Call for Applications

Journées d’étude

Permanence et continuité dans l’art du Moyen Âge

24 novembre 2025 — INHA, salle Vasari

25 novembre 2025 — Université de Lille, IRHiS

Due By 15 April 2025

"Continuity is undeniable; the first Gothic master builders or architects were raised in the Romanesque world. They naturally drew inspiration from it, but this continuity is a living and dynamic one; it is similar to life itself, where heredity, education, and the past weigh on each individual without compromising the emergence of freedom." 1 — Jacques Henriet

By questioning continuity and its intentionality in medieval production, Jacques Henriet highlights a widely observed process whose parameters have rarely been examined. Indeed, art history often analyzes its subject through the lens of innovation. This epistemological bias has led to the marginalization of the issues of permanence in the historiography of medieval artistic production, despite their essential role in understanding this period.

The study of this theme has also suffered from an almost exclusive focus on the legacy of antiquity in medieval art. While this question is crucial, it limits our overall perception of conservative forms and practices. An interest that may have seemed novel twenty years ago now appears to be a central concern in medieval studies.

These study days aim to explore the relationship between permanence and continuity in the use of models and forms specific to medieval culture. In particular, his perspective seeksto examine the existence of a genuine aesthetic conservatism, understood as a fertile artistic dynamic. We will address these notions through the lens of innovation, dissemination channels, creative contexts, and the various intellectual processes at work.

Theme 1: Permanence, Continuity, and Innovation

During this period, creation was often developed and justified by clerics according to a principle of continuity—one may recall the expression "dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants" which John of Salisbury attributed to his master Bernard of Chartres, and which he claimed as the only worthy path to intellectual creation. Therefore, we must question the originality of medieval works through the notion of borrowing from older formulas and the reactivation of past models. This unique relationship with temporality may be explored through the process of creating an artwork, such as an illuminated book or the reinterpretation of monumental works. This approach aims to critically assess the singularity of certain continuities, such as the Franco-Insular style of the Second Bible of Charles the Bald (BnF, Latin 2, c. 871-877), which may invoke notions of archaism and conservatism or even historicism, and reaction, whose relevance to the Middle Ages needs to be interrogated.

Theme 2: Networks and Agents of Dissemination

Understanding the phenomena of continuity requires analyzing the cultural context of these artistic productions. Indeed, continuity may find expression in the long-term realization of artistic programs, as seen in homogeneous projects spanning decades. Another approach involves questioning the notion of tradition; whether it is linked to a specific artistic practice, a defined space, or a particular milieu. Tradition may also exist within a network of actors, particularly institutional ones, that facilitate the dissemination of models, such as repertoires of forms within monastic orders, like the model books circulated in the Cistercian context. Therefore, we will examine the means of transmission and circulation of models and expertise among these various agents, particularly through apprenticeships...

Theme 3: Modalities of Reception

Were these phenomena as prominent to medieval contemporaries as they are to contemporary art historians? This final theme will explore the intentionality behind the use of forms or processes perceived as representative of an earlier period of creation. More specifically, it will examine the role of heritage, understood as the unconscious reproduction of knowledge acquired through education, and that of tradition, considered a deliberate citation of an ancient form, comprehensible only within a given context—such as the memorial project of Saint-Louis de Poissy (c. 1297-1331), for example. This element of intentionality invites us to refine the definition of aesthetic preferences in the medieval era, when the past was considered an aesthetic category in itself.

Keywords: practice; materials; tradition; heritage; recreation; canons; models; coherence; continuity; homogeneity; taste; aesthetics.

Submission Guidelines and Timeline

These study days aim to explore these transmission pathways through original case studies. Our intention is to bring together presentations covering all media of the medieval period (5th–15th centuries). Presentations should be 20 to 25 minutes long. A publication is planned.

Proposals for conference contributions may be submitted in French or English. They should take the form of a summary (approximately 300 words) with a title and be accompanied by a short biography.
Submissions should be sent to jepl.medieval@gmail.com by April 15, 2025. Feedback to authors will be provided by June 30, 2025.

Call for papers in English revised by Allyson Tadjer, PhD, Georgia State University, Professor of English at the University of Lille.

For a PDF of the Call for Papers, click here.

Scientific Committee

• Mathieu Beaud, Associate Professor of Medieval Art History, UMR 8529 IRHiS, University of Lille.

• Étienne Hamon, Professor of Medieval Art History, UMR 8529 IRHiS, University of Lille.

• Anne-Orange Poilpré, Professor of Medieval Art History, UR 4100 HiCSA, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

• Ambre Vilain, Associate Professor of Medieval Art History, UMR 6566 CReAAH, LARA Laboratory, Nantes University.

  Organizing Committee

  • Hugo Dehongher, PhD Candidate in Medieval Art History, UMR 8529 IRHiS, University of Lille.

  • Angèle Desmenez, PhD Candidate in Medieval Art History, UMR 8529 IRHiS, University of Lille.

  • Max Hello, PhD Candidate in Medieval Art History, UR 4100 HiCSA, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

  • Pierre Moyat, PhD Candidate in Medieval Art History, UR 4100 HiCSA, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Call for Applications

Pasold Research Fund Grants

MA Grants for MA students registered at a British institution

up to £500

Due 15 April 2025

Pasold research grants are awarded to fund high quality research, relating to all branches of textile history including the history of dress and fashion.

Applications are encouraged for projects where there will be a lasting outcome in the form of a publication or an exhibition or similar. This includes conservation related projects, leading to publications, but excludes the purchase or repair of objects and the purchase of hardware (eg cameras or computing equipment or computer software).

Applications will also be considered where preliminary work is needed for the preparation of a more substantial grant application to one of the major funding bodies.

Applications may be made to fund conference attendance – these applications may come from individuals or from conference organisers seeking funding for a named applicant.

However, it is important to provide an abstract of the paper and details of the nature of the conference and its significance. Where a conference organiser is seeking support for a named delegate details of the conference, a CV of the delegate and title and abstract of the paper are required.

All successful grant applicants, where appropriate, will be encouraged to consider submitting the outcome of their research to Textile History.

Publication would of course be subject to editorial refereeing and decision. Grants in aid of publicationfor a contribution towards illustrations, will be considered where a clear case is made explaining the absence of funding from other sources and the way in which the illustrative material is essential to the analysis and quality of the research output. Where funding is sought to complete or to part-finance a commissioned work and/or a work to be published under the auspices of a university, museum, gallery or similar, please specify the necessity, the case for, and the role of, the additional external funding.

APPLICATIONS

Application forms should be submitted electronically to: histart-pasold@york.ac.uk

If you have further queries as to whether you are eligible or about the type of support do please contact the Pasold Research Fund's Director, Dr Bethan Bide at histart-pasold@york.ac.uk or bethan.bide@york.ac.uk.

For more information about this and other grants, visit https://www.pasold.co.uk/important-information

Call for Papers

Sanguis Christi. Visual Culture / Visionary Culture. 13th–18th centuries

3-5 December 2025, Louvain-la-Neuve

Due 15 April 2025

The subject of the Blood of Christ has fueled Christian devotional culture in Europe since the mid-Middle Ages. Rooted in the veneration of relics, it quickly became central with the progressive establishment of the dogma of transubstantiation, particularly at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), and the development of a liturgy specifically celebrating the Corpus Christi: the Feast of Corpus Christi, universally promoted within Christendom by the papal bull Transiturus (1264).

