Medieval Art Research

Some free tickets available for Medieval and Early Modern Engagement day with Miri Rubin and others at Queen Mary, London (18 October 2014)

Research into the Medieval and Early Modern: Navigating Issues of Engagement

Due to some last minute cancellations, there are a few tickets available for this event.

Click here to book for free through eventbrite!

Room 3.20, Arts 2 Building
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road
London
E1 4NS

Saturday, 18 October 2014 from 10:00 to 18:30 (BST)

Schedule:
10.00-10.30: Registration, tea and coffee
10.30-10.45: Welcome and Introduction from Organisers
10.45-12.15: Working with Museums: Cataloguing and Curating
Adrian Armstrong, Centenary Professor of French (QMUL)
Medieval Multiculturalism and Mancunian Monuments: Reviewing the Evolution of
a Library Exhibition
Kate Lowe, Professor of Renaissance History and Culture (QMUL)
Shaking hands with the devil: Reflections on encounters with four museums and
collections
12.15-1.15: Lunch

1.15-2.45: Performative Engagement: Radio, TV and Theatre
Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History (QMUL)
The Middle ages: a Challenge to the Friendly Historian
Will Tosh, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Shakespeare’s Globe
tbc
Respondent: Tamara Atkin, Senior Lecturer in Renaissance Drama and Literature
(QMUL)

2.45-3.15: Coffee break

3.15-5.00: The Media Perspective: Collaborating and Working with
Academics
Clare Whistler, Leverhulme Artist in Residence at QMUL 2013/14
Vessels of Tears
Michael Caines, English Literature and Digital Editor, Times Literary Supplement
tbc
Mukti Jain Campion, independent radio producer and founder of Culture Wise
What’s the Story?

Wine reception and continuing conversations

Call for papers: The Transept and its Upper Levels in the High Medieval Church (Lausanne, 20-21 April 2015)

The Transept and its Upper Levels in the High Medieval Church: Towards a New Functional Approach (Architecture, Decor, Liturgy and Sound)

International and Interdisciplinary Conference – Lausanne, 20^th-21^st of April 2015

Abstract

This conference is jointly organized by the Catholic University of Angers (Faculty of Humanities) and the University of Lausanne (Department of History of Art). It aims to analyse in greater detail the spaces of the transept and to explore their relation(s) with the choir/heart of the church. This two-day international and interdisciplinary symposium will work towards bringing together and assessing the results, often dispersed, of past and present research, building upon debates involving specialists from multiple backgrounds and finishing with a round table which will propose a summary of the papers and explore further insights into new research directions.

Project

The studies of Carol Heitz on Carolingian westworks have shown that this specific space, the upper level of which communicates with the nave through large tribunes, used to have a liturgical function, generally associated with the feast of Easter. Similarily, from the second quarter of the 10^th Century onwards, the Gorze and Fleury reform initiated liturgical innovations necessitating the reconstruction or transformation of churches, which entailed rearranging or enlarging chapels at the eastern or western part of the building.

The fact that, in the reformed churches, these renovated liturgical spaces opened on the nave or the choir from a tribune, allowed for some categories of celebrations – the nature of which is not always clearly identified – to provide the occasion for part of the choir monks to stand in these upper levels and respond by their singing to the rest of the community gathered lower down. This architectural typology was shared by many monastic churches as well as cathedral churches in the wake of the reform, without being ubiquitous: for example, clunisian churches usually lacked tribunes overlooking the transept.

As to the upper levels of the transept, their function is not necessarily cultual (e.g. Cuxà), and if they sometimes communicate with the rest of the church (e.g. Saint-Chef), they are also likely to remain separate (Aoste). In some cases, where these upper levels are especially elaborate and open (e.g. Bayeux), the possibility of their use by the laity for a show of power cannot be discarded.

Throughout the High Middle Ages, the development of the East end of churches – enlarged choir with long transepts and a flowering of lateral chapels, sometimes with matching upper level – coincides with the partial or total abandonment of the West end. Occasionally, as at Saint-Remi of Reims or at the cathedral of Rouen, the East even assumes some of the functions devolved to the West. This reflects a process of hyper-sacralisation of the East end of the church, which was already noticeable in the 10^th Century but was encouraged to grow under the Gregorian Reform, because it allowed a unification of the ecclesial space, a valorisation of the eucharistic celebration by concentrating the liturgy around the main altar, as well as a more distinct spatial separation of clergy and laity. A rood screen separates the celebrants in the choir from the assembly in the nave. A barrier or differences in levels may prolong, in the transepts, the limit of the area reserved for the clergy.

