Tag Archives: materiality

CFP: [IN]MATERIALITY IN MEDIEVAL ART, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, November 12–13, 2020

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1594-2020-01-11-cartel20congreso61CALL FOR PAPERS:
[IN]MATERIALITY IN MEDIEVAL ART
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, November 12 – 13, 2020

Deadline: Apr 3, 2020

Ovid’s aphorism «Materiam superabat opus», evoked throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, reveals the special consideration given to skill, technique and craft in the artistic creation processes. Thus, ingenuity and mastery have been privileged qualities in our approach to works of art, according to a restricted vision assumed by Art History as a discipline. However, both the aesthetic reflections and the documents related to artistic commissions in the Middle Ages show the great importance given to the material and sensory aspects of artefacts and monuments. In line with this perception, once again valued in light of the «material turn» of the discipline in the last decades, the 14th Jornadas Complutenses de Arte Medieval propose to focus on materiality as an essential factor in the artistic production, as well as on the poetics of immateriality and the intangible condition of the aesthetic experience.

Beyond the technical analyses, which in recent decades have allowed us to reconsider common places in the study of the medieval artistic production, this congress aims to establish transversal debates in order to open up new perspectives. In this sense, the material conditions of artistic production (properties, supply, cost, transport or technology, among others), as well as their reflection in the written sources –from technical treatises to documentary and literary references– will be discussed. On the other hand, the congress will address issues related to the sensorial features of the medieval works of art and their relationship with intangible aspects, such as the material and chromatic qualities, the incidence of light, the acoustic and olfactory effects, and the impact of the natural environment. The poetics of the materials, their meaningful uses, and the symbolic values of the immaterial will have room in the debates. Likewise, it will be of interest to consider new interpretative concepts, such as «transmateriality» and «transmediality», which may include the morphological transformation of elements across different materials, the transfer and circulation of ornamental patterns, or the physical traces of mental, invisible or transient phenomena. Contributions that address non-hegemonic and / or under-treated practices and media in historiography are especially welcomed.

Proposed topics include (but are not limited to):

– Material conditions of artistic creation.
– Underrated practices and media.
– Poetics and semantic uses of the material and the intangible.
– Cultural history of materials.
– Sensoriality and immateriality.
– «Transmateriality» and «transmediality».

Confirmed keynote speakers: Miquel Àngel Capellà Galmés (Universitat de les Illes Balears), Vincent Debiais (CRH – Centre national de la recherche scientifique), Beate Fricke (Universität Bern), Ruggero Longo (Bibliotheca Hertziana, Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte), María Teresa López de Guereño Sanz (Universidad Autónona de Madrid), José Miguel Puerta Vílchez (Universidad de Granada), Laura Rodríguez Peinado (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Elisabetta Scirocco (Bibliotheca Hertziana, Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte), Noelia Silva Santa-Cruz (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Ana Suárez González (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), Jorge Tomás García (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).

Call for papers:

Researchers interested in submitting a 20-minute paper on any of the topics listed above are invited to send their proposals in Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese, including the following information:

– Title of the paper proposal.

– Name and surname of the author and email address.

– Abstract of about 500 words.

– Brief academic and research CV of about 300 words.

The proposals should be sent to the email address inmaterial@ucm.es by 3 April 2020. Authors will be notified of the outcome by 8 May 2020. Selected papers will be published later in a collective volume after peer review.

More info: https://www.ucm.es/historiadelarte/14thjornadasmedieval

Conference: New Dialogues in Art History, The Warburg Institute, London, September 26, 2018

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https3a2f2fcdn-evbuc-com2fimages2f472296712f2640004419952f12foriginalThis one day conference brings together the next generation of art history scholars to present and discuss their ongoing research. Papers will predominately focus on Italian and Northern Renaissance Art (c. 1400–1600) and will encompass diverse media including tapestry, painting, engraving and stained glass. The conference will comprise five sessions. In the first four, two PhD students (or recent graduates) will present on topics that are united by common themes such as patronage, attribution and materiality. The final session, entitled ‘Opening New Dialogues’, will feature a paper by Professor Michelle O’Malley (Deputy Director and former PhD student at The Warburg). In order to foster the intellectual exchange central to ‘New Dialogues in Art History’ , the key paper(s) of each session will be followed by 20 minutes discussion.