This interdisciplinary conference aims to explore how devotion to the Holy Blood, in its various forms and manifestations (relics, sacraments, miracles), shaped and nourished the emergence of a visual culture in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.

Through the lens of visuality—whether visible and/or visionary—this colloquium will examine the theological debates, the development and evolution of a devotional culture, including its social and political dimensions, and their impact on modes of representation in iconography. By visual/visionary culture, we aim to investigate what is rendered visible of the Blood of Christ and to explore the tension between what miracles make perceptible to the senses and what remains beyond perception, opening the faithful to a spiritual and sacred dimension and inspiring new modes of rendering the divine visible.

This interdisciplinary conference explores how devotion to the Holy Blood, through its various forms and manifestations (relics, sacrament, miracles), shaped a visual and visionary culture in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. It focuses on the interactions between theology, devotional culture, social and political dynamics, and modes of iconographic representation.Contributions may align with one of the following three axes: doctrinal foundations and eucharistic liturgies; visual culture and social history; object-images and visual devices. Proposals (maximum 500 words) accompanied by a CV should be sent by April 15, 2025, to manon.chaidron@uclouvain.be and mathilde.mares@gmail.com.

A full call for papers can be downloaded here.

For more information, click here.

Call for Sessions

Mary Jaharis Center Sponsored Panel, 51st Annual Byzantine Studies Conference

30 October - 2 November 2025, Detroit, Michigan

Due 14 April 2025

As part of its ongoing commitment to Byzantine studies, the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for Mary Jaharis Center sponsored sessions at the 51st Annual Byzantine Studies Conference to be held in Detroit, Michigan, October 30–November 2, 2025. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to Byzantine studies.

Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website. The deadline for submission is April 14, 2025.

If the proposed session is accepted, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse a maximum of 5 session participants (presenters and chair) up to $800 maximum for scholars traveling from inside North America and up to $1400 maximum for those coming from outside North America. 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.

For further details and submission instructions, please visit https://maryjahariscenter.org/sponsored-sessions/51st-bsc

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

Online Lecture

Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture

The Blood of His Flesh? Controversial Relics from Byzantium in Venice

Karin Krause, University of Chicago

April 10, 2025 | 12:00 PM (EDT, UTC -4) | Zoom

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce the next lecture in our 2024–2025 lecture series.

This lecture examines the history and shifting interpretations of two relics of the Holy Blood of Christ in the Church of St. Mark’s in Venice between the late Middle Ages and the Baroque era.

One is kept in a Byzantine rock crystal pyx bearing a Greek inscription that identifies its contents as Christ’s carnal blood. Although the artifact is listed in an inventory drawn up in 1325, Venetian sources before the seventeenth century are suspiciously silent about the veneration and whereabouts of this relic. Evidently, the reliquary remained concealed in the Santuario, the relic chamber of St. Mark’s, until its miraculous rediscovery in 1617.

Drawing on sources from Venice and elsewhere, I argue that soon after the arrival of the pyx, its contents must have become part of the theological controversy over the bodily blood of Christ, a Catholic debate questioning the authenticity of such relics. Because of its problematic contents, I conclude, the doges decided not to make the pyx available for public veneration for several centuries. The theological disputes surrounding the relic inside the pyx can be better understood in light of the fate of a second reliquary of the Holy Blood of Christ from Constantinople, which has been in the same church since the thirteenth century.

It was only during the Baroque era that the relic inside the Byzantine pyx was rehabilitated as authentic resulting from the efforts of Giovanni Tiepolo, an accomplished theologian and ecclesiastical leader. I examine the strategies Tiepolo employed to establish the relic’s cult, strategies that illuminate the scholar’s familiarity with Byzantine history and religious culture.

Karin Krause is an Associate Professor in the University of Chicago Divinity School. Trained as an art historian, she specializes in the Christian visual cultures of Byzantium and the premodern Mediterranean region.

Advance registration required. Register: https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/the-blood-of-his-flesh

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

Call for Papers

European Architectural History Network

Good Governance and the Built Environment of Late Medieval Cities (ca. 1200–1600)

Brussels, Belgium, 3-5 September 2025

Due By 7 April 2025

In the late Middle Ages, cities were governed through constant dialogue. Rulers, nobility, citizens and other social groups all found ways to shape urban governance, each articulating complex views on what “good” governance entailed. In order to meet expectations of justice, protection, economic welfare, and the common good, all the aforementioned individuals would often invest in the city’s built environment, either by initiating new architectural and infrastructural projects, or by securing the maintenance of existing ones.

The city as a built space thus required constant development, and in this upkeep and expansion, rulers and governors were attributed a specific responsibility. Scholarship has already extensively explored various policies initiated by rulers and governors for the construction and maintenance of the city’s built environment; Previous studies have, for example, drawn attention to the governmental structures set up in late medieval cities or have explored the legal measures implemented to control urban environments. Similarly, scholarly attention has also focused on individual architectural and infrastructural projects initiated by rulers and governors as a means to meet expectations regarding their governmental responsibilities. However, a systematic overview of how these tasks and obligations regarding the built environment of the city were linked to ideals of good governance is missing, as well as the scope to set individual cases within an overarching framework.

This conference seeks to address this lacuna by asking specifically how the built environment of late medieval cities was conceptualised and physically shaped in relation to ideals of good governance. The focus will be on urban centers in diverse geographical regions (from North-Western Europe and the Mediterranean to the Middle East), and this in the period of 1200 to 1600.

We invite contributions coming from a variety of disciplines (architectural history, art history, literary history, political history and so on) to explore how—and to what extent— building was integral to governing a late medieval city.

Themes may include, but are not limited to:
• The relationship between political and architectural thought with regards to good governance and the construction and maintenance of the city’s built environment.
• The various media (texts, images, etc.) through which political thinking on good governance with regards to the city’s built environment was expressed.
• The tasks, responsibilities, and expectations towards rulers and governing bodies in the construction and maintenance of a city’s built environment.
• The means through which rulers and governors hoped to translate policy for the city’s built environment into practice (administrative bodies, legal measures, direct patronage).
• Specific architectural and infrastructural projects initiated and overviewed by rulers, governors, but also other urban groups, and their relation to political ideals (such as authority, the common good, urban health, justice…).
• The overlapping jurisdictions and governmental structures within late medieval cities and their impact on the construction and maintenance of the urban built environment.

Please send an abstract (max 500 words) with a short CV (2 pages max) to governingandbuildingthecity@gmail.com by 7 April 2025. Contributions should be in English and the result of original research. Contributions should not be previously published or in the process of being published. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by the end of April. The conference will be held between 3-5 September 2025 in Brussels.

The conference is organised within the research project “Governing and Building the City: Mirrors-for-Magistrates as a lieu for theoretical reflection on architecture (1200-1600)” funded by an Incentive Grant for Scientific Research (FNRS, Belgium).
For more information on the project: see http://governingandbuilding.com.

Organisers:
• Nele De Raedt, professor of history, theory and criticism of architecture, LOCI/LAB, UCLouvain
• Minne De Boodt, post-doctoral researcher in political history, LOCI/LAB, UCLouvain/ Research Group Medieval History, KU Leuven
• Philip Muijtjens, post-doctoral researcher in art history, LOCI/LAB, UCLouvain

For more information on the call for papers, visit https://eahn.org/2025/03/good-governance-and-the-built-environment-of-late-medieval-cities-ca-1200-1600/

ICMA in Boston
Tour of Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World
with exhibition curator Ladan Akbarnia

Wednesday 2 April 2025, 3pm ET
McMullen Museum of Art at Boston COLLEGE
In-person only

Register HERE

ICMA members are invited to attend an exhibition tour of Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World at the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College with exhibition curator Ladan Akbarnia (The San Diego Museum of Art). 

