This international conference explores the organic relationship between lived experience and academic/religious thought, beginning from the position that intellectual activity and social experience were closely intertwined in the medieval period. The conference honours the work of Professor Peter Biller FBA in his 75th year, whose attempts to situate practical medieval thinkers in their milieux have inspired many of the speakers.
Conference: ‘Transmissions and Translations in the Medieval World’, Kings Manor at the University of York (2-3 June 2018)
The concepts of transmission and translation are central to the evolution of the pan-European multi-cultural nature of medieval society. Cross-cultural connections in the political arena, mercantile trade routes, the dissemination of Christianity and interactions with Islam and Judaism resulted in the appropriation and assimilation of practices, ideas and arts throughout the medieval world. These transactions were enabled by numerous factors and generated new fusions of style in architecture, art and iconography, literature and lifestyles which together importantly informed attitudes towards the self and others, senses of belonging and ownership, as well as conceptions of regionality. While these areas of enquiry have been much discussed in relation to contemporary society in sociological and anthropological scholarship, there remains much to explore about how they were articulated and achieved during the Middle Ages: what types of objects were transported and for what purpose(s); the impact of language on the transmission of ideas through manuscripts, literature and poetry; iconographic borrowings and theological impetus; processes of production; engagement with their societies of origin and those they infiltrated.
This two-day interdisciplinary conference will examine the significance of transmission and translation, and the associated themes encompassed by these terms in the medieval world. It will bring together early career researchers, emerging scholars and established academics from different disciplinary backgrounds as a forum for contextualising the movement of textual and material objects, as well as the ideas accompanying them.
Conference programme:
Day 1: Saturday 2nd June
10:00 – 10:25, K/G33, Registration and Coffee
10:25, K133, Opening Remarks
Session 1: 10:30-12:00
Chair: Megan Henvey
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch
Session 2: 1:30 – 3:00
Chair: Amanda Doviak
3:00 – 3:30 Coffee Break
Session 3: 3:30-5:00
Chair: TBA
5:00 – 5:15 Comfort Break
Keynote Lecture 5:15 – 6:15
From Demons to Axe Men: Adaptation and Invention in Early Irish Sculpture
Professor Roger Stalley
Chair: TBA
to be followed by a drinks reception
Day 2: Sunday 3rd June
Session 1: 10:00-11:30
Chair: Amanda Doviak
11:30 – 12:00 Coffee Break
Session 2: 12:00-13:30
Chair: Meg Boulton
13:30 – 15:00 Lunch
Session 3: 15:00-16:30
Chair: Heidi Stoner
16:30 – 16:45 Closing Remarks
Registration is open until 8 May at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transmissions-and-translations-in-the-medieval-world-tickets-44682099362?aff=es2
2-3 September 2016
King’s Manor, University of York
Keynote Speaker: Dr Julian Luxford, Reader in History of Art, University of St Andrews
The rood – understood as the cross itself, and/or the image of Christ crucified – was central to the visual and devotional culture of medieval Christianity. By the late middle ages, a rood was present in monumental form, either painted or sculpted, at the east end of the nave of every church. Yet roods in numerous other forms could be found in ecclesiastical contexts: as images, in various sizes and media – in manuscript illumination, on textiles, and in stained glass. Images of the rood were also to be found within domestic, civic, and military contexts, from the bedroom to the battlefield.
Following recent scholarship that has focused on early medieval roods (Sancta Crux/Halig Rodseries, 2004-2010), and considered monumental roods on the Continent (Jacqueline Jung’s The Gothic Screen, 2013), this conference will bring together established academics, early career and emerging scholars, to share new research and foster debate on the forms and functions of images of the rood in Britain and Ireland c.900-c.1500.
Programme:
Friday 2nd September:
11:30 – 12:50 Session 1
Dr Jane Hawkes (York): Approaching the Anglo-Saxon Sculpted Stone Cross: Rood, Crucifix, Icon?
Heidi Stoner (York): Viking Crucifixion: The Development of the Iconography of the Rood in the Insular World
14:00 -15:20 Session 2
Dr Meg Boulton (York): The Place of the Cross: (re)assessing the Iconography and Significance of Two Late Saxon Roods
Dr Kate Thomas (York): Praying Before the Cross in the Late Anglo-Saxon Church
15:50 – 17:10 Session 3
Sara Carreño López (Santiago de Compostela): Stone Crosses in Public Spaces: Irish, British, and Galician Cases
Dr Małgorzata Krasnodębska-D’Aughton (University College Cork): The Cross of Death and Life: Franciscan Ideologies in Late Medieval Ireland
17:30 Keynote Lecture
Dr Julian Luxford (St Andrews): Answering Crosses: The Rood and Relativity in Post-Conquest England
Saturday 3rd September:
10:00 – 11:20 Session 4
Dr Lucy Wrapson (Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge): Heralding the Rood: Material Hierarchies on Late Medieval English Rood Screens
Dr Philippa Turner (York): The Rood in the Late Medieval English Cathedral: The Black Rood of Scotland Reassessed
11:50 – 13:10 Session 5
Dr Zachary Stewart (Columbia): Roods, Screens and Spatial Dynamics in the Late Medieval English Parish Church
Sarah Cassell (University of East Anglia): Framing the Rood: Fifteenth-Century Angel Roofs and the Rood in East Anglia
14:10 – 15:30 Session 6
Daniel Smith (University of Kent): The Rood and the Doom: Interconnections between the Passion and the Last Judgement in Late Medieval Text and Image
Dr Hollie Morgan (University of Lincoln): ‘As I Lay Me Down to Sleep’: In Bed With Jesus in Late Medieval England
15:30 – 16:15 Roundtable Discussion
For registration and more information, see: https://theroodinbritainandireland.wordpress.com/registration/
University of York, November 1, 2015 – June 1, 2016
Application deadline: Feb 21, 2016
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Writing Competition 2016
The Department of History of Art at the University of York is delighted
to announce The Independent Research Fellowship Writing Competition for
2016. We are eager to attract talented, accomplished, and imaginative
researchers who are building a career in art history to work with us.
We invite expressions of interest and applications from researchers
wishing to apply for any postdoctoral research fellowship scheme,
including the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships, British
Academy, Paul Mellon, Henry Moore Postdoctoral Fellowships.
The Independent Research Writing Prize provides early career
researchers with a stimulating and supportive environment to develop a
postdoctoral fellowship application of the highest order. The
fellowship must be held in the Department of History of Art at the
University of York.
The Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Writing Competition in conjunction
with the Department of History of Art at York offers:
– The opportunity to be part of an energetic department top ranked for
research.
– Specialist research expertise across a wide range of fields,
including religious art, architectural history and theory, sculpture
studies, gender and sexuality, fashion and dress, adornment, and
stained glass, with experts in periods from early medieval to
contemporary. The diversity of approaches that colleagues in the
department are developing is as varied as they are. They enter into
productive dialogue within the Department through collaboration of all
kinds, ranging from major externally financed research projects to
informal exploratory workshops.
– Opportunities to develop interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary or
transdisciplinary projects across the visual arts and with colleagues
in other departments with which we have strong links, such as History,
and English. We are eager to develop links with Theatre, Film & TV,
Computer Science & Electronics, Linguistics, Philosophy, Music,
Sociology, Women’s Studies and beyond.
– Experienced mentorship and the opportunity to develop skills and
experience of value in academia and beyond.
– A supportive and friendly working environment.
Deadlines
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Writing Competition Deadlines:
– 2 Nov 2015: Writing competition opened
– 21 Feb 2016: Deadline for receipt of application forms and curriculum
vitae. Candidates are strongly advised to work in close collaboration
well before this date with members of faculty in the Department at York
to develop their application
– 22 Feb-7 Mar 2016: Shortlisting by faculty members at York
– 7 March 2016: Shortlisting decision confirmed and announced as soon
as possible thereafter
– 8-10 June 2016: Working Party at York. Successful candidates will be
invited to campus to work up their applications with leading art
historians
– Early September 2016 on: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship deadlines
Application Process
The application process is simple.
Please complete the application form (HoA Postdoc Writing Application
Form (MS Word , 13kb)) and send it with your c.v. to Professor Helen
Hills (helen.hills@york.ac.uk). Once we have received this, Professor
Hills will put you in touch with the most appropriate and relevant
members of faculty in the department. You are strongly encouraged to
work with them on improving your final application to be submitted
before midnight 21 February 2016.
We will select the best applicants (up to a maximum of 6), who will be
invited to campus for a Working Party (intensive two-day workshops)
8-10 June to develop their applications with leading art historians.
You will be expected to submit your application to the relevant
institution. And the best application achieved as a result of that
process – judged by us – will receive an award of £1000.
We will meet travel costs up to £200 economy fare within Europe and up
to £400 from beyond Europe. Accommodation for two nights, working lunch
and dinner will be provided at York for the Working Party.
Call for Papers:
The Politics of Visual Translations of Jerusalem
University of York, 20-21 March 2015
Deadline: 10 October 2014
An international conference hosted by the Department of History of Art and the Humanities Research Centre at the University of York. Organised by Laura Slater and Hanna Vorholt.
Access to and sovereignty over the holy places of Jerusalem is a frequent source of political tension amongst the three Abrahamic faiths, while further discord has developed over the religious and secular identities of the city. There is no question that contemporary visualisations of Jerusalem are concerned with the political status and symbolism of Jerusalem as a divided city, disputed state capital and key issue for the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, despite acknowledgement of the deep historical roots of contemporary political conflicts in the Middle East, the political significance of earlier visual translations of Jerusalem has often escaped scholarly attention.
This conference aims to address this important issue. It seeks to look across different historical periods, geographical boundaries and religious traditions to bring out the range of political ideas and agendas which underpin architectural translations, visual representations and physical relics of Jerusalem in Europe and beyond. Considering the ways in which Jerusalem and its holy places were imagined, visually represented, and replicated across the medieval, early modern and modern periods, the conference will ask:
What political interests or regimes have become invested in the recreation of Jerusalem? How have local or wider political events impacted on Jerusalem translations and their histories, for example with regard to iconoclasm and politically motivated acts of vandalism and destruction? As such, the conference will examine political dimensions in the construction, use, appropriation, and reception history of visual translations of Jerusalem, seeking to establish a
productive scholarly dialogue between place, period and political agenda.
Keynote lectures will be given by Achim Timmermann (University of Michigan) and Antony Eastmond (Courtauld Institute).
For further information see:
https://www.york.ac.uk/history-of-art/visual-translations-jerusalem/
Papers are invited from researchers in the fields of history of art and architecture, politics, history, literature, religion, archaeology, and other relevant disciplines.
Areas of particular interest include:
– Jerusalem recreations and the definition of nations, states, empires,
cities and peoples
– Political regimes: the recreation of Jerusalem at centres of power
and within political territories? the
importance of Jerusalem for the self or public image of rulers
– Current events: the role of visual translations of Jerusalem in
political debates, polemics, propaganda, and political movements?
Jerusalem sites as places of political resistance or rebellion
– The politics of performance, exhibition and consumption
– The use or reuse of Jerusalem sites as memorials
– The politics of loss: destruction or neglect of Jerusalem translations
Please send an abstract of up to 300 words to Laura Slater
(jerusalemeuropeconference@gmail.com). Deadline for submission of proposals is 10 October 2014. Limited funding is available to help cover external speakers’ travel and accommodation expenses. Please let us know in your email if you require funding. The conference is organized in the context of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/20072013)/ ERC grant agreement no.249466.
Beguiling Structures
Architecture in European Painting 1300-1550
19th September 2014, National Gallery, London
“Is it not true that painting is the mistress of all the arts or their principal ornament? If I am not mistaken, the architect took from the painter architraves, capitals, bases, columns and pediments, and all the other fine features of buildings. The stonemason, the sculptor and all the workshops and crafts of artificers are guided by the rule and art of the painter. So I would venture to assert that whatever beauty there is in things has been derived from painting.”
Leon Battista Alberti – De Pictura, Book II, Chapter XXVI.
So runs Leon Battista Alberti’s famous claim for architects’ indebtedness to the creativity of painters. His words draw attention to the close relationship between illusionistic representations of architecture and its actual three-dimensional forms. Indeed, the prominence given to architecture within painting before and after Alberti’s lifetime has long been noted, though its presence is easily overlooked and its precise meaning often elusive. This conference for graduate students and early-career scholars will explore this relationship in all its multifaceted complexity. Conceived to complement The National Gallery’s exhibition Building the Picture: Architecture in Italian Renaissance Painting, this event will look afresh at architecture’s place within European painting and reassess established interpretations. Why were buildings included in pictorial representations? What is their purpose and what do they do for the picture? The answers to these and other questions may well uncover a far more complex interchange between painting and architecture than Alberti’s straightforward assertion would suggest.
Students and scholars working in the visual arts of the late-Mediaeval and Renaissance periods are therefore warmly invited to submit proposals for twenty-minute papers. Interdisciplinary approaches to these subjects and discoveries of current research are particularly welcome. Potential topics for consideration may include:
-The use of architecture to demonstrate perspectival devices and to structure pictorial composition.
-The adoption of elaboration, ornamentation and the ‘fantastic’ in depicted architecture.
-The use of architectural forms to visualise historical time and specific topographies within narratives.
-The theoretical discourse of perspective and its terminology within contemporaneous accounts.
-The creation of dialogues between the architecture of the painting and that of its original location.
-The use and significance of architectural frames both within paintings and surrounding them.
Whilst papers on these themes are encouraged, submissions for proposals on topics across the broader spectrum of artistic media, chronological periods and geographical locations are also welcome. Proposed papers’ titles and abstracts of 250 words, and any additional enquiries, should be forwarded to beguiling.structures@gmail.com by Monday 16TH June 2014. This conference, organised by Alasdair Flint, James Jago and Livia Lupi, forms part of the Galleries & Museums Research Partnerships Programme between The National Gallery, London and the Department of History of Art, The University of York.