Organised by Genevieve Verdigel & Lydia Goodson. Please direct any enquiries to the organisers at: NewArtDialogues@gmail.com

Programme

10:00–10:15: Registration

10:15–10:30: Introduction: Lydia Goodson and Genevieve Verdigel

10:30–11:30: Session 1: Making and Materiality
Chair: Alexander Röstel (Courtauld Institute / The National Gallery)
– Ang Li (University of Oxford): ‘The Revival of Gold Ground in Late Fifteenth-Century Italian Paintings.’
– Benedetta Pacini (University of Warwick/ The National Gallery): ‘Making and Moving Venetian Renaissance Paintings: my interviews with chief restorers in Venice and London, and archival records about Tintoretto’s transport strategy.’

11:30–11:45: Break (Tea and Coffee Provided)

11:45–12:45: Session 2: Attribution and Authorship
Chair: Dr Olenka Horbatsch (British Museum; PhD 2017, University of Toronto)
– James Wehn (Case Western Reserve University/ The Cleveland Museum of Art): ‘The Maker’s Image: Israhel van Meckenem, His Name, and His Copies.’
– Catherine Spirit (University of York): ‘Weaving Light: Untangling Authorship in the Windows of All Saints Church, Earsham.’

12:45–13:45: Lunch (Provided for Speakers and Chairs)

13:45–14:45: Session 3: Prestige and Patronage
Chair: Adriana Concin (Courtauld Institute)
– Dr Ilaria Taddeo (PhD 2017, IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca): ‘Artistic Patronage, Family Prestige and Religious Politics. The case of the Guidiccioni between Lucca and Rome (c. 1530-1550).’
– Anne-Sophie Laruelle (University of Liège): ‘Reconsidering Tapestry Patronage and Trade in the Renaissance.’

14:45–15:00: Break (Tea and Coffee Provided)

15:00–16:00: Session 4: Itinerancy and Interchange
Chair: Lois Haines (Warburg Institute / The National Gallery)
– Giulio Dalvit (Courtauld Institute): ‘Circulation of Drawings in Castiglione Olona: Masolino, Paolo Schiavo, Vecchietta, Domenico Veneziano and Cyriacus of Ancona.’
– Matthew Whyte (University College, Cork): ‘Stylistic Exchange and Civic Identity in Michelangelo’s work on the Arca di San Domenico in Bologna.’

16:05–16:55: Session 5: Opening New Dialogues
– Professor Michelle O’Malley (Deputy Director, Warburg Institute): ‘The Specifics of Authorship: Attributing Production.’

16:55–17:00: Concluding Remarks
17:00–18:00: Reception

Free and Open to all. Advanced booking required via Eventbrite.

Call for Papers: ‘Rethinking the Carpet Page: Meaning, Materiality, and Historiography’, IMC 2019 (Deadline: 10 September 2018)

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440px-meister_des_book_of_lindisfarne_002CFP for International Medieval Congress 2019 at the University of Leeds, July 1-4 2019

The session proposes a fresh look at carpet pages in manuscript books across the medieval world including examples from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian contexts. We seek papers examining the sources for and functions of particular carpet pages as well as papers questioning the paradigm of the “carpet page” as it developed in the scholarly literature.

Please submit a working title and a 250-word proposal for a 20 minute paper by September 10.

Julie Harris
marfiles@comcast.net

 

CFP: Venice, Materiality, and the Byzantine World, Sponsored by the Italian Art Society, 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 10-13, 2018, Western Michigan University

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imgp4428CFP: Venice, Materiality, and the Byzantine World, Sponsored by the Italian
Art Society, 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 10-13,
2018, Western Michigan University
Deadline: 15 September 2017
The Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Symposium leading to the 2010 publication of San
Marco, Byzantium, and the Myths of Venice introduced new perspectives on
Byzantine and Venetian visual and material culture that extended Otto Demus’s
survey of Saint Mark’s basilica. The authors’ application of more recent approaches—
such as the social function of spolia, the act of display, the construction of identity,
and cultural hybridity—brought fresh analyses to a complex and richly decorated
monument. This panel seeks to expand this methodological discourse by taking into
account questions related to materials, materiality, and intermediality between
Venice and Byzantium. The arrival of material culture from the Byzantine world to
Venice as gifts, spoils, or ephemera during the centuries surrounding the Fourth
Crusade allowed for both appropriation and conceptual transformation of material
culture. In light of the renewal in interest of Venice’s Byzantine heritage, this panel
seeks to reflect on the interaction of material culture between la Serenissima and the
Byzantine world, especially during the eleventh through fifteenth centuries. Topics
may be wide-ranging, including, but not limited to: issues of reception and cultural
translation; changing concepts of preciousness; different valuation of materials
between Venice and Byzantium; the fluctuating simulation of material visual effects;
the transformation of Byzantine objects incorporated into Venetian frames;
intermedial dialogue between Byzantine and Venetian art; and the process and
technique of manufacture of works between Byzantium and Venice. Some points of
departure may include: the building of San Marco itself; Byzantine objects in the
Treasury; Byzantine manuscripts included as part of the Cardinal Bessarion gift to
the Republic; the monuments on Torcello; or issues raised as a result of recent
conservation projects. New cross-cultural methodologies from art historical,
anthropological, or sociological fields are welcome.
Please submit a 300-word abstract and a completed Participant Information Form
(http://www.wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) by September 15 to the
session organizers: Brad Hostetler, Kenyon College, hostetler1@kenyon.edu Joseph
Kopta, Pratt Institute, jkopta@pratt.edu
In addition to the travel awards available to all Congress participants (http://www.wmich.edu/medievalcongress/awards), the
Italian Art Society offers competitive travel grants:
http://italianartsociety.org/grants-opportunities/travel-grant-information

CFP: Pictor/Miniator: Working across media, 1250–1500, 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018

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michelino_molinari_da_besozzo_-_st-_luke_painting_the_virgin_-_google_art_projectCall for Papers: Pictor/Miniator: Working across media, 1250–1500, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies Sponsored Session at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018
Deadline: 20 September 2017

The multimedia fluidity of artists and artisans in the later Middle Ages is an area ripe for investigation. Across diverse regions in Europe and beyond, many illuminators, both named and anonymous, engaged in forms of art-making in addition to the decoration of manuscript books. Some painted frescoes, panels, and ephemera, while others provided designs and supervised the production of stained glass, enamels, tapestries, and other objects. With some frequency, those who specialized in other media were in turn called upon to illuminate books. While modern studies have focused on individual examples of such multi-media talent, the broader implications of this intermedial fluency remain obscure: within the wider art-historical canon, manuscript illumination as an art form is largely seen as derivative or prone to influence from large-scale media.
This session seeks to re-examine the relationship between manuscript illumination and other fields of artistic endeavor in the later Middle Ages. How did artists themselves consider the differing characteristics and ontologies of these varied supports? How did painters adapt their style and working method when engaging with other media and other categories of object? Did the presence of local guild regulations curtail or encourage multi-media practice, and how did this compare region-to-region or to contexts outside of Western Europe? Beyond evident differences in scale, pricing, and technique, interesting issues arise regarding patronage and audience: how different was the clientele for manuscripts compared to that for painting, for example? How did the relative accessibility and visibility of differing art forms affect the visual solutions achieved? Is a book-bound image “freer” or more experimental than a publically visible one?
The session asks these and other questions relevant to those studying the social contexts of art production, the dynamics of reception, materiality, and the technical characteristics of objects. It seeks to be open-minded in terms of methodological approach, and aims to bring together scholars working on diverse material, in order to initiate a larger conversation that can impact the discipline of art history as a whole.
Please send proposals with a one-page abstract and a completed Participant Information Form (http://www.wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) to Nicholas Herman (hermanni@upenn.edu) by 20 September 2017.

CFP: ‘Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance,’ 53nd International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 10-13, 2018) in Kalamazoo, Michigan

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bean20ms120-20folio2080l20-20liturgy20of20the20deadCall for Papers: ‘Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance,’ 53nd International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 10-13, 2018) in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Deadline: 15 September 2017
The Interdisciplinary Graduate Medieval Colloquium at the University of Virginia invites graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars to submit papers for a session entitled “Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance” at the 53nd International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 10-13, 2018) in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Abstracts of up to 250 words for a 15-20-minute paper should be submitted on or before September 15, 2017 via Google Forms (visit http://bit.ly/liturgyform). All entries will undergo blinded peer review. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decisions via email by Friday, September 22.

Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance

This panel turns on a rather simple (or simplistic) question: is liturgy a text or a performance? The howls of dissent rise up – Who would ask such a thing? The answer is both, of course! In response, this panel invites graduate students, affiliated faculty, and independent scholars to respond to the dichotomy of text/performance even as they replace it with their own set of questions to guide the future study of liturgy as text, music, and/or drama. Among other concerns, how are the textual and bodily experiences of liturgy coeval, or even co-constitutive, in the Middle Ages? In what ways do liturgical texts both organize and find their roots in ritual reenactments that involve procession, genuflection, and acts of proskynesis? What episodes and anecdotes from the Middle Ages reveal how liturgical text is entangled with the environment in which it is read, sung, translated, or performed?

The panel aims to create a conversation that goes beyond the traditional practice of liturgical exegesis to a more active, embodied study of the liturgy in Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish traditions. Since unpacking the meaning of a somatic study of liturgy is the prime goal of the session, participants may use movement, travel, and the kineticism of objects as organizing principles for their work or ask how scholars actually perform or participate in the liturgies they study. Interesting avenues include discussions of the materiality of liturgy, from enduring forms to ephemera, via a close look at manuscripts, printed books, sacred instruments, vestments, relics, urban layouts, decorations for processions, and the architecture of churches, chapels, and tombs. We particularly invite work that pushes the boundary of what is currently considered the purview of “liturgy and ritual studies,” explores some aspect of space and sound, and pertains to the smell, touch, and taste of the liturgy in North Africa, Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Russia, and the Byzantine world.

Session co-chairs:
Justin Greenlee (jgg3mb@virginia.edu) and DeVan Ard (dda8xx@virginia.edu)

CfP: New Directions in the Study of Medieval Sculpture, Leeds, 16-17 Mar 2018

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Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, March 16 – 17, 2018
Deadline: Sep 30, 2017

New Directions in the Study of Medieval Sculpture

Focusing on the materiality of medieval sculpture has proven crucial to
its study and has expanded our historical understanding of sculpture
itself. Whether monumental relief sculpture in stone, wooden sculptures
in the round, sculpted altarpieces, ivory plaques or enamelled
reliquaries, the possibilities for research on medieval sculpture now
extend far beyond the established canon.

Contemporary medieval sculpture studies have opened the field to
comparative and inclusive research that embraces the social,
performative, gendered and ritual uses of medieval sculpture. These
developments have inspired the organisers of the conference New
Directions in the Study of Medieval Sculpture to reflect on the field
and ask how do we investigate medieval sculpture today and what might
come ‘after’ materiality?

This two-day conference seeks to assess and critique the state of the
field on medieval sculpture and to investigate new directions,
approaches and technologies for research. A consideration of the state
of the field could be approached through, but is not limited to, the
following topics:

    Processes and techniques of medieval sculpture
    The sensory experience of medieval sculpture
    The ephemeral and intangible aspects of medieval sculpture
    Medieval sculpture, photography and digital reproduction
    Archives, casts and reconstructing medieval sculpture
    Sculpture and medievalism
    Historiography of medieval sculpture studies
    Exhibition histories of medieval sculpture

This conference is hosted by the Henry Moore Institute, a centre for
the study of sculpture, and is convened by Dr Elisa Foster, 2016-18
Henry Moore Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow.

Accommodation and reasonable travel expenses within the UK will be
reimbursed.

Paper proposals should be sent via email to Dr Elisa Foster:
elisa.foster@henry-moore.org by 30 September 2017.