Using wonder as a vehicle, Wonders of Creation illuminates the global impact of science and artistic production from the Islamic world and its diverse geographies and multifaceted visual cultures. Over 170 works, including illustrated manuscripts and paintings, maps, scientific instruments, magic bowls, luster dishes, architectural elements, and contemporary art, evoke wonder through a visual journey.

Drinks to follow at 5pm at an offsite location. 

Click HERE for exhibition and museum info.

Click HERE to register.

Call for Papers

International Conference

Who Ruled the World? Queen Urraca and Her Contemporaries in the Early Twelfth Century

3 – 5 March 2026, Madrid

Abstracts and Author Bio Due 1 April 2025

Organization:

Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid

Research Grant: Intersections of Gender, Transculturalism, and Identity in Medieval Iberia: The Recycling and Long Life of Objects and Textiles (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, PID2023-151143NA-I00, 2024-2027), PI: Verónica Carla Abenza Soria, Universidad Complutense, Madrid

Organizer: Therese Martin, Instituto de Historia, CSIC, Madrid

This conference marks the 900th anniversary of the death of Queen Urraca of León-Castile (born 1079/80, r. 1109-1126) by investigating issues of ruling power and its material display in the early twelfth century. Previous historiography has tended either to downplay Urraca’s seventeen-year reign or at best to compare it with that of other queens, especially Matilda of England (d. 1167), Melisende of Jerusalem (d. 1161), and to a lesser degree Petronila of Aragón (d. 1173). These reigning queens, while instructive comparisons, were born respectively in 1102, 1105, and 1136; they were from the generations after Urraca, more properly contemporaries of her son Alfonso VII (born 1105, r. 1126-1157). Therefore this conference seeks instead to call attention to rulers – male or female, of any religion – whose reigns were strictly contemporary to Urraca’s in the first quarter of the twelfth century, in order to understand how her rule played out in its day, not in hindsight.

We welcome paper proposals investigating the artworks and material culture that can be associated with early twelfth-century rulership, including coins, seals, textiles, manuscripts, metalworks, sculptures, buildings, etc., as well as written evidence. Of particular interest are studies focused on objects and texts that demonstrate cross-cultural or long-distance networks, as well as analyses of the concepts of gender and religion in the construction of power and authority in the early twelfth century. We encourage both individual case studies and larger inquiries, for Europe and beyond, that consider figures whose rulership, like Urraca's, made an impact on the social and material culture of this period.

Paper proposals are sought on rulers and the display of rulership from Urraca’s lifetime, especially those that will contribute to clarifying the larger framework of her reign.

Send title with abstract and author bio, in English or Spanish (not more than 500 words each), and any queries, by 1 April 2025 to: Urraca2026@gmail.com

CFP

Congreso Internacional

¿Quién gobernó el mundo? La reina Urraca y sus contemporáneos a principios del siglo XII

3 – 5 Marzo 2026

Título y resumen del 1 de abril de 2025

Organizadores:

Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid

Proyecto de Investigación: Intersecciones de género, transculturalidad e identidad en la Edad

Media Peninsular: el reciclaje y larga vida de los objetos y textiles (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, PID2023-151143NA-I00, 2024-2027), IP: Verónica Carla Abenza Soria, Universidad Complutense, Madrid.

Dirección científica: Therese Martin, Instituto de Historia, CSIC, Madrid

Este congreso conmemora el aniversario de la muerte hace 900 años de la reina Urraca de León- Castilla (nacida 1079/80, r. 1109-1126), investigando cuestiones sobre el ejercicio de poder y su traducción material a principios del siglo XII. La historiografía ha tendido a minusvalorar los diecisiete años del reinado de Urraca, o bien, a compararlo con el de otras reinas, especialmente con Matilda de Inglaterra (m. 1167), Melisenda de Jerusalén (m. 1161) y, en menor medida, Petronila de Aragón (m. 1173). Estas reinas, aunque ofrecen casos comparativos muy instructivos, nacieron respectivamente en 1102, 1105 y 1136, con lo cual pertenecieron a una generación posterior a la de Urraca, más próxima a la de su hijo Alfonso VII (nacido 1105, r. 1126-1157). Por ello, el congreso se centra en los gobernantes, -tanto hombres como mujeres, de cualquier religión-, cuyos reinados durante el primer cuarto del siglo XII fueron estrictamente contemporáneos al de Urraca, a fin de entender el gobierno de la reina dentro de su contexto.

Serán bienvenidas propuestas que investiguen obras de arte y cultura material que se puedan asociar con la gobernanza a principios del siglo XII, incluyendo monedas, sellos, textiles, manuscritos, objetos de orfebrería, escultura, arquitectura, etc., además de fuentes textuales. Se dará especial relevancia a estudios centrados en objetos y textos que demuestren intercambio cultural o redes de contacto de larga distancia, así como aquellos que analicen los conceptos de género y religión en la construcción de poder y de autoridad en los albores del siglo XII. Serán de interés tanto casos de estudio individuales como cuestiones de mayor alcance, en Europa o más allá, que consideren personajes cuyo gobierno, en línea con el de Urraca, generaron un impacto sobre la cultura social y material del periodo.

Se privilegiarán propuestas sobre gobernantes y la manifestación de su capacidad para gobernar del horizonte vital de Urraca, en especial las que contribuyan a arrojar luz sobre el amplio contexto de su reinado.

Enviar título y resumen en español o inglés junto con una mini biografía de autor/a (de no más de 500 palabras para cada uno), o cuestiones a resolver, antes del 1 de abril de 2025 a: Urraca2026@gmail.com

Study Day

Miracles in Glass: The Study and Conservation of Canterbury’s Stained Glass Heritage

Monday 31 March 2025, 10:45-17:15 BST

Canterbury Cathedral, UK

Organised by the Stained Glass Studio and the Archives and Library of Canterbury Cathedral, in conjunction with the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, University of Kent.

Canterbury Cathedral is a storehouse of some of Europe’s finest medieval stained glass, including the unique Thomas Becket ‘Miracle Windows’ portraying medieval men, women, and children experiencing the healing touch of the saint.

This study day takes advantage of the removal of one of the Miracle Windows for a day of lectures and guided tours, including the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for participants to see panels from the window up close in the Cathedral’s Stained Glass Conservation Studio.

Speakers will include Prof Rachel Koopmans of York University, Toronto; Léonie Seliger, Director of the Stained Glass Studio; Dr Emily Guerry of the University of Oxford; and Dr Tom Nickson of the Courtauld Institute.

Participants will become acquainted with the many twists and turns of the long history of the conservation and study of the Cathedral’s glass. Rare archival materials will be on display in the Cathedral Archives, alongside a newly acquired set of material relating to recent study of the glass.

Participants will also be provided with a guided tour of the Trinity Chapel, where the miracle windows were installed around Thomas Becket’s shrine in the early thirteenth century.

Booking essential. Spaces are limited.

On the day, please arrive promptly at 10:30 for registration.

See full event details and outline programme

General admission: £60. Includes lunch and refreshments.

Bursaries available for unwaged/students. Please enquire, via email: email archives@canterbury-cathedral.org

EMAIL TO BOOK

For more further event details including the venue, schedule, and parking, click here.

