Fellowship: Samuel H. Kress Fellowships, The Medici Archive Project (Deadline 2nd April 2022)

Thanks to the continued support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, The Medici Archive Project is offering two fellowships for graduate and pre-doctoral students to undertake specialized archival research on-site at the Archivio di Stato as well as other archival collections housed in Florence and across Tuscany.

These fellowships are especially aimed to provide graduate students in art and architectural history with the opportunity to examine original source materials, receive scholarly guidance from MAP Staff, present their findings at MAP-sponsored conferences and workshops, and enroll in MAP’s Paleography and Archival Studies Seminar.

Both fellowships must take place within a period of no less than three months from 15 May 2022 to 23 December 2022.

The stipend is USD 8,000. Fellows will be responsible for their travel and accommodations in Florence.

Eligible candidates must either have American citizenship or be enrolled in graduate programs at universities in the United States.

There is no application form for this fellowship.

Instead, suitable candidates are invited to send via email to education@medici.org, the following documents in a single PDF by 2 APRIL 2022:

1) A cover letter.
2) A short essay (no more than two pages) on how the candidate’s topic will benefit from archival research.
3) A curriculum vitae.
4) The name and email address of a scholar in the field, preferably the candidate’s supervisor, who can comment on the applicant’s qualifications and the merits of the research proposal (please do not include letters of recommendation with the application).

To apply for these fellowships, the following material should be sent electronically to education@medici.org.

Please do not include supplementary material (publications, papers, syllabi, etc.).

All materials must be submitted in English.

For further information, contact education@medici.org.

PhD Opportunity: ‘PeopleAndWriting’, University of Salamanca (Deadline 30th June 2022)

The University of Salamanca invites applications for two 3-years PhD Students positions to obtain a PhD degree in Medieval History, starting in August 2022. The positions are part of the project “PEOPLEANDWRITING: The Secret Life of Writing: People, Script and Ideas in the Iberian Peninsula” under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 850604), supervised by Dra. Ainoa Castro Correa.

Application period: 1 March 2022 to 30 June 2022.

Complete information at: https://sede.usal.es/tablon/anuncio/4984/

The PhD candidate will join the project “PeopleAndWriting – The Secret Life of Writing: People, Script and Ideas in the Iberian Peninsula” at the Department of Medieval, Modern, and Contemporary History at the University of Salamanca.

PeopleAndWriting investigates the connection between people of rural communities and the written word in the medieval Iberian Peninsula as a key instrument in forging long-lasting personal identities while shaping the interactions within and among social groups. We aim to look at the lives and work of ordinary laypeople and construct their social profile in relation to written communication for the first time, analysing how the introduction of writing and writing-based social practices changed society. To this end, PeopleAndWriting proposes the application of a novel and holistic approach beyond the state-of-the-art to study an overlooked corpus of written material: the extant tenth- to twelfth-century manuscript sources from the north-western Iberian Peninsula.

Full information about the project, including latest results and news can be found in the web page: https://peopleandwriting.wordpress.com

Candidates will be expected to conduct original primary research which will conclude with the production of a PhD thesis. The PI, with assistance from the rest of project members will provide training and will supervise and guide the students.

More information: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/751889

Seminar: ‘The Painted Histories of the Welles-Ros Bible’ by Kathryn A. Smith, Murray Seminar, Birkbeck, 15th March 2022, 16:45 BST

The final Murray Seminar at Birkbeck, entitled ‘The Painted Histories of the Welles-Ros Bible’, will be delivered by Kathryn A. Smith on Tuesday 15th March, 16:45 BST.

‘Sometime probably c.1366-73, Maud de Ros, widow of the Lincolnshire nobleman John, 4th Baron Welles, commissioned the Welles-Ros Bible, a grand illuminated pandect that preserves the most complete surviving witness of the Anglo-Norman Bible—England’s earliest full prose vernacular Bible translation. This paper examines evidence for the Bible’s production under Carmelite auspices, and for the Carmelite sympathies of its patron and principal intended reader-viewer, the adolescent John, 5th Baron Welles. The paper analyzes a selection of the Bible’s richly narrative illustrations as well as elements of its design, to show how these painted histories register the lineal, tenurial, spiritual, and social concerns of a noble family struggling to rebuild in the wake of the Plague.’

