The virtual exhibition itself consists of the following chapters: Introduction, Opus Venetum, Masterpiece of Venetian Embroidery: The Veglia Altar Frontal, The Hands Behind the Preparatory Drawing, Revealing the Secrets of the Art of Embroidery and Mapping of the 14th Century Venetian Embroidery.

Through the text and reproductions, the authors tried to give an insight into Venetian 14th-century embroidery workshop practice and to create, for the first time, a comprehensive catalogue of embroideries crafted in Venice during the 14th century. This catalogue will serve as a cornerstone for directing future research endeavours towards the proper valorisation of individual works of art and the distribution of ideas and commissioning models among the prominent representatives of the ecclesiastical and secular elites on the Adriatic.