Call for papers

Venezia Arti 2025, vol. 34

Thematic call: Soglia / Threshold and ALIA ITINERA miscellaneous section

 Deadline for Abstracts: 31 March 2025

In medieval art, the theme of the threshold, as the passage from one dimension to another, is crucial from a symbolic point of view and involves both spatiality and temporality (T. Bawden, Die Schwelle im Mittelalter, 2014). The definition that Christ gives of himself in the Gospel had great resonance in the realm of the sacred: “I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved” (Jn 10:9). Hence the high significance that Christianity attributes to the boundary between the human and the transcendent, between sin and salvation. Within the domain of representation, this message is conveyed both on a figurative level and in instances where lines of demarcation are drawn between the earthly world and the hereafter (P. Florenskij, Iconostasis, 1996). It is expressed also in architecture, as witnessed by the density of inscriptions and artistic expressions at the entrances to places of worship (M. Pastoureau, Tympans et portails romans, 2014) and, within them, between the space reserved for the faithful and the presbytery. The concept of the threshold is also linked to the temporal structuring of festivities, from the anxious anticipation on the eve to the celebration itself. A prime example of this can be found in the rite of baptism and the significance attributed to the spaces in which it takes place (R.M. Jensen, Living Water, 2011). These spaces are meticulously constructed and embellished with great creative effort, with multisensory mises-en-scène playing a pivotal role in the experience. The monumentalisation of entrances, rites of passage, and liminal zones exerts an influence on the secular world, manifesting in the form of urban infrastructure, such as city walls, as well as in the entrances to princely residences and military fortresses. Nor, on the other hand, would it be fair to separate the secular dimension from the religious one: suffice it to consider the fact that in Byzantium Iconoclasm began in 726 with the order - given by Leo III the Isauric - to remove the effigy of Christ on the Chalke, the gate of the imperial palace in Constantinople.

In the Early modern period until the Enlightenment, the European cultural universe has expanded and transformed beyond the borders of the Pillars of Hercules (F.A. Yates, Astrea. The Imperial Theme in the Sixteenth Century, 1975). The introduction of unprecedented objects, naturalia and mirabilia to the European continent, as evidenced by a prolonged process extending throughout the 17th century, significantly influenced the prevailing mentalities of the era, thereby facilitating new forms of experimentation and figurative elaboration. The dissemination of knowledge from unknown civilisations, as exemplified by renowned Jesuits such as the geographer, mathematician and cartographer Matteo Ricci of Macerata and later Athanasius Kircher, who pioneered a form of Egyptology, resulted in the generation of new ways of contamination and unprecedented cross-fertilisation at the intersection of the ‘imaginary’ and the ‘imagined’ East. The encounter with the ‘other’ thus becomes a crucial interpretative framework, imbued with political and propagandistic connotations, and alternative forms of knowledge that are articulated through diverse media (an example of this is the encounter/clash with the infidels of the faith, in a paradigm where the image of the Turk become a symbol of the evil, following the political instability of the Mediterranean region - see for example, Images in the Borderlands, eds I. Čapeta Rakić, G. Capriotti, 2022). In this sense, the concept of threshold can be considered as a flexible framework that can be applied at will when exploring the ‘history’ of a cultural product in the broadest sense, as the outcome of a process of double-edged correspondence between one civilisation and another. Early modern period is in itself a season in which crossing a threshold becomes crossing a limit, whether geographical or cultural and esthetical as well, towards a “new unexplored worlds”. This development was significantly furthered by the revolution that followed the scientific discoveries of Galileo (1564-1642). Once considered insurmountable and as a limit (be it for political, religious, philosophical or technological reasons), the threshold is transformed, metaphorically speaking, into a springboard towards the globalised world (T. Brook, Vermeer’s Hat. The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, 2006).

 In more recent times, the out-of-frame device has prompted a heated debate in the arts, spanning from painting (V. Stoichita, A Short History of the Shadow, 1997) to cinema (A. Bazin, What is Cinema?, 1967; D. Morgan, The Lure of the Image, 2021). In the context of the ongoing development of virtual, immersive and interactive spaces, the distinction between image and reality is increasingly blurring (P. Conte, Unframing Aesthetics, 2020; A. Pinotti, Alla soglia dell'immagine, 2021). At the same time, the vanishing boundary between human contribution and generative development is the object of studies investigating the historical, aesthetical and ethical ramifications of artificial intelligence (R. Pedrazzi, Futuri possibili, 2021; M. Pasquinelli, The Eye of the Master, 2023; L. Manovich, E. Arielli, Artificial Aesthetics, 2024). In the context of the Cultural Cold War Studies, the concept of the threshold comes into play by questioning an alleged impenetrability of the Iron Curtain, whose points of contact are instead probed as generators of cultural, artistic and exhibition practices. Thresholds is the title of the exhibition hosted in the German pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale in 2024 as the debut, in the history of German participation, of a venue outside Giardini, in line with that ‘expanded format’ to multiple possibilities - physical or virtual - that characterises the format of Biennials on a global scale (C. Jones, The Global Work of Art, 2017). Finally, the concept of trespassing, in the sense of insisting on demarcation lines and on their political, social and cultural implications, is the object of artistic and curatorial practices that can be ascribed to the broader interdisciplinary field of the Border Studies.  

As is now customary, the 2025 issue will also welcome a number of contributions outside the monographic theme, in the specific section Alia itinera.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:

Abstract of approx. 2000 characters (including spaces), in the language of the article, with a title proposal.

Only proposals from scholars holding a Ph.D  may be considered.  

ABSTRACT DEADLINES: 

Abstracts deadline: 31 March 2025 

Notification of accepted abstracts: 14 April 2025

CALL FOR SELECTED PAPERS:

Admissible length: between 30,000 and 40,000 characters, including spaces and footnotes (not included in the final count: abstract, captions, bibliography).

The essay must be written according to the editorial standards of the journal.

The essay must also include:

• an abstract in English of approx. 1000 characters including spaces;

• 5 keywords in English;

• a final, complete bibliography, written in alphabetical order according to Edizioni Ca' Foscari editorial standards; 

• image captions including photo credits.

Illustrations: max 10 images,  in Jpeg format, 300 dpi resolution, with specification of credits already paid or authorised.

Languages allowed: Italian, English, French.

DEADLINES FOR ARTICLES

Deadline for the final version: 31 August 2025

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact venezia.arti@unive.it.

Conference

IBERSAINTS: Making and Remaking Saints in the Iberian Peninsula and Beyond during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period c. 600 – 1600

Facultad de Geografía e Historia. Universidad de Salamanca, C. Cervantes, Salamanca, España

24-26 March 2025

This in-person international conference is hosted by the University of Salamanca in collaboration with the Museum of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.

The conference seeks to explore the means of constructing and reconstructing saints in and beyond the Iberian Peninsula with particular emphasis on: 
-    the import of new saints into the Iberian Peninsula from the Holy Land, neighboring territories, occupied territories, etc.; 
-    the export of saints from the Iberian Peninsula to Europe, Latin America, etc.;
-    the re/creation of saints in the Iberian Peninsula e.g. martyrdom narratives;

The conference approaches this process of saintly re/construction mostly, but not exclusively, from the perspective of:
TRANSITION AND TRANSFER
-    known or lesser-known saints transferred and adapted in geographic areas which require further exploration such as Latin America in the Early Modern Period contributing to a global perspective on the creation and recreation of saints;
-    Saints at crossroads of land and sea and patterns of transfer: between the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean, etc.;
-    cultural transfer and material culture of sanctity; 
-    transitional periods and saints from the Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages; the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period; 

INTERACTION
-     adaptation to new cultural contexts and new peoples through religious discourses, hagiographic narratives, and de/construction of images; 
-    Local/regional incorporations, interactions, and adaptations; 
-    Interactions with images, transfer(s) and circulation(s) of iconographies;
-    Local/regional, personal/collective devotional developments and practices;
PRODUCTION
-    Re/creation of saints and various media (statues, reliefs, panel paintings, manuscript illuminations, frescoes, stained glass, metalwork, mosaics, textiles, etc.);
-    Re/creation of saints in relation architecture;

For a schedule and more information, click here.