Kathryn A. Smith, Professor of Art History at New York University, is the author of Art, Identity and Devotion in Fourteenth-Century England (2003), The Taymouth Hours: Stories and the Construction of the Self in Late Medieval England (2012), and articles, essays and reviews on early Christian and late medieval art, especially the illustrated manuscripts of Gothic England. She is founding series editor of Studies in the Visual Cultures of the Middle Ages (Brepols) and was a co-editor of the journal Studies in Iconography. Her seminar derives from her current book project, Scripture Transformed in Late Medieval England: The Religious, Artistic and Social Worlds of the Welles-Ros Bible, her work on which is supported by a Senior Fellowship from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.

For free tickets, visit the event’s Eventbrite page.

Online Conference: ‘Les premieres edifices chretiens de Kyiv’, A Cultural Forum for Ukraine, 9th March 2022, 14:30

As Ukraine is under invasion, the the Réunion des Musées Métropolitains Rouen Normandie (RMM) and the National Institute of Art History (INHA), supported by the Louvre Museum, the Center Pompidou, the Musée d’Orsay , the National Library of France (BnF), the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (Mucem), ICOM France, the Ecole du Louvre, the French Committee for Art History (CFHA) , the General Association of Curators of Public Collections in France (AGCCPF), the Associations of Friends of Museums (AMAR, AMMD), the Regional Department of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) Normandy, are taking the initiative to open a cultural forum to bring to life the Ukrainian culture and heritage under threat.

Every Wednesday programmes on the arts, history, and heritage of Ukraine will be held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen. Some will be reprised at the INHA. Each meeting will be recorded and put online, thus creating an audiovisual collection accessible to all French-speaking audiences, which will offer access to what Ukraine has most preciously given to humanity.

The first programme in the conference is: ‘The first Christian buildings of Kyiv’ by Jannic Durand (General Curator of Heritage, Director of the Department of Works of Art at the Louvre Museum), Wednesday 9th March at 14:30 local time, in the Musee de Beaux Arts Rouen auditorium.

For complete details, please click here.

Below is the announcement in French:

Alors que l’Ukraine est envahie, la Réunion des Musées Métropolitains Rouen Normandie (RMM) et l’Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA), appuyés par le Musée du Louvre, le Centre Pompidou, le Musée d’Orsay, la Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), le Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Mucem), l’ICOM France, l’École du Louvre, le Comité français d’histoire de l’art (CFHA), l’association générale des conservateurs des collections publiques de France (AGCCPF) les associations d’Amis de musées (AMAR, AMMD), la Direction régionale des affaires culturelles (DRAC) Normandie, prennent l’initiative d’ouvrir un forum culturel pour faire vivre la culture et le patrimoine ukrainiens menacés.

Tous les mercredis se tiendront au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen des conférences sur les arts, l’histoire et le patrimoine d’Ukraine, dont certaines seront reprises à l’INHA. Chaque rendez-vous fera l’objet d’une captation qui sera mise en ligne, créant ainsi une collection audiovisuelle accessible à tous les publics francophones, qui proposera un accès à ce que l’Ukraine a apporté de plus précieux à l’humanité.

Les personnalités invitées, conservateurs et conservatrices de musées, historiennes et historiens de l’art ou du cinéma, écrivaines et écrivains, cinéastes, artistes visuels, etc., feront entendre d’autres voix que celles des armes, en rappelant la richesse et la diversité de l’apport culturel de l’Ukraine au patrimoine universel, qui résulte d’échanges et de dialogues permanents, y compris au sein des conflits qui ont marqué ces « terres de sang ». Elles s’engagent en faveur d’un arrêt des combats, de la souveraineté de l’Ukraine sur son territoire et de la préservation des vies et des biens culturels, matériels et immatériels.

La programmation commencera avec une première conférence: ‘Les premieres edifices chretiens de Kyiv’ par Jannic Durand (conservateur general du patrimonie, directeur du department des Objets d’art au musee du Louvre), mercredi 9 mars 14h130.

Une reprise de cette conférence aura lieu le Lundi 14 mars à 18h30 (Paris, Institut national d’histoire de l’art, auditorium Jacqueline Lichtenstein de la galerie Colbert)

Funding Opportunity: ICMA Student Travel Grants (Deadline 27th March 2022)

The International Center of Medieval Art offers grants for graduate students in the early stages of their dissertation research, enabling beginning scholars to carry out foundational investigations at archives and sites. Winners will be granted $3,000, and if needed, officers of the ICMA will contact institutions and individuals who can help the awardees gain access to relevant material. Three grants are awarded per year, and they are designed to cover one month of travel.