In a similar way to the architecture and the liturgy, the painted and/or sculpted decoration of the church reinforces the axial West-East dynamic across the ecclesiastical building, and serves to showcase the most sacred parts of the building: the richly decorated East frequently offers a contrast to the nakedness of the nave. At the same time, the decorative elements of the transept may function as the revealing agent for other paths of circulation, for example a transversal pathway uniting both ends of the transept (e.g. Château-Gontier).

In this spirit, we would like to interrogate the manner in which the transept and its upper levels contribute to the valorisation of the sanctuary, valorisation which can be made apparent by the visual effects of the decor as well as by the sound of singing from the upper levels, and which is embodied in the architecture of the tribunes for all to see.

Frame and directions of research

Papers should deal with the origins of this phenomenon in the Carolingian period and its development throughout the High Middle Ages. No geographical limits have been set for this international conference: if upper levels in the transept appear more frequently in some areas than in others, their absence in some contexts or locations may also be a source of interest.

In order to ensure an interdisciplinary dimension to this conference, we appeal to every domain of Medieval studies: historians, art historians, specialists of liturgy, construction specialists, archæologists, musicologists, etc., are invited to contribute to a better understanding of the function of tribunes, and of the modalities of interaction between central liturgical spaces, peripherical spaces and the ecclesial building.

Papers may deal with this central topic following a wide range of approaches, which may belong, but are not limited, to the following:

Typology of building rearrangements in the space of the transept
Place of the laity and the clergy in the use of the transept and its upper levels
Customary liturgy and ceremonies associated with these spaces
Consequences of reform(s) and of their specific liturgy on the architecture of churches
Role of the decor in revealing the function of these spaces
Decor, ritual and sound as performative factors involved in the defining of relations between spaces within the church on the one hand, and of relations between the coexisting communities, the observing and the observed, on the other hand.

Practical details for paper proposal

Proposals are for 20-minute papers and should not exceed 300 words, either in French or English. They will be accompanied by a short curriculum vitæ. Both documents should be sent jointly to barbara.franze@unil.ch and nathalie.leluel@uco.fr before the 15^th of December 2014.

The conference will take place at the University of Lausanne on Monday, the 20^th of April and Tuesday, the 21^st of April 2015.

Results of the CFP will be announced on the 19^th of January 2015 at the latest.

Scientific committee
Barbara Franzé, University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
Nathalie Le Luel, Catholic University of Angers (France)

Study day: A Study Day on Medieval Greek Liturgy and Liturgical Art (British Museum, 31st October 2014)

When: Friday, October 31, 2014 from 930am until 445pm

Where: Sackler Room B, British Museum

Programme: There are six presentations of thirty minutes, each followed by a ten minute questions period, plus an introduction and a handling session of related objects by Museum Curator Chris Entwistle. The presenters are:

Professor Liz James (University of Sussex) – Introduction and Conclusion

Dr. Nadine Schibille (University of Sussex) – Liturgy in Space

Dr. Mary Cunningham (University of Nottingham) – Liturgical celebration of Mary, the Mother of God, in the Middle Byzantine period: the interaction between Church hymnography and devotional art

Arik Avdokhin (PhD Candidate, King’s College London) – Public Involvement in Early Byzantine (Para)Liturgical Practices: Participation in Hymns and Prayers in Churches and Elsewhere

Dr. Heather Hunter-Crawley (University of Bristol) – Mirroring Heaven – The Experience of Eucharistic Silverware in Early Byzantium

Dr. Cecily Hennessy (Christie’s Education) – Monumental decoration in relation to the liturgy

Professor Robin Cormack (University of Cambridge) – The 14^th century icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy and the broader question of how to discover the use of icons in the liturgy

Fees and Reservations: Reservations are essential because there is limited space. The fee is £15 for SPBS members and £20 for all others. Reservations can be made on the following link: http://www.byzantium.ac.uk/events/spbs-study-day.html

Any questions can be directed to: Elizabeth.Buchanan@chch.ox.ac.uk

CFP: Movement in Medieval Art and Architecture, 20th Annual Medieval Postgraduate Student Colloquium The Courtauld Institute of Art, (7 February 2015), deadline 21 November 2014

Call for Papers:
Movement in Medieval Art and Architecture
20th Annual Medieval Postgraduate Student Colloquium
London, The Courtauld Institute of Art, 7 February 2015

Pilgrimage, wars and trade are key components of the Middle Ages and all embody movement. This colloquium aims at exploring the importance of movement in the creative processes of medieval art and architecture. Participants are invited to interpret the notion of movement especially in relation to itinerant artists and workshops, the circulation of artworks and the transmission of ideas. Movement will be questioned as a transformative and creative agent in art, in theory as well as in practice. This theme can be expanded to include both local and trans-cultural outcomes of exchanges, ranging from adoption to compromise and rejection. All these encounters show that movement was essential in the creation of art and architecture, whether in Europe, in the Byzantine Empire or beyond, coinciding with the emergence of new artistic trends and reciprocal influences.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

• the circulation of artifacts via diplomatic relations and trade routes
• the spread of new technologies
• the diffusion of iconographical themes
• the dissemination of architectonic vocabulary
• the role played by drawings in the transmission of art and architecture

The Medieval Colloquium offers the opportunity for Research Students at all levels from universities across the UK and abroad to present and promote their research. Unfortunately funding for speakers is not available therefore students from outside London are encouraged to apply to their institutions for subsidies to attend the colloquium.

Please send proposals for 15 to 20-minute papers of no more than 250 words and a CV to mariaalessia.rossi@courtauld.ac.uk, sophie.dentzer@courtauld.ac.uk, matilde.grimaldi@courtauld.ac.uk no later than Friday 21 November 2014.

Applicants will be notified by the beginning of December.

Call For Papers: Sister Act: Female Monasticism and the Arts across Europe ca. 1250 -1550 (London, 13-14 March 2015)

Call for Papers:
Sister Act: Female Monasticism and the Arts across Europe ca. 1250 – 1550
London, The Courtauld Institute of Art, 13 – 14 March 2015
Deadline: 10 December 2014
UPDATE: PROGRAMME NOW PUBLISHED

Keynote speaker: Professor Dr. Carola Jäggi, University of Zürich (CH)

This conference seeks to compare, contrast and juxtapose scholarly approaches to the art of Medieval and Renaissance religious women that have emerged in recent decades. Seeking to initiate a broader conversation, which is long overdue, we invite papers that examine female monastic art in terms of patronage, space, devotional practice, spiritual identity or material history, spanning all of Europe and bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Over the last three decades, within a broader scholarly effort to recover women’s history, art historians have explored the role of gender in the form, function and patronage of monastic art and architecture. It has become evident that the institutionalisation of late medieval and renaissance religious women developed under very different conditions from that of their male counterparts. Monastic foundations for women are repeatedly revealed as having been idiosyncratic, rarely adhering to a set of norms. There are many examples of stable and flourishing institutions performing functions of dynastic memoria for wealthy, aristocratic or royal families. Equally, female convents could be fluid and metamorphic during the course of their history: many instances demonstrate shifting ecclesiastical allegiances, mutable types of monastic life, movement between patrons, and even communities changing order. Such varied historical circumstances shaped the architecture for female religious communities, ranging from large complexes erected in the most fashionable styles of their time, to basic dwellings within converted secular buildings. Diversity can also be observed in the commissioning and use of works of art, from second-hand or adapted paintings to specially commissioned, lavish monuments and vast cycles of wall paintings. In short, artworks in the female religious context escape generalisation.

Idiosyncrasies are found not only when investigating the female monastic complex and its art, but also in the scholarship itself, which has primarily focused on chronologically and geographically specific material, often without engaging in dialogue with adjacent fields.

North of the Alps, scholars tend to gravitate towards the rich Cistercian and Dominican material, and to concentrate on the interplay between visual culture and devotional practice. The 2005 exhibition ‘Krone und Schleier: Kunst aus mittelalterlichen Frauenklöstern’, and the accompanying conference, bore witness to the vibrant wealth of artworks preserved in the German-speaking areas of Europe, and should foster scholarly exchange with other European regions.

On the Italian peninsula, the patchy archival record and damage to physical convent spaces has led to a proliferation of case studies. Renaissance and early modern scholarship has also focused on biographies of individual nuns or specific convent chronicles as means of investigating nunneries within the urban fabric of the Italian city-states from a socio-economic perspective.

Meanwhile, the abundance of surviving artistic material in Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe has recently started to receive attention. The art of women who lived in a semi-religious context, such as tertiaries, widows, anchoresses and beguines, has also been brought to the fore. This abundance of recent work now invites comparison and wider interpretation.

We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers exploring material across the stated time span, in all artistic media and throughout Europe, that deal with either case studies or broader methodological questions. Papers, which take a comparative approach, breaking the traditional regional or chronological boundaries, are particularly welcome. We intend to arrange the papers into panels that present contrasting approaches and/or differing time periods or places, to stimulate comparative discussion.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

– The topography of female religious settlements (e.g. within a city or a region)
– Female monastic architectural space (social aspects, interaction, hierarchies etc.)
– The commemorative function of art and architecture in female religious communities
– The relationship between lay patrons and female religious communities
– Artworks and liturgical/devotional practice
– Religious women as artistic practitioners
– Second-hand or relocated artworks
– The importance of written sources (chronicles, regulations, etc.) for understanding the artistic choices of religious women
– Comparisons between the art of female and male communities
– Artworks for female tertiaries and other semi-monastic groups, comparisons with the art of their second order counterparts
– Patronage networks between individual patrons and/or female religious communities
– Representing collective and individual identity
– The influence of female monastic art beyond the nunnery

Please send your abstracts of 250 – 300 words and a short biography of 100 words to Laura Llewellyn (laura.llewellyn@courtauld.ac.uk) and Michaela Zöschg (michaela.zoschg@courtauld.ac.uk) by 10 December 2014 at the latest.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer travel subsidies. Applicants from outside London are therefore encouraged to apply to other funding bodies for travel bursaries to attend the conference.

Organised by Laura Llewellyn and Michaela Zöschg (The Courtauld Institute of Art)

Call for papers: ninth Medieval History Seminar, Washington, D.C., October 15 to 17, 2015

German Historical Institute 1607 New Hampshire Ave NW Washington DC 20009-2562 — German Historical Institute
1607 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington DC 20009-2562

The German Historical Institutes in London and Washington, D.C., are pleased to announce the ninth Medieval History Seminar, to be held in Washington, D.C., from October 15 to 17, 2015. The seminar is designed to bring together Ph.D. candidates and recent Ph.D. recipients (2013-2014) in medieval history from American, British and German universities for three days of scholarly discussion and collaboration.
The Medieval History Seminar welcomes proposals from all areas of medieval history. Participation is not limited to historians working on German history or German-speaking regions of Europe. Nor is a particular epoch or methodological approach preferred. Applications from neighbouring disciplines are welcome if the projects have a distinct historical focus.

The seminar is bi-lingual, and papers and discussions will be conducted both in German and English. Participants must have a good reading and aural comprehension of both languages.

The GHI will cover the travel and lodging expenses of the participants.

Applications may be submitted in German or English and should include:

* a curriculum vitae (including institutional affiliation, address and e-mail);
* a description of the proposed paper (4-5 pages, double-spaced);
* one letter of recommendation.

Send applications per e-mail to Susanne Fabricius: fabricius@ghi-dc.org

The deadline for submission is January 31, 2015.

Conference: VIII Jornadas Complutenses de Arte Medieval. Alfonso VIII and Eleanor of England, Artistic Confluences Around 1200 (Madrid, November 2014)

VIII Jornadas Complutenses de Arte Medieval. Alfonso VIII and Eleanor of England, Artistic Confluences Around 1200.

Department of History of Art I (Medieval) – Universidad Complutense de Madrid
12-14 November 2014
Salón de Actos. Facultad de Geografía e Historia

The Department of History of Art I (Medieval) of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid organises the 7th edition of its International Seminar – Jornadas Complutenses de Arte Medieval on November 12th, 13th and 14th 2014, under the title “Alfonso VIII and Eleanor of England, Artistic Confluences Around 1200”. The final programme has been published and registration is now open:

General registration fees: 50€
Students, UCM graduates (proof of status required): 30€
Memebers of CEHA (Comité Español de Historia del Arte): 50% discount

Deadline for registration: 31st October 2014

PROGRAMME:

Wednesday 12th November. 15:30-20:40
Session I: Alfonso VIII, culture and image of a Kingdom

Thursday 13th November. 9:00-13:35
Session II: Eleanor of England, women’s artistic patronage and image of a Kingdom

16:00-20:10
Session III: Artists, workshops and exchanges

Friday 14th November. 9:00-13:05
Session IV: Peninsular architecture around 1200, changes and international connections

Full programme: 230-2014-09-25-Díptico Pliegos 2014

For more information, visit the website https://www.ucm.es/artemedieval/8jornadas or send an email to VII.jornadas@ucm.es

Conference: Sevilla, 1514. Arquitectos Tardogóticos en la encrucijada (Seville, November 2014)

International Conference. Sevilla 1514: Arquitectos Tardogóticos en la en la encrucijada
Seville, Salón de Actos de la Casa de la Provincia
12-15 November 2014

Cartel Congreso Sevilla

After the I International Conference Arquitectura tardogótica en la Corona de Castilla held in Santander in 2010, the II International Conference Sevilla, 1514: Arquitectos Tardogóticos en la encrucijada, aims to serve as a forum for discussion on the latest research developed in this thematic area in an international context.

The conference will be celebrated as a joint activity between the Cathedral of Seville and the Universities of Cantabria, Seville, Lisbon (Portugal) and Palermo (Italy) and will be held in the city of Seville during the month of November 2014, with a duration of four days distributed into scientific sessions and guided visits. The scientific sessions will focus on the following topics:

Magister: Biographies and trajectories of the Late Gothic master builders.
The role of promoters and patrons.
1514 as a milestone: the Late Gothic period and the “Franciscan, German and Moorish skeins”.
The councils of master builders in the Late Gothic period.
Science, technique and archaeology.
Engravings, treatise and microarchitectures

Registration is now open.

The full programme can be viewed here: Late Gothic Conference programme – Seville
For more information, please visit the following website: www.tardogotico.es/ or send an email to: congresosevilla@unican.es

Conference: The Art and Archaeology of Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus, Nicosia,12-15 December 2014

The Art and Archaeology of Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus (1192-1571):Recent Research and New Discoveries

Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus, 12 Gladstonos Str, Nicosia, 12-14 December 2014

Friday, 12 December

9:00 – 9:30 Registration

9:30 – 9:50 Welcome Addresses

SESSION I: VISUAL CULTURE IN THE LUSIGNAN PERIOD
Chair: Michalis Olympios

10:00 – 10:20 Justine Andrews (University of New Mexico), Cyprus in the Medieval Mediterranean: Visual Culture in the Lusignan Period

10:20 – 10:40 Anthi A. Andronikou (University of St Andrews), Academic Myth or Historical Reality? Southern Italy and Cyprus in the Duecento

10:40 – 11:00 Georgios Philotheou (Department of Antiquities, Cyprus) and Maria Parani (University of Cyprus), The Church of the Transfiguration at Sotera and Its Murals: Some Preliminary Remarks

11:00 – 11:20 Discussion

11:20 – 11:50 Coffee Break

SESSION II: CYPRUS AND THE LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
Chair: Nasso Chrysochou

11:50 – 12:10 Edna J. Stern (Israel Antiquities Authority), A New Perspective on Lusignan Paphos and Its Harbor: Using the Ceramic Record

12:10 – 12:30 Robert Kool (Israel Antiquities Authority), Lusignan Money and the Mainland Economy of Outremer in the Thirteenth Century: A Reappraisal

12:30 – 12:50 Vardit Shotten-Hallel (Israel Antiquities Authority / The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), The Lusignans and the City of Acre

12:50 – 13:10 Discussion

13:10 – 14:45 Lunch Break

SESSION III: DIGGING FOR NUNS: THE EXCAVATIONS AT THE CISTERCIAN NUNNERY OF ST THEODORE, NICOSIA
Chair: Eftychia Zachariou

14:45 – 15:05 Michalis Olympios (University of Cyprus), Housing the Nuns: The Architectural History of St Theodore Abbey

15:05 – 15:25 Smadar Gabrieli (University of Sydney / University of Western Australia), At Home with the Nuns: The Ceramics Assemblages of St Theodore, Nicosia

15:25 – 15:45 Xenia-Paula Kyriakou (Cranfield University / University of Edinburgh / CAARI), Osteological Findings and Bioarchaeological Implications in Cypriot Monasticism: Evidence from the St Theodore Nunnery in Nicosia

15:45 – 16:05 Discussion

16:05 – 16:35 Coffee Break

KEYNOTE SESSION: CONFRONTING THE HISTORIOGRAPHY: CYPRUS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST
Chair: Panagiotis Agapitos

16:35 – 17:05 Margit Mersch (Universität Kassel), Late Medieval Cyprus and the ‘Mediterranean Koine’: The Architectural Evidence

17:05 – 17:35 Michele Bacci (University of Fribourg), The Art of Latin-Ruled Cyprus and the Christian East: Some Thoughts on Historiography and Methodology

17:35 – 17:55 Discussion

Saturday, 13 December

SESSION IV: CROSS-CREEDAL ARTISTIC ENCOUNTERS IN FAMAGUSTA AND ITS REGION
Chair: Tassos Papacostas

9:00 – 9:20 Maria Paschali (Courtauld Institute of Art), Byzantine Monumental Painting in Fourteenth-Century Famagusta: New Frameworks and New Interpretations

9:20 – 9:40 Max Ritter (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz), The Transformation of a Frankish Fortification Site into a Venetian Monastery – The Case of Ayia Napa

9:40 – 10:00 Guido Petras (Freie Universität Berlin), A Lithic Iconostasis in a Multi-Confessional Sanctuary in Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus? An Art-Historical Approach to the Cave Church in Ayia Napa

10:00 – 10:20 Discussion

10 :20 – 10:50 Coffee Break

SESSION V: CYPRIOT ARISTOCRATIC PATRONAGE AT HOME AND ABROAD
Chair: Michele Bacci

10:50 – 11:10 Aspasia Louvi (Byzantinist), Une princesse, un monastère et la rencontre de deux mondes chrétiens à Mistra

11:10 – 11:30 Dimitris Minasidis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Νέα στοιχεία για το βασιλικό παρεκκλήσι στα Πυργά [New Evidence for the Royal Chapel at Pyrga]

11:30 – 11:50 Thomas Kaffenberger (King’s College London / Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz), A Domed Basilica of the Sixteenth Century: Thoughts on the Architectural Concept and Historical Context of the Unfinished Church in Agios Sozomenos

11:50 – 12:10 Discussion

12:10 – 14:00 Lunch Break

SESSION VI: SELF-REPRESENTATION AND IDENTITY IN VENETIAN CYPRUS
Chair: Margit Mersch

14:00 – 14:20 Barbara McNulty (Lebanon Valley College), Fresco at Kaminaria: Landscape as Allegory

14:20 – 14:40 Tassos Papacostas (King’s College London), Renaissance Portrait Medals for Eminent Cypriots: An Untold yet Telling Tale

14:40 – 15:00 Discussion

15:00 – 15:30 Coffee Break

SESSION VII: THE TOPOGRAPHY AND URBAN FABRIC OF CYPRIOT SETTLEMENTS
Chair: Athanasios Vionis

15:30 – 15:50 Nikolas Bakirtzis (The Cyprus Institute), Byzantine Monastic Patterns in Crusader Cyprus
15:50 – 16:10 Hesperia Iliadou (University of Cyprus), The Pictorial Representation of a Lost Architecture: Cyprus Settlements in the Eve of the Venetian Period as Illustrated in a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript
16:10 – 16:30 Andria Pelekanou, Stephani Georgiou and Marina Andreou (Frederick University), The exploration and understanding of a Venetian-period building in the walled city of Nicosia. An addition to the enigma that is Venetian Nicosia

16:30 – 16:50 Discussion

16:50 – 17:20 Coffee Break

SESSION VIII: ART AND PIETY, PRIVATE AND PUBLIC
Chair: Fryni Hadjichristofi

17:20 – 17:40 Stella Frigerio-Zeniou (art historian), Templa du XVIe siècle à Chypre: une nouvelle approche

17:40 – 18:00 Christodoulos A. Hadjichristodoulou (Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation), Φορητή εικόνα με σκηνές από τα μαρτύρια και τα θαύματα των Αγίων Γεωργίου και Μάμαντος [Portable Icon with Scenes from the Martyrdom and Miracles of Saints George and Mamas]

18:00 – 18:20 Discussion

Sunday, 14 December

SESSION IX: URBAN AND RURAL LANDSCAPES
Chair: Nikolas Bakirtzis

9:30 – 9:50 Nasa Patapiou (Cyprus Research Centre), Νέα στοιχεία για ορθόδοξες γυναικείες μονές της Λευκωσίας βάσει αρχειακών μαρτυριών (16ος αι.) [New Evidence for Nicosia’s Orthodox Nunneries on the Basis of Archival Testimony (Sixteenth Century)]

9:50 – 10:10 Fryni Hadjichristofi (Department of Antiquities, Cyprus), New Light on the Topography of Nicosia: The ‘Archbishopric’ Excavation

10:10 – 10:30 Stylianos Perdikis (Museum of Kykkos Monastery), Αυλή Τηλλυρίας: Άγνωστη μεσαιωνική εγκατάσταση [Avli Tillyrias: An Unknown Medieval Site]

10:30 – 10:50 Discussion

10:50 – 11:20 Coffee Break

SESSION X: VESSELS UTILITARIAN AND OSTENTATIOUS: TWO CASE-STUDIES IN THE PRODUCTION AND EVERYDAY USES OF CERAMIC AND GLASS OBJECTS
Chair: Smadar Gabrieli

11:20 – 11:40 Athanasios K. Vionis (University of Cyprus), Maria Dikomitou-Eliadou (University of Cyprus), Maria Roumbou (Harokopeio University) and Vassilis Kilikoglou (N.C.S.R. ‘Demokritos’), Stirring Pots on Fire: Medieval Technology, Diet and Daily Life in Cyprus

11:40 – 12:00 Bernadette McCall (University of Sydney), A Medieval Glass Assemblage from Pafos, Cyprus

12:00 – 12:20 Discussion

12:20 – 14:00 Lunch Break

SESSION XI: STATUS DISPLAYED: THE USES OF LUXURY METALWORK
Chair: Maria Parani

14:00-14:20 Georgios Markou (University of Cambridge), Luxury Items of Minor Arts: The Household Silver of the Gentilhuomini in Venetian Cyprus

14:20 – 14:40 Elena Poyiadji-Richter (Leventis Municipal Museum, Nicosia), Metalwork products destined for Cyprus? – The 15th- / 16th-century dishes in the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia

14:40 – 15:00 Discussion

15:00-15:40 Concluding Remarks – Final Discussion

Monday, 15 December

EXCURSION TO PYLA, SOTERA AND AYIA NAPA

For further information, please contact Michalis Olympios (olympios.michalis@ucy.ac.cy) and Maria Parani (mparani@ucy.ac.cy).

CFP: 5e Festival d’histoire de l’art (Fontainebleau, 29-31 May 2015)

Call for Papers:
5e Festival d’histoire de l’art (Fontainebleau, 29-31 May 2015)
Deadline: 16 November 2014

Le ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, l’Institut national d’histoire de l’art et le château de Fontainebleau s’associent, avec le concours du ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la recherche, pour proposer la 5^e édition du Festival de l’histoire de l’art. Conçues comme un carrefour des publics et des savoirs, ces trois journées offrent conférences, débats, concerts, expositions, projections, lectures et rencontres dans le château et dans plusieurs sites de la ville de Fontainebleau.

Le Festival explore chaque année un thème, en 2015 « Matière de l’œuvre », et propose trois rendez-vous annuels : le Forum de l’actualité, qui accueille un pays invité, cette année les Pays-Bas, le Salon du livre et des revues d’art et Art & Caméra, la section film et vidéo du Festival. Le Festival est aussi l’occasion de propositions pédagogiques pour l’enseignement de l’histoire des arts à l’école, à travers une Université de printemps et des ateliers pédagogiques proposés et soutenus par le ministère de l’Éducation nationale.

L’appel à communication s’adresse à des chercheurs français et étrangers, de préférence francophones, confirmés ou débutants. Les propositions de jeunes chercheurs, conservateurs ou encore restaurateurs seront examinées avec une attention particulière. Afin de donner à tous la possibilité d’intervenir, priorité sera donnée aux candidats qui n’ont pas été au programme des deux dernières éditions du Festival.

Matière de l’œuvre
Le comité scientifique a choisi de mettre la matérialité de l’œuvre d’art en valeur. Il s’agit d’enquêter sur toutes les relations entre création et matériaux. Qu’est-ce que la matière de l’œuvre ? N’est-elle que le médium ? Les relations à la matière impliquent aussi de l’imaginaire et du langage. Combinaison ou invention de matériaux, jeux sur l’authentique et le factice, le pauvre ou le précieux, remploi et recyclage : la matière est non seulement utilisée, mais transformée par les gestes humains, dont le geste artistique est une catégorie particulière qu’on essaiera de cerner. Comment et pourquoi les artistes choisissent-ils un matériau ? On interrogera aussi le rapport de chacun à la matérialité de l’œuvre. À l’heure où se développent de nouveaux moyens de visualisation, il s’agit de revenir sur l’expérience directe de l’œuvre. Si la dématérialisation caractérise nombre d’expériences artistiques du xx^e et du xxi^esiècles, on insistera sur leur support matériel et technique. L’opposition du matériel et du virtuel apparaît en partie factice, tant il y a complémentarité entre matière et virtuel dans la création et l’expérience de l’art aujourd’hui.

1-Matière, image et imaginaire: théories et pensées de la matière

a-Qu’est-ce que la matérialité ?
La place de la matière dans l’historiographie : définir la matérialité, comment l’histoire de l’art s’est emparée de la notion de culture matérielle. Depuis la fin du xix^e et l’émergence de cette notion, se sont succédées différentes approches, ancrées davantage dans l’archéologie, l’anthropologie ou la linguistique. Quels apports pour l’histoire de l’art? La matière n’est pas forcément tangible. La notion d’« immatériaux » proposée par Lyotard pourra faire l’objet d’une discussion.

b-La matière et l’imaginaire
Valeur et imaginaire de la matière, leur variation dans le temps et l’espace. La symbolique des matériaux. La matière et le genre : y a-t-il des matériaux et des techniques genrés ? Y a-t-il par exemple une picturalité « mâle » et un léché « féminin » ? Comment les artistes jouent-ils de ces codes ?

c-Matière et image
Le rendu des matières : on pourrait comparer les médiums (sculpture, photographie, etc.). Apprécier les moyens propres à chaque médium de rendre la matière. Vrai ou faux? Les matériaux factices (carton pierre, stuc…), le trompe l’œil. Matérialité/authenticité/historicité. Que reste-t-il de matériaux originaux dans une façade de cathédrale ? Faut-il restaurer ou reconstituer ? Comparer les doctrines de restauration, évoquer d’autres rapports à l’authenticité comme les temples japonais, démolis et reconstruits à l’identique.

2-Matière et action

a-La position de l’artiste par rapport à la matière (l’art cosa mentale ? L’artiste suit/domine la matière ?
La réalisation matérielle de l’œuvre par l’artiste, par des assistants… L’artiste et le choix de ses matériaux : choix d’une matière pour un sujet, une fonction, en adéquation ou en décalage mais aussi suivant la disponibilité des matériaux. S’il y a mélange de matières, comment ont-ils été pensés ? À l’origine de l’œuvre, en cours d’exécution, par accident… Les couleurs des matériaux et leur utilisation …

b-Matière et geste technique de l’artiste
Les artistes et l’apparition de nouveaux matériaux (querelle du fer au xix^e siècle, béton, plastique, passage de la pellicule au numérique au cinéma…)Les techniques au service de la connaissance ou de la restauration des œuvres (la chimie analytique et l’histoire de l’art par exemple).

c-Créer/détruire
La destruction de la matière comme geste créateur. Le remploi, le recyclage dans la création, mais aussi dans la restauration.

3-Matière et politique

a-Le précieux et le pauvre
Variation de ces valeurs : dans l’espace et le temps. Les gestes artistiques utilisant des matériaux réputés pauvres, transformant le regard sur certaines matières : Art brut,Arte povera, films de found footage…

b-Le noble et l’ignoble
On insistera sur les passages entre noble et ignoble, entre infâme et sacré, notamment dans les arts premiers. Les restes organiques dans les musées et les débats sur leur présentation au public, hier et aujourd’hui.

c-Matière et pouvoir
Les matières réservées à certaines catégories sociales ou au souverain. Les pouvoirs conférés à certaines matières ou par certaines matières.

4-Les relations à la matière de l’œuvre

a-L ‘œuvre d’art et les sens
Autres relations que la vue à l’œuvre d’art : le toucher, l’écoute, l’odorat (le cinéma « sentant », le cinéma en 3D et en 4D, les œuvres pénétrables, les jardins…) Les recherches pour donner accès aux œuvres aux malvoyants, les tentatives de polysensorialité au musée. Où commence et où finit l’œuvre? Matière et limites de l’œuvre dans l’in situ.

b-Accès à l’œuvre dans sa matérialité/accès dématérialisé à l’œuvre.Pourquoi aller encore voir les œuvres en vrai? visite virtuelle aide ou gêne? La numérisation et la recherche : accessibilité accrue ou éloignement du chercheur des œuvres ?

Modalités de soumission et sélection des propositions
L’examen des propositions sera confié au comité scientifique du Festival de l’histoire de l’art. Les propositions doivent s’inscrire clairement dans le plan de l’appel à communication. La sélection cherchera à mettre en valeur tous les aspects évoqués dans ce plan et à représenter toutes les périodes historiques ainsi que des médiums et des situations géographiques variées, de manière à offrir un panorama le plus vaste possible.

Les projets de communication doivent impérativement se présenter sous la forme suivante : titre du projet, résumé en 400 signes, présentation d’une page maximum (3500 signes), CV avec bibliographie. Pour les projets de communication à plusieurs intervenants (débat, table ronde…) le porteur du projet sera clairement désigné et les noms, fonctions, coordonnées et CV seront donnés. Les projets incomplets ne seront pas soumis au comité scientifique. Ils seront déposés avant le 16 novembre 2014 sur le site internet du Festival à l’adresse suivante http://festivaldelhistoiredelart.com/proposez-intervention/. Ils doivent être rédigés en français. Les décisions du comité scientifique seront délivrées à partir du 1^erjanvier 2015.

Liste des membres du comité scientifique et programme de l’édition 2015 sont à retrouver sur http://festivaldelhistoiredelart.com/