Medieval Art Research

Conference: Le XIe centenaire d’Aght‘amar. Politique, art et spiritualité au royaume du Vaspurakan (Paris, 22-23 September 2014)

Conference:
Le XIe centenaire d’Aght‘amar. Politique, art et spiritualité au royaume du Vaspurakan
Paris, Institut des Études Avancées and Fondation Simone et Cino del Duca (Institut de France), 22-23 September 2014

Programme

Colloque international organisé par l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, l’Institut d’Etudes Avancées de Paris et l’Université John Cabot de Rome.

En 915, le roi Gagik Artsruni commençait de construire l’église Sainte-Croix d’Aghtamar, qui fut achevée en 921. Ce chef-d’œuvre architectural, unique en Arménie par la richesse de son décor peint et sculpté, a retenu l’intérêt des historiens de l’art bien au-delà de l’horizon proche-oriental. Le développement des études de terrain et l’approfondissement des sources historiques et religieuses permettent aujourd’hui de replacer cette église palatine dans le cadre des programmes architecturaux de son bâtisseur. S’attachant à l’analyse architecturale du monument et au déchiffrement symbolique et biblique de son décor peint et sculpté, le colloque examinera, dans une large perspective comparatiste, le contexte historique et culturel de l’Arménie.

22 septembre 2014, à l’Institut d’Etudes avancées – 17, quai d’Anjou, 75004 Paris

9h15 : Accueil
9h30 : Ouverture : Jean-Pierre Mahé, Zara Pogossian, Edda Vardanyan
9h30 : Jean Richard (Membre de l’AIBL) : Conférence inaugurale

10h : Tim Greenwood (Université de St-Andrews) : «Historical Tradition, Memory and Law in the Era of Gagik Artzruni»
10h30 : Jean-Claude Cheynet (Université de Paris-Sorbonne) : «Le royaume du Vaspourakan et Byzance au Xe siècle»

11h : Discussion puis pause café

11h30 : Alison Vacca (Université du Tennessee, Knoxville) : «Basfurğān and the Artzruni Family in Arabic Sources»
12h : Aram Vardanyan (Académie des sciences d’Armenie, Erevan) : «A Case of a Rough Interaction : What was Money in the Kingdom of Vaspurakan (9th-11th c.) ?»

12h30 : Discussion puis pause déjeuner

14h30 : Robert Thomson (Université d’Oxford) : «Biblical Exegesis in Vaspurakan in the 10th Century»
15h : Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev (Université Boğaziçi, Istanbul) : «La lettre du roi du Vaspourakan Gaguik à l’empereur Romanos concernant la foi»

15h30 : Discussion et pause café

16h30 : Sergio La Porta (Université de Californie, Fresno) : «Beyond Image and Text : Armenian Readings of the Old Testament Scenes on the Church at Aght‘amar»
17h : Krikor Beledian (INALCO, Paris) : «L’émancipation de l’image dans le royaume du Vaspourakan»

17h30 : Discussion

23 septembre 2014, à la Fondation Simone et Cino Del Duca – 10, rue Alfred de Vigny, 75008 Paris

9h30 : Allocution (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres)

10h : Bernard Flusin (Université de Paris-Sorbonne) : «Le culte de la Croix à Constantinople au Xe siècle : le témoignage du Livre des cérémonies»
10h30 : Zara Pogossian (Université John Cabot, Rome) : «From Héraclius to Gagik : Veneration of the True Cross in Vaspurakan»

11h : Discussion puis pause café

11h30 : Jean-Pierre Mahé (Membre de l’AIBL) : «La Sainte-Mère-de-Dieu d’Aparank‘ : politique, diplomatie et spiritualité»
12h : Patrick Donabédian (Aix-Marseille Université) : «Sainte-Croix d’Aght‘amar. Observations sur le sens symbolique, architectural et iconographique de la dédicace»

12h30 : Discussion puis pause déjeuner

14h : Armen Kazaryan (Académie d’architecture de Moscou) : «The Church of Aght‘amar : a New Image in Medieval Architecture»
14h30 : David Kertmenjian (Académie des Beaux-Arts d’Erevan) : «About the Architecture of the Historical Palace Complex in Aght‘amar Island»

15h : Discussion puis pause café

15h30 : Ioanna Rapti (UMR 8167, Orient et Méditerranée, Paris) : «Calling Holy Patrons : the Hagiographic Component in the Iconography of Aght‘amar»

16h : Edda Vardanyan (Institut d’études avancées de Paris) : «La frise de la vigne de l’église d’Aght‘amar et la Bible»
16h30 : Gohar Grigoryan (Université de Fribourg, Suisse) : «King Gagik Artzruni’s Portrait on the Church of Aght‘amar»

17h : Discussion et conclusion

For further information, see: http://paris-iea.fr/node/1841

Call for Applicants: Resident Researchers 2015 (Madrid, Casa de Velázquez)

Call for Applicants:
Resident Researchers 2015 (Madrid, Casa de Velázquez)
Deadline: 30 September 2014

The Casa de Velázquez in Madrid is taking applications for “Resident Researchers” for 2015. Resident Researchers may be affiliated with French or non-French universities and research institutes, and can propose a stay of between one and ten months. Resident Researchers will receive accommodation, a monthly stipend and a partial reimbursement for travel costs. The deadline for applications is September 30, 2014. For more information, see https://www.casadevelazquez.org

Call for Applicants: Medieval Mediterranean PhD Program (Universidad de Alicante, Spain)

Call for Applicants:
Medieval Mediterranean PhD Program
Universidad de Alicante, Spain
Application period: 1 July – 15 September 2014

The University of Alicante (Spain) is taking applications for their PhD program in Intercultural and Historical Transferences in Medieval Mediterranean Europe.

This doctoral program is convened under the auspices of ISIC-IVITRA (http://www.ivitra.ua.es) (Ref. ISIC/2012/022), of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Universidad de Alicante (http://lletres.ua.es/va/postgrau/doctorat.html),and the Seu Universitària de la Nucia (http://web.ua.es/es/seus/lanucia/), and is administered by the Escola de Doctorat de la UA (http://cvnet.cpd.ua.es/webcvnet/planestudio/planestudiond.aspx?plan=E020#). The doctoral program is also affiliated with the following research projects: I+D+i PROMETEO/2014/012 and PROMETEO/2009/022 (Group Projects for Excellence), and FFI/2012/37103, VIGROB-125, GITE-09009-UA, and USI-UA-45 (Competitive Research Projects).

For more information, see http://www.ivitra.ua.es/doctorado/doctorado.htm
[This program can also be completed via distance learning]

New Journal: Convivium: Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and Mediterranean

New Journal: Convivium. Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and Mediterranean (Seminarium Kondakovianum Series Nova)
Deadline for Article Submission: March and November each year

Convivium restarts and continues the glorious Seminarium Kondakovianum, the journal of the institute founded in memory of Nikodim Kondakov in 1927, which represented the desire to maintain and deepen Kondakov’s pioneering scholarly work in Byzantine and medieval studies, celebrated not only in the Russian and Czech worlds but also in western Europe. Convivium covers an extended chronological range, from the Early Christian period until the end of the Middle Ages, which in central Europe lasted well beyond the Renaissance in Italy. Equally vast is the range of subjects it will treat. Whereas its central concern remains art history, that is, whatever pertains to images, monuments, the forms of visual and aesthetic experience, it is also open to many disciplines tied to art history in the deepest sense: anthropology, liturgy, archaeology, historiography and, obviously, history itself. The goal is to ensure that the journal will provide a 360o opening onto the field and the research methods being deployed in it.

Two numbers of the journal will be issued every year; all articles will be approved by a blind peer-review process. The first will focus on a theme, and the second will be a miscellany. Each issue will comprise five to ten articles (in French, English, Italian, or German), between 40,000 and 60,000 strokes long and fifteen illustrations (some in color). Convivium will be published in paper and digital format and distributed by Brepols. To submit an article, contact: convivium@earlymedievalstudies.com.

For further information on editors, editorial board, advisory board and style guidelines, see: http://www.earlymedievalstudies.com/convivium.html

Upcoming thematic issues include:

2014: Circulation as Factor of Cultural Aggregation. Relics, Ideas, and Cities in the Middle Ages
Editors: Klara Benesovska, Ivan Foletti, Serena Romano

2015: The Three Romes (Rome, Constantinople, Moscow). Studies in Honour of Hans Belting.
Editors: Ivan Foletti, Herbert Kessler

2016: Facing and Forming the Tradition. Illustrated Texts on the Way from Late Antiquity until the Romanesque Time.
Editor: Anna Boreczky

2017: Inventing the Past: Medieval Studies as a Virtual Construction.
Editors: Xavier Barral i Altet, Ivan Foletti

2018: Multicultural Spaces in Southern Italy.
Editors: Elisabetta Scirocco, Gerhard Wolf

Call for Papers: Moving Women, Moving Objects 300-1500 (Kalamazoo 2015)

Call for Papers:
Moving Women, Moving Objects 300-1500
ICMA-sponsored session at the International Congress on Medieval Studies
Kalamazoo, Michigan, 14-17 May 2015
Deadline: 15 September 2014

As we examine medieval works of art like manuscripts, reliquaries, and jewels, today anchored and spotlighted in their museum vitrines, it is easy to imagine these sumptuous objects at rest in the hands of their original owners. But, in truth, they were in constant motion, and women were especially responsible for the movement of these works of art.
This panel seeks to enrich the discussion of women and their relationships with their objects that, in the area of non-book arts, remains relatively unexplored. Luscious objects were gifts that traveled lesser and greater distances, some imported in brides’ nuptial coffers and many more commissioned and used to unite women separated by their politically advantageous marriages. Sisters and mothers, grandmothers and aunts, daughters and cousins, as well as friends and allies, all exchanged works of art with shared stories and iconographies. These pieces were the tokens that served as tribute, the centerpieces of rituals and ceremonies, the precious keepsakes enjoyed in intimate places, and the markers of architectural spaces often also founded or endowed by these women.

Theories of feminism, anthropology, sociology, and geography, among others, can all aid in the interpretation of the movement of works of art by women. New technologies such as GIS mapping and digital modeling enable us to visualize the international trajectories of works of art, as well as the movement and placement of them within architectural space. Proposals for this panel could include papers concerning women living between 300-1500. While proposals discussing European examples are anticipated, those analyzing any culture are encouraged. Papers might discuss women moving their objects in ritual space; the international, cross-cultural fertilization of the arts resulting from women’s gifts; the mapping of women’s identity through placement of objects; or class and women’s movement of their objects.

Please email the session chairs a one-page abstract of your paper, with images of the works of art you will discuss, and the Participant Information Form (available athttp://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/#PIF)

Contact: Tracy Chapman Hamilton, Sweet Briar College, thamilton@sbc.edu; Mariah Proctor-Tiffany, California State University, Long Beach, mariah.proctor@csulb.edu

Proposals due: September 15, 2014

Call for Papers: Epigrams on Art in Byzantium (Kalamazoo 2015)

Call for Papers:
Epigrams on Art in Byzantium
50th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, 14-17 May 2015
Deadline: 15 September 2014

Organizer and presider: Dr. Ivan Drpić, University of Washington, Seattle
Sponsor: Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture

Papers are invited for Epigrams on Art in Byzantium, a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored session at the 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 14–17, 2015.

The cohabitation and synergy of the physical object and the inscribed verse was a common facet of daily life in Byzantium. From monumental architecture to pieces of jewellery, seals, and even coins, a range of Byzantine objects bore verse inscriptions, or epigrams. While philologists and literary historians have furthered our understanding of Byzantine epigrammatic poetry in recent years, art historians have only begun to integrate the evidence of epigrams in the study of Byzantine art, aesthetics, and material culture. There is a great deal to be learned from engaging with this tremendously rich yet lamentably understudied evidence. How does the epigram inflect, transform, and empower the object it accompanies? How does it frame or guide the viewer’s sensorial, cognitive, and emotional responses? If poetic inscriptions, as scholars have convincingly argued, were commonly read aloud by the Byzantines, how does the experience of the epigram as performed speech affect the viewer’s interaction with the object? What is the ritual dimension of inscribed verse and how may it relate to liturgical rites, commemorative prayers, solemn vows, or magical incantations? What is the agency of poetic inscriptions beyond verbal communication? What role does the visual aspect, materiality, and spatial presentation of the written word play in making the inscription “legible”? How does the epigram function as a social tool, a site for the construction of identity for the object’s commissioner, donor, or maker? Can we speak about an epigrammatic discourse on art, and if yes, how does this discourse interact with or differ from the discourses on art formulated in theology and rhetoric? This session seeks contributions that take a fresh and penetrating look at the complex interplay between art and epigrammatic poetry in Byzantine culture.

Paper proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website (http://maryjahariscenter.org/sponsored-sessions/50th-international-congress-on-medieval-studies/). The deadline for submission is September 15, 2014. Proposals should include:

-Proposed paper title
-Paper abstract (about 300 words)
-CV

Successful applicants will be notified by October 1, 2014.

The Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse session participants up to $500 maximum for US residents and up to $1000 maximum for those coming abroad. Funding is through reimbursement only; advance funding cannot be provided. Eligible expenses include conference registration, transportation, and food and lodging. Receipts are required for reimbursement.

Please contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.

Westminster Hall

CFP: Conference on Anglo-Norman History Books (Trinity College Dublin, 22-23 May 2015)

Call for Papers:
Conference on Anglo-Norman History Books
Trinity College Dublin, 22-23 May 2015
Deadline: 12 September 2014

Amongst the key sources for medieval history are the manuscripts in which medieval writers recorded their views of the past. These documents provide historians with more information than simply their textual content. The layout, decoration, script and annotations often provide insights into why a work was copied and how it was used. The twelfth century saw a boom in historical writing dealing with the recent past and stretching back to the biblical narrative. New chronicles and annals were produced, together with accounts of the histories of particular peoples, nations and places. This two-day conference will bring together scholars working on Anglo-Norman history books from a range of disciplinary perspectives to discuss the many ways in which these books can be read. The focus will be on works produced in areas controlled by the king of England between c.1066 and c.1300.

Topics covered might include, but are not limited to:

– The creation, circulation and reception of manuscripts containing material about history
– The organisation, layout and combination of texts within manuscripts dealing with history
– The use of decoration in historical manuscripts
– The contexts in which historical manuscripts were used and preserved
– The role of manuscripts in determining historical records and shaping attitudes to the
past

Abstracts of no more that 300 words for papers of 20 minutes should be sent to Laura Cleaver at cleaverl@tcd.ie by the 12th September 2014.

This conference is organised as part of the ‘History Books in the Anglo-Norman World’ research project, which is funded by a Marie Curie Actions Grant (2011-15).

CFP: History Lab Seminar (London, 2014-2015)

Call for Papers:
History Lab Seminar 2014-2015
London, Institute of Historical Research
Deadline: 1 September 2014

The History Lab Seminar is now inviting papers for the 2014-15 academic year. You must be a member to apply, but membership is free and you can join at http://www.history.ac.uk/historylab/joinus.

These seminars are a great opportunity to present your on-going work or research conclusions to fellow postgraduates and early career historians in a relaxed and convivial atmosphere, and to obtain valuable feedback from peers.

Papers can be on any aspect or time period of historical study, broadly defined to include interdisciplinary topics from related disciplines. They should be around 45 minutes long, or, alternatively, we also welcome the submission of joint seminars with two papers of 20 to 25 minutes duration (even if the two topics are loosely related). All seminars are followed by a discussion session lasting around 15 minutes. If you would like to give a paper, but would rather it were the shorter length, do let us know and we will try to match you up with someone else in a similar situation in a related field.

The seminars are a great way to socialise with historians and postgraduates who are at similar stages in their careers, and as such the seminars always finish with drinks (and there are frequent post-seminar pub visits).

If you are interested, please send an abstract of between 250 and 350 words outlining your proposed paper to the seminar convenors at postgraduateearlycareerseminar@gmail.com. Please include some brief information about the stage you are at in your studies, your academic background, and your research interests.

Seminars will all take place at the Institute of Historical Research (Senate House, London). The deadline for submission is Monday the 1st of September 2014.

CFP: Fluctuating Networks: The Constructive Role of Broken Bonds in the Medieval Mediterranean and Beyond (Kalamazoo 2015)

Call for Papers:
Fluctuating Networks: The Constructive Role of Broken Bonds in the Medieval Mediterranean and Beyond
Kalamazoo, MI, 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies, 14-17 May 2015
Deadline: September 15, 2014

The Medieval Studies Research Group at the University of Lincoln (UK), seeks papers for one sponsored panel at the 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, May 14-17, 20145. The theme is: Fluctuating Networks: The Constructive Role of Broken Bonds in the Medieval Mediterranean and Beyond

The aim of this session is to re-consider theories and approaches to the study of medieval social, political, economic and cultural networks from multidisciplinary perspectives. The medieval Mediterranean, as a space of interaction and communication, offers a myriad of possibilities to explore, which increase even more when considering its connections with Europe and the rest of the known world.

In particular, we would welcome studies which examine how agents and circumstances, which in principle undermined and destroyed pre-existing bonds, in reality generated parallel structures and alternative webs of relatedness. Political conspiracy is a case in point. Similarly, betrayal could be read as an alteration of a system of trust, which simply shifted toward other individuals with whom new connections were established.

Through the analysis of textual and material sources, as well as visual art and architecture, this panel seeks to explore ideas and narratives of exclusion as potential seeds for new or renewed types of private and public networks. Ethnic, religious, political, economic, legal and cultural aspects were all at stake when de-constructing, while re-constructing, bonds between individuals and entire communities.

Possible areas of discussion include, but are not limited to:

– Conspiracy and alternative networks
– Revolt and rebellion
– Exile and excommunication
– Treason and betrayal (multiple interpretations)
– Trade, boycott and commercial agreements/disagreements
– Criminal associations
– ‘Otherness’ within and outside ethnic and religious communities
– Changing networks and legal practices
– Marital and familial connections
– Secular and monastic bonds
– Diplomacy and the role of ambassadors, spies, etc.
– Breaking bonds in historical writing and the construction of memory
– Comparative views and socio-anthropological perspectives

Please, submit an abstract for a 15-20 minute paper (300 words maximum) and a completed Congress Participant Information Form (available at: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF) by September 15, 2014, to: aliuzzoscorpo@lincoln.ac.uk

Dr Antonella Liuzzo Scorpo
Lecturer in Medieval History
School of History and Heritage,
University of Lincoln,
Brayford Pool,
Lincoln LN6 7TS
Office: MC2139
Email: aliuzzoscorpo@lincoln.ac.uk
Tel.: +44(0)1522 886340
Website:http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/aliuzzoscorpo