The grants are primarily for students who have finished preliminary exams, and are in the process of refining dissertation topics. Students who have already submitted a proposal, but are still very early on in the process of their research, may also apply.  

All applicants must be ICMA members.

Applicants must submit:


1.  Outline of the thesis proposal in 800 words or less.

2.  Detailed outline of exactly which sites and/or archives are to be visited, which works will be consulted, and how this research relates to the proposed thesis topic. If you hope to see extremely rare materials or sites with restricted access, please be as clear as possible about contacts with custodians already made.

3.  Proposed budget (airfare, lodging, other travel, per diem). Please be precise and realistic. The total need not add up to $3,000 precisely. The goal is for reviewers to see how you will handle the expenses.

4.  Letter from the thesis advisor, clarifying the student’s preparedness for the research, the significance of the topic, and the relevance of the trip to the thesis.

5.  A curriculum vitae.                  

Upon return, the student will be required to submit a letter and financial report to the ICMA and a narrative to the student section of the Newsletter.

For complete details and to apply, click here.

Online Course: ‘Mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa’, The Aga Khan University, 23rd and 30th May 2022, 13:30 – 16:30 GMT

This two-day online course introduces participants to Muslim architecture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following an introduction on Islamic architecture and mosques, the first session will explore mosques in West Africa, from the Sahara to the tropical forests. The second session will look at the mosques in East Africa, from the Nile valleys to the Swahili coast. This day will be based on Professor Stephane Pradines’ extensive knowledge and fieldwork in Egypt, Ethiopia and the Swahili coast.

This short course provides the basis for understanding and critically examining the development of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. It approaches architecture through building materials and African construction techniques, from earthen monuments to coral stone buildings. Two important themes will be developed: first, the diffusion of ideas, people and material cultures across the Sahara Desert; second, the role of Islam in the building of maritime regional identities, international trading networks and urbanisation of the Swahili coast.

Learning Outcomes

This course presents Muslim architecture in a very specific context: Sub-Saharan Africa during the Medieval and Modern Ages. Following this short course, participants will be able to:

• Differentiate between mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa from their counterparts in North Africa and the Middle East.

• Recognise the different types of African mosques by geographical areas and by chronological phases.

• Learn about the importance of cultural exchanges across the Sahara Desert and the Indian Ocean.

• Receive a methodological background on archaeology, history, and the history of architecture in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Distinguish between different types of building materials and natural resources in Africa.

• Study the impact of the past to understand the political tensions in West Africa today.

Course Convenor

Stephane Pradines is an archaeologist and Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London. Professor Pradines was the Director of the excavations of the Walls of Cairo (Egypt) and many other excavations in the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Currently, his main excavation project is at Lahore Fort in Pakistan. He is a specialist of Islamic archaeology in Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean medieval trade and Muslim material culture of war. Professor Pradines is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW). He has published many articles and books on Swahili architecture, urbanism, and mosques. Professor Pradines is a mosque expert on the Indian Ocean region for UNESCO and the WMF. He has excavated several mosques in Ethiopia (Nora), Kenya (Gede), Tanzania (Songo Mnara, Sanje ya Kati and Kua) and the Maldives (Fandiyaaru and Bodha Miskiy, Koagannu, Hulhumeedhoo, Addu Atoll and Fenfushi, Ari Atoll). Professor Pradines’ latest book is Historic Mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa, from Timbuktu to Zanzibar, by Brill Publishers.

Date and Time

23 and 30 May 2022, 13:30 – 16:30 ( London Time).

Tickets and Booking

£75 professionals | £45 students, AKU alumni, and AKU and AKDN staff. Book soon: https://fal.cn/3l7QD

For African professionals and institutions, please enquire for further information by contacting: ismc.marketing@aku.edu.

Organiser

Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC), London.

*The course will be delivered via Zoom. Readings and further details will be provided later upon registration.

Course: Introduction to Greek Paleography, London International Paleography School, University of London, 6th-7th June 2022, 10:00 – 17:00 GMT

This is an introductory course in Greek Palaeography, consisting of two parts. Part I is devoted to a brief survey of the earlier history of the Greek script covering evidence from early inscriptions, through majuscule papyri to manuscripts of the Byzantine period up to the ninth century, including the first examples of Greek minuscule.  Part II concentrates on the Greek minuscule from the ninth to the 15th century and the first printed books. The development of the Greek script will be examined with relation to political events and cultural movements which shaped it through the centuries. Participants will learn how to transcribe a text from a facsimile of a Greek manuscript and examine basic codicological and palaeographical aspects, including the layout of the text, the use of ligatures, nomina sacra, abbreviations and colophons. This course will include practical transcription exercises which can only be undertaken with a knowledge of Greek script and of the Greek language, ancient or modern.  However, students without Greek can be accepted on the understanding that they will remain passive during these exercises. 

To register, please click here.

Postdoctoral Fellowship: 2023 Postdoctoral Fellowships – Migration and Mobility, University of Tübingen (Deadline 31st March 2022)

The Centre for Advanced Studies “Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages” at the University of Tübingen, Germany invites applications for resident fellowships starting in 2023. The fellowships are available for a duration between one and twelve months.

The Centre for Advanced Studies, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), brings together scholars from a wide range of disciplines working on migration and mobility in Europe and the Mediterranean between 250 and 900 CE. The overall aim of the Centre is to explore new approaches to migration and mobility in this period and to set the scholarly debate in the field on a new footing.

Fellowships are available for scholars at all stages of their academic career who have completed their doctoral degree and established an independent research profile. Applicants should be engaged in a research project in any relevant discipline that is related to the Centre’s interests in migration and mobility in the period and area in question. The Centre also welcomes applications from scholars working on migration and mobility in the contemporary world whose research has a strong focus on theoretical and methodological issues.

Fellows are required to reside in Tübingen, where they pursue their own research project while also participating in the colloquia held at the Centre. For the duration of their stay fellows receive a stipend covering  accommodation, travel, and/or living expenses in accordance with their needs and the pertinent regulations of Tübingen University and the DFG.

Applications should include a CV, a research proposal for the project to be pursued at Tübingen (2000 words), an indication of the months the applicant would like to spend at the Centre and the kind of financial support they require. All materials should be sent in a single pdf document to luisa.luiz@uni-tuebingen.de by March 31, 2022.

Should you have any questions pertaining to the details of the fellowship program or the application, please contact the coordinator Thomas Kohl (Thomas.kohl@uni-tuebingen.de).

Lecture: ‘Crowning William the Conqueror: Archbishop Stigand and the Tiberius Psalter’ with Professor Sandy Heslop, Martindale Lecture 2022, University of East Anglia, 12th May 2022, 17:30 GMT (in person & online)

The Department of Art History & World Art Studies at UEA announces their annual Martindale Lecture 2022.

CROWNING WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR: ARCHBISHOP STIGAND AND THE TIBERIUS PSALTER
Prof Sandy Heslop (UEA)

Thursday 12 May 2022, 17:30 BST, Lecture Theatre 4, UEA (and online)

“1066 was a momentous year in English history: two invasions, two bloody battles, and two coronations. The trauma has been written into the national narrative ever since, but we rarely have much insight into the mentality of the individuals involved. The Tiberius Psalter offers an exception, illuminating the character and predicament of Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury, a leading player in the drama.”

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception to toast Prof. Heslop on his retirement from the department. 

Registration is now open on EventBrite.

Lecture Series: Britain and the World in the Middle Ages: Image and Reality, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 7th April – 12th May 2022

The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art announces their upcoming lecture series ‘Britain and the World in the Middle Ages: Image and Reality’. Lectures will be held every Thursday from 7th April to 12th May 2022.

From the announcement: ‘In the Middle Ages, the ‘British Isles’ were far from insular. These islands were, in fact, places of exchange, where art, ideas, rare materials and people came together from all over the world. This course examines Britain’s sense of place in that world, as well as its actual place in the world – in other words, image, and reality – by examining medieval images themselves. Each of the course’s lectures considers one of five critical themes in Britain’s global experience and imagination, through the exploration of works of medieval art.’

This series is convened by Jessica Berenbeim (University of Cambridge) and Lloyd de Beer (British Museum). Below is the list of lectures:

  • 7th April: Introduction by Jessica Berenbeim and Lloyd de Beer
  • 14th April: ‘Myth’ by Alixe Bovey
  • 21st April: ‘Maps’ by Alfred Hiatt
  • 28th April: ‘Metamorphosis’ by Tom Nickson
  • 5th May: ‘Movement’ by Amanda Luyster (Online only)
  • 12th May: ‘Museums’ by Rishan Majeed (Online only)

All lectures (apart from the final two) will take place at the Paul Mellon Centre and will also be livestreamed online. Registration is now open.