Online Event

Index of Medieval Art Database Tutorial

25 March 2025, 12-1PM EST

Via Zoom

We are pleased to announce that the Index will be holding a new online training session for anyone interested in learning more about the database! It will take place via Zoom on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm EST.

This session, led by Index specialists Maria Alessia Rossi and Jessica Savage, will demonstrate how the database can be used with advanced search options, filters, and browse tools to locate works of medieval art. There will be a Q&A period at the end of the session, so please bring any questions you might have about your research!

Further information and registration can be found here: https://ima.princeton.edu/index_training/.

Conference

IBERSAINTS: Making and Remaking Saints in the Iberian Peninsula and Beyond during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period c. 600 – 1600

Facultad de Geografía e Historia. Universidad de Salamanca, C. Cervantes, Salamanca, España

24-26 March 2025

This in-person international conference is hosted by the University of Salamanca in collaboration with the Museum of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.

The conference seeks to explore the means of constructing and reconstructing saints in and beyond the Iberian Peninsula with particular emphasis on: 
-    the import of new saints into the Iberian Peninsula from the Holy Land, neighboring territories, occupied territories, etc.; 
-    the export of saints from the Iberian Peninsula to Europe, Latin America, etc.;
-    the re/creation of saints in the Iberian Peninsula e.g. martyrdom narratives;

The conference approaches this process of saintly re/construction mostly, but not exclusively, from the perspective of:
TRANSITION AND TRANSFER
-    known or lesser-known saints transferred and adapted in geographic areas which require further exploration such as Latin America in the Early Modern Period contributing to a global perspective on the creation and recreation of saints;
-    Saints at crossroads of land and sea and patterns of transfer: between the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean, etc.;
-    cultural transfer and material culture of sanctity; 
-    transitional periods and saints from the Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages; the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period; 

INTERACTION
-     adaptation to new cultural contexts and new peoples through religious discourses, hagiographic narratives, and de/construction of images; 
-    Local/regional incorporations, interactions, and adaptations; 
-    Interactions with images, transfer(s) and circulation(s) of iconographies;
-    Local/regional, personal/collective devotional developments and practices;
PRODUCTION
-    Re/creation of saints and various media (statues, reliefs, panel paintings, manuscript illuminations, frescoes, stained glass, metalwork, mosaics, textiles, etc.);
-    Re/creation of saints in relation architecture;

For a schedule and more information, click here.

symposium

From Jean le Bon to Good Duke Humfrey: a new manuscript witness to Anglo-French cultural exchange

 Friday 21 March 2025, 11am–5pm

  Free and all welcome, booking required

 At the Weston Library and online

Book now – in person

Book now – online

The Bodleian Libraries have recently acquired a previously unknown manuscript from the library of Humfrey Duke of Gloucester. First written and illuminated in Paris towards the end of the 13th century, the manuscript is an early example of the translation of the New Testament into French. Owned by Jean le Bon, King of France, in the middle of the 14th century, by the early 15th it was in England and came into the hands of a series of Lancastrian royal princes.

This symposium provides a first opportunity to explore this outstanding arrival and to point the way for future research.

Coffee and tea will be provided.

This symposium will be followed by a drinks reception in Blackwell Hall.

Programme

10.30–11am Arrival and coffee

11–11.15am Welcome from Richard Ovenden; Introduction by Martin Kauffmann

11.15am–12.30pm Origins (chaired by Daron Burrows)

Clive Sneddon, Translating the Bible into medieval French
Emily Guerry, The Cholet Master and manuscript illumination in Paris at the end of the 13th century

12.30–2pm Lunch (not provided)

2–3.15pm From France to England (chaired by Jocelyn Wogan-Browne)

Laure Rioust, Biblical manuscripts in the libraries of Kings John II the Good and Charles V the Wise: heritage and dispersal
Laure Miolo and Jean-Patrice Boudet, The circulation and spoliation of scientific manuscripts between France and England in the Hundred Years’ War

3.15–3.45pm Tea

3.45–5pm The manuscript in England (chaired by Daniel Wakelin)

David Rundle, The Lancastrian moment: the manuscript’s English owners
Daniel Wakelin, Conclusion and avenues for further research

Followed by a drinks reception and launch of the digital facsimile of MS. Duke Humfrey c. 1

 Speakers

• Jean-Patrice Boudet, Université d'Orléans

• Emily Guerry, University of Oxford

• Laure Rioust, Bibliothèque nationale de France

• David Rundle

• Laure Miolo, University of Oxford

• Clive Sneddon, University of St Andrews

• Daniel Wakelin, University of Oxford

  Booking information

This event is free but booking is required. You can attend this event in person at the Weston Library or online via Zoom.

When you have booked your place, the ticketing system will send you an automated confirmation. If you book to attend this event online, you will receive details for joining the Zoom webinar by email.

Book now – in person

Book now – online

For More information

Visit https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/mar25/from-jean-le-bon-to-good-duke-humfrey or email csb@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

  Location

This symposium takes place in person in the Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre at the Weston Library.

Weston Library, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG. Find us on Google Maps.

 Wheelchair access

The Weston Library is wheelchair accessible.

Weston at 10

This event is part of 10 years of the Weston Library. Preserving knowledge, supporting scholarship and sharing culture.

Hybrid Seminar

IHR European History 1150-1550 Seminar Series

Child Brides: Byzantium and Bulgaria in the Fourteenth Century

Cecily Hennessy (Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow)

Hybrid | Online-via Zoom & IHR Wolfson Room NB02, Basement, IHR, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU

20 March 2025, 12:30-2:00PM EST/ 5:30-7:00PM BST

All welcome- this seminar is free to attend but booking in advance is required. To book, click here.

Contact: ihr.events@sas.ac.uk (Email only)

Murray Seminar

Nicola and Giovanni Pisano at the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia

Laura Jacobus

19 March 2025, 17:00-18:30

Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square

A ‘Most Pleasing Flower among Equally Excellent Sculptors’: Nicola and Giovanni Pisano at the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia

The Fontana Maggiore of Perugia, one of the best-preserved secular monuments of medieval Europe, is decorated by more than fifty sculptures. Its creators, Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni, were the two star sculptors of thirteenth-century Italy. This seminar paper takes a fresh look at the work, arguing that it has been significantly misunderstood in modern scholarship. Touching on a number of aspects of this radical revision, the paper will concentrate on one: what does the work say about the relationship between Nicola and Giovanni, only one of whom could be the ‘most pleasing flower among equally excellent sculptors’ referred to in the fountain’s remarkable inscription?

For more information and to book your place, click here.

Call for Applications

American School for Classical Studies at Athens

Short-Term Fellowships for Graduate Students

Due 15 March 2025

HARRY BIKAKIS FELLOWSHIP (15 March 2025)

This fellowship was established by the late Lloyd E. Cotsen, former Chair of the Overseers of the Gennadius Library, to honor Harry Bikakis, attorney of the American School, who exhibited much devotion and loyalty to the School during his term from 1979 to 1995. Stipend of $1,875. School fees are waived either for the duration of the field project or for the academic year during which the fellow is carrying out research at the ASCSA.

JOAN AND EUGENE VANDERPOOL FELLOWSHIP AT THE ATHENIAN AGORA (15 March 2025)

The Joan and Eugene Vanderpool Fellowship at the Athenian Agora supports research on any aspect of the Athenian Agora, including history, archaeology, literature, epigraphy, architecture, art history, and biodiversity. The fellowship was established by family and friends of Joan and Eugene Vanderpool to honor their lifelong commitment to Greece and the Agora Excavations in particular. To learn more about the history of the fellowship, click here.

W.D.E. COULSON & TONI M. CROSS AEGEAN EXCHANGE PROGRAM (15 March 2025)

W.D.E. Coulson and Toni M. Cross Aegean Exchange Program is offered for Greek Ph.D. students and scholars in any field of the humanities and social sciences, from prehistoric to modern times, to conduct research in Turkey, under the auspices of the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) in Ankara and/or Istanbul during the academic year.

For more Information about a Fellowship or Application, Visit https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/fellowships-and-grants/graduate-and-postdoctoral or contact: application@ascsa.org

Call for Papers

Medieval Images of the Virgin: Materialities, Environments, Ecologies

University of Bamberg

Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Heritage Sciences and History of Art, Chair of Medieval Art History

22–23 May 2025

Due 15 March 2025

Medieval images of the Virgin do not exist in isolation, but as part of living, constantly changing environments. They interact with human and non-human actors. And, most importantly, they possess a specific materiality that deepens their message as artefacts, but can also be in tension with it, complicate it or even call it into question.

A central assumption of the workshop is that both materials and environments of medieval images of the Virgin Mary are meaningful: The materials because of their chemical properties, their histories and cultural encodings. The environments – natural and artificial light, sound, scent, heat, cold, moisture, and the contact with living nature in general – because they have physical effects on the artefact and also determine the conditions for its perception.

The aim of the workshop is to examine these complex interactions and to explore possible references to the multifaceted and changing medieval concepts of Mary – Virgo, Theotokos, Sedes Sapientiae, Queen of Heaven, Mediatrix and many more.

The workshop will focus on three-dimensional, medieval images of the Virgin. The notion of sculpture is deliberately interpreted widely and explicitly includes all kinds of materials (stone, wood, metal, plaster, wax, ivory and many more). But contributions from the fields of painting, mural painting and book illumination are also welcome.

The environments and ecologies to be discussed include the multi-sensory church space and its liturgical settings, museum settings, as well as the contact with plants and the elements in specific outdoor scenarios (both historical and contemporary).

The keynote lecture is given by Heather Pulliam (Professor of Medieval Art, University of Edinburgh): “Eco-iconography of eighth-century Iona: The Virgin Mary, ‘dark waters’ and ‘the tabernacle of the sun’”.

The workshop is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and will be published with University of Bamberg Press. The costs for travel and accommodation will be reimbursed within the usual limits. Conference language is English.

Please send proposals with an abstract of ca. 300 words together with a short CV to the following address by March 15, 2025: katharina.schueppel@uni-bamberg.de

Call for Papers

Online Conference

CERÆ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Dreams, Visions, and Utopias

26–27 April 2025

Due By 12 March 2025

n 2024, the conference was organised in a unique continuous format over a 28-hour period in order to equitably accommodate presenters from 9 different time-zones. In 2025, (depending on the mix of accepted presentations) the conference committee hopes to replicate this format.

Presenters located west of the Atlantic Ocean should note that some sessions may be scheduled to take place in the evening of 25 April, local time.

The conference will be held entirely online, via Zoom, and all sessions will be recorded (with presenters reserving the right to not have their individual paper recorded). Recordings will be made available to registered conference attendees via the website for a limited time after the conference has concluded.

Abstract Submissions

The theme of the 2024 conference is the same as for Volume 12 of the journal, that is: Dreams, Visions, and Utopias.

Abstracts must be submitted by 12 March 2025 (Extended Deadline).

Please email your submission for a 20-minute (+ 10 minutes Q&A) presentation to ceraejournal@gmail.com, including:

• A 150–200 word abstract.

• Your academic affiliation and title (if any).

• A short 50–100 word biography.

• The time-zone from which you will be presenting.

While an accompanying presentation or slideshow is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged as it greatly assists an online audience to follow a presentation, especially when the primary/preferred language of the presenter and/or the audience is not mutual.

We also strongly encourage all conference presenters to submit a full version of their presentation for publication within the journal (which will be subject to our standard peer-review procedures). Please refer to the Volume 12 CFP for further details, prompts, and deadlines relating to this theme.

Submissions to the conference will be advised of their paper’s acceptance by mid-March (if not earlier). The draft schedule will not be released until late March or early April 2025 .

Boydell & Brewer Discount

We are once again excited to be able to provide an exclusive discount on purchases from Boydell & Brewer for all conference attendees. Further details will be provided closer to the conference once registrations have opened in April.

Conference Aims

The purpose behind hosting our own conference is threefold:

• Firstly, we are fulfilling our constitutional objectives of promoting high-quality, original scholarship within Medieval and Early Modern Studies, especially as undertaken by graduate and ECR scholars within the Australasian region. Our conference will encourage the development of the online community at both a national and an international level.

• Secondly, this conference will, being held entirely online, promote the digital humanities and scholarship which utilises digital media and sources.

• And last – but not least – establishing an annual Ceræ conference will go a significant way towards meeting our fundraising goals that, as a fully independent open-access journal, provide for our operational costs. It is anticipated that registration (as in 2024) will not exceed $5-10 AUD / day.

For more information, click here.

Online Event

Levan Book Chat

Otherworld: Nine Tales of Wonder and Romance from Medieval Ireland

Lisa Bitel

11 March 2025, 12:00-1:00pm EST

A discussion of Lisa Bitel's new book, Otherworld: Nine Tales of Wonder and Romance from Medieval Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2024). The author will be joined in conversation by Eric Falci (UC Berkeley) and Siobhán McElduff (University of British Columbia), moderated by Daniela Bleichmar (USC). Organized in partnership with the Van Hunnick History Department and the School of Religion. Registration is required.

About the Book: A mysterious woman appears nightly at the bedside of a prince and sings to him until he falls sick with love for her. A determined hero tracks his beloved through several incarnations, struggling to win her back. A young warrior seeks a woman who turns into a swan. These are the plots of little-known, anonymous tales composed over a thousand years ago in the monastic libraries of Ireland. In poetry and prose, they tell us what happens when human and supernatural lovers cross the boundaries between our world and the Otherworld (síd). Set in a lost time of heroes, demi-gods, warrior queens, and other folk of the Irish Otherworld (áes síde), these stories inspired some of the earliest fairy tales of France and England. What is more, they are sexier, funnier, and bloodier than better-known medieval myths and romances.

In Otherworld, historian and novelist Lisa M. Bitel offers lively retellings of these Irish original myths using her expertise in Irish history and literature to guide modern readers. She traces themes and characters that link the nine magical tales, explains customs and locations, and brings out the humor. Like all storytellers--whether medieval or modern, performers or scribes--Bitel interprets the originals as she leads her readers over the boundary of reality to the Otherworld. Drawings especially created for the book by Saba Joshaghani accompany these astonishing tales.

About the Author: Lisa Bitel is Dean's Professor of Religion and Professor of Religion and History at USC. She discovered the magical literature of early Ireland while studying at Harvard University and later University College Dublin. Since then, she has written or edited six books and many articles about medieval Europe, focused on Ireland, gender, or the history of Christianity before 1000 C.E.

Open to attendants outside of USC. An excerpt of the book will be made available to registered attendants. This event is part of the Levan Institute for the Humanities' “Book Chats” series, conversations about new books published by USC scholars in the humanities and humanistic social sciences.

To register and to obtain more information, visit https://calendar.usc.edu/event/levan-book-chatlisa-bitel-otherworld

Online Lecture

Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture 2024-2025 Lecture Series

Luxury for All? Jewelry and People in the East Roman Empire

Georgios Makris, University of British Columbia
March 11, 2025 | 12:00 PM (EDT, UTC -4) | Zoom

Valued for its beauty, intricate production processes, and often the precious raw materials it contained, jewelry had a ubiquitous presence in the East Roman Empire. As the quintessential accessory, jewelry was an essential element of official (and sometimes non-official) attire throughout the Middle Ages. Though the medium still sits at the margins of the history of medieval art, especially in comparison to other forms of portable material culture, recent specialist scholarship has stepped outside the world’s museum galleries to consider how jewelry items were treated in the global medieval world as objects of sale, trade, and diplomatic exchange. Due to jewelry’s historical affiliation with luxury and elite culture, the question of whether and how jewelry mattered for the people of underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds across the empire remains open.

This talk will examine the reasons behind jewelry’s identification as an elite category of artefact and discuss jewelry made for and used by non-elites far from the metropolis of the empire. It will draw on finds from excavated cemeteries in mainland Greece. Ultimately, the aim is to initiate a discussion about taste and access to trade routes by the ordinary people, who formed the majority of the population.

Georgios Makris is Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in Byzantine art and archaeology, placing particular emphasis on monastic landscapes and material culture.

Advance registration required. Register: https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/luxury-for-all

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

Appel à communications

« La sculpture monumentale médiévale à l’épreuve du musée : enjeux, conceptions, réceptions »

Journées d’ études internationales

Paris, Musée du Louvre, Centre Dominique-Vivant Denon, 30 juin-1er juillet 2025 Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, IUT Paul Sabatier, 2-3 octobre 2025

jusqu’au 1er mars 2025

Le musée du Louvre, le musée des Augustins de Toulouse, l’Université de Toulouse et le Groupement d’intérêt scientifique « Patrimoines en partage » organisent deux rencontres consacrées aux enjeux de la présentation, dans les salles permanentes des musées, de sculptures provenant d’édifices religieux majoritairement disparus, en direction de publics souvent peu avertis, auxquels il semble nécessaire de fournir quelques clés de compréhension pour une plus juste et plus agréable appréciation des œuvres monumentales médiévales.

Ce questionnement est né de l’expérience du musée des Augustins confronté au fil du temps à diverses présentations de ses collections médiévales, issues pour l’essentiel de trois cloîtres romans disparus. Les réflexions du musée des Augustins ont été nourries par les échanges avec le programme de recherche OCMI (Ontologie du Christianisme Médiéval en Image) de l’INHA, dirigé par Isabelle Marchesin et Mathieu Beaud. Le projet de rénovation du musée actuellement en cours offre l’occasion de partager les interrogations toulousaines. Dans un souci de prise en compte des publics et afin de favoriser une pluridisciplinarité au cœur des questionnements actuels, une large place sera faite aux apports de la muséologie et des sciences de l’information et de la communication.

L’exposition de fragments et d’œuvres détachés de la sculpture monumentale médiévale pose plusieurs problèmes spécifiques. Le premier, qui ne lui est pas propre, est la présentation d’une œuvre hors contexte, dans des conditions de visibilité différentes de celles d’origine (distance, lumière, contexte visuel effaçant les logiques d’ordonnancement spatial et iconique premier, disparition des marqueurs de sacralité, de liturgie, de communauté, etc.). La complexité est d’autant plus grande quand les édifices d’origine des œuvres ont eux-mêmes disparu ou ont été fortement remaniés, ou bien lorsque les fragments conservés sont dispersés, ou issus d’un contexte archéologique ancien, ou encore vendus sur le marché de l’art sans référence précise.

La différenciation entre contextes conservés, altérés ou disparus (liés au vandalisme, au collectionnisme, au marché de l’art, mais aussi aux changements de goût ou au hasard) est très importante pour la compréhension des œuvres, dont les états de conservation résultent d’histoires diverses.

Lorsque des fouilles ont pu être organisées, quel dialogue instaurer entre archéologie et histoire de l’art ? Comment rendre visible et compréhensible aux visiteurs un contexte disparu et la transdisciplinarité ? L’illusion d’une restitution topographique/archéologique est-elle la priorité muséologique et à quelle fin ?

L’altération des œuvres elles-mêmes est porteuse d’une difficulté supplémentaire. Une autre singularité est la présence proportionnellement forte de chapiteaux et de piliers historiés ou décorés, mais aussi de parties de linteaux, tailloirs, socles et autres plaques. Le fragment a-t-il vocation à être perçu comme une œuvre à part ? Quel niveau d’intelligibilité lui donner ?

Par ailleurs, le musée détermine un effet de « loupe » et même de consécration. Combien d’œuvres apparaissent comme des chefs-d’œuvre et sont publiées, empruntées, regardées, reproduites et commentées sans cesse, parce qu’elles sont conservées dans des musées (surtout si eux-mêmes sont célèbres et importants…), quand leurs jumelles restées sur place ne bénéficient pas du même intérêt ni de la même popularité (avec des exceptions, qu’il faudrait analyser) ?

Lorsque plusieurs pièces sont issues d’un même ensemble architectural, comment articuler les fragments exposés et l’édifice d’origine ? Par un récit, des plans, dessins, outils numériques ? Et par là-même, comment maintenir le lien de la pièce unique à l’édifice ? Quels outils de médiation mettre en place, des plus traditionnels aux plus innovants, et pour quels publics ?

Les conditions muséographiques donnent aux publics une proximité et une possibilité de scrutation des œuvres qui n’existaient pas de la même manière à l’origine. Comment tirer parti au mieux de ces nouvelles conditions pour transmettre des connaissances techniques, stylistiques et iconographiques ?

Comment hiérarchiser les réponses à toutes ces questions au sein d’un même lieu d’exposition et ce pour des visiteurs dont les attentes sont diverses en fonction des âges, des catégories socioprofessionnelles, du niveau d’étude ou des appétences ?

Il nous a paru essentiel de nous placer du côté des visiteurs, de leurs expériences de visite, de leurs envies, en intégrant à notre propos les apports des Sciences de l’information et de la communication (SIC), afin d’étudier la réception du discours scientifique et des propositions de médiation au sein des collections médiévales. Et sur ce sujet, que penser du succès d’un Moyen Âge fantasmé, renvoyé par tant de jeux, de films et de séries à succès ? Y a-t-il un enseignement à tirer du médiévalisme dans nos pratiques muséales ?

En effet, comment passer du discours scientifique élaboré en histoire de l’art, dans et hors du musée, à un discours d’exposition et/ou de médiation au musée, à partir de la muséographie et de la scénographie des vestiges monumentaux médiévaux ? Cette transposition médiatique correspond au passage du discours scientifique des spécialistes, publié dans la littérature grise des thèses et des publications plus ou moins confidentielles, au discours de vulgarisation des expositions ou au discours de médiation des dispositifs qui accompagnent les œuvres.

Les Sciences de l’information et de la communication ont montré toute la dynamique des recherches possibles sur les différentes muséologies (Jean Davallon : muséologies d’objet, d’idées ou de point de vue), sur le mouvement de la nouvelle muséologie qui s’intéresse aussi aux publics et aux communautés d’habitants pour construire un discours adapté voire co-construire l’exposition dans des muséographies participatives, immersives, ludiques.
Le tournant communicationnel des musées dans les années 1980 a abouti à la multiplication des expositions temporaires considérées désormais comme de véritables médias (Jean Davallon, Daniel Jacobi), mais aussi à la mise en place d’une panoplie de dispositifs de médiation, plus ou moins innovants, censés faciliter la compréhension des publics (Patrick Fraysse) qui ne sont pas sans conséquence sur les attentes des publics concernant les collections permanentes.

Ces interrogations très actuelles génèrent de nombreux débats et communications, comme dernièrement l’appel à publication de Géraldine Mallet et Sylvain Demarthe pour la revue en ligne exPosition sur le thème « Montrer les collections médiévales ». Notre proposition se veut complémentaire, par l’analyse du cas spécifique des collections de sculpture monumentale médiévale conservées dans des musées également impliqués dans l’inclusion de tous les publics, soucieux de la démocratisation des connaissances et à l’écoute des apports des SIC et de leurs précieux outils d’évaluation.

Propositions de communication

Les propositions de communication, qui peuvent concerner des approches théoriques comme des études de cas, sont attendues pour le 1er mars à l’adresse sculptures@louvre.fr 
Elles prendront la forme d’un résumé de l’intervention de 3000 signes accompagné d’une biographie du ou des communicants et d’une bibliographie (5 titres maximum). Si vous ne pouviez participer qu’à Paris ou à Toulouse, merci de nous l’indiquer.
La sélection des communications sera établie au début avril. Leur répartition entre Paris et Toulouse sera précisée en fonction des propositions et des disponibilités des intervenants.
Une publication des actes de ces journées d’étude est à l’étude.

Organisation

Musée du Louvre (Sophie Jugie, Pierre-Yves Le Pogam, département des Sculptures)
Musée des Augustins de Toulouse (Charlotte Riou)
Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherches Appliquées en Sciences Sociales, Université de Toulouse (Patrick Fraysse)
Groupement d’intérêt scientifique « Patrimoines en partage », réseau de chercheurs en sciences humaines et sociales et de professionnels du patrimoine sous la direction de Sylvie Sagnes, avec le soutien de l’Institut des sciences humaines et sociales du CNRS
Avec la collaboration de Mathieu Beaud, maître de conférence à l’Université de Lille

Programme prévisionnel

Paris, Musée du Louvre : Du monument au public des musées

La première étape aura lieu au Centre de recherche Dominique-Vivant Denon du musée du Louvre. Ouverte à tous et gratuite, elle sera dédiée à la problématique générale de l’exposition de ces œuvres et à des études de cas, avec intervention d’historiens de l’art, de responsables de collections et de médiateurs des musées.
– Restitution des contextes d’origine : utilité, enjeux, moyens ?
– Place et fonction des indications chronologiques et/ou périodiques ?
– Comment prendre en compte les contraintes techniques et administratives des lieux d’exposition et l’histoire des établissements ?
– Unicité de l’œuvre exposée : une force ou une limite ?
– Matériaux et techniques : pour approcher la culture des artisans médiévaux
– Élaborer des réseaux d’œuvres disparates : la possibilité typologique (structures et styles) et la possibilité iconographique
– L’apparat critique : place et format des textes et images autour des œuvres
– Contextualiser, expliciter, interpréter… jusqu’où ?
– Peut-on faire une archéologie de l’émotion ou en d’autres termes, peut-on viser la restitution d’un ressenti médiéval ?

Une visite sera proposée dans un musée parisien.

Toulouse : Contenus scientifiques – médiation – évaluation : la transposition des discours

La seconde partie, organisée à Toulouse, sera plus spécifiquement consacrée aux niveaux de contenus informatifs et aux publics, dans le cadre de témoignages croisés. Les points de vue exposés à Paris seront passés au crible des Sciences de l’information et de la communication. Un certain nombre d’enquêtes, effectuées sur le terrain dans les salles des musées, permettent en effet de valider certains dispositifs plébiscités par les visiteurs
– Capter et guider le regard : comment donner à voir l’ensemble et le particulier ?
– Comment impliquer le visiteur en le rendant acteur de sa perception ?
– Quelle place octroyer au style et à l’iconographie ?
– Quels dispositifs de médiation pour quelles attentes des publics ?
– Quelle fonction structurante accorder à la chronologie, la périodisation, et comment la construire ?
– Quelle articulation entre discours scientifique et médiation ?
– Quels outils pour une démocratisation du savoir scientifique en histoire de l’art ?
– Évaluation des expériences de visite ? Données qualitatives.
– Comment aborder au musée le fait religieux, les sources chrétiennes et le rôle de ces œuvres dans des édifices à vocation cultuelle ?

Une visite des collections du musée des Augustins sera proposée (en fonction des travaux de réaménagement du musée).

Informations pratiques

Paris, Musée du Louvre, Centre Dominique-Vivant Denon, 30 juin-1er juillet 2025
Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, IUT Paul Sabatier, 2-3 octobre 2025

Envoi des propositions de communication : jusqu’au 1er mars à l’adresse sculptures@louvre.fr 

Pour un PDF, Appel à communication La sculpture monumentale médiévale à l’épreuve du musée.

Pour plus d’informations, http://blog.apahau.org/la-sculpture-monumentale-medievale-a-lepreuve-du-musee-enjeux-conceptions-receptions-appel-a-communication-ouvert-jusquau-1er-mars-2025/

Hybrid Seminar

IHR European History 1150-1550 Seminar Series

PhD Student Session: Innocent IV and Fieschi Family Interest in North Africa & Dominicans in the Holy Land

Alessandro Scallone (RHUL), Cheryl Midson (Reading)

Hybrid | Online-via Zoom & Room 105, 24 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0AW

6 March 2025, 12:30-2:00 PM EST/ 5:30-7:00PM BST

All welcome- this seminar is free to attend but booking in advance is required. To book, click here.

Contact: ihr.events@sas.ac.uk (Email only)

ICMA Stahl Lecture
The Sanctification of the Earth: The Genesis of Franconia’s Late Medieval Sacred Landscape
Achim Timmermann (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), speaker

University of Oregon
Lawrence Hall 115, 1190 Franklin Boulevard
Eugene, OR

Monday 3 March 2025
5:30pm to 7pm PT
in-person only

More information, click HERE

Join us for a lecture with Dr. Achim Timmermann, Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. This talk will dive deep into Franconia's late medieval wayside shrine landscape, drawing from a rich database of over 160 surviving monuments. Prof. Timmermann will consider the origins and popularity of these shrines, taking into account factors like climate change, fervent eucharistic devotion, and the emergence of sacred zones encircling urban centers.

Click HERE for more information.

New Exhibition

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words

British Library, London

Until 2 March 2025

Our latest exhibition introduces the women of medieval Europe through their own words, visions and experiences. Discover the rich and complex lives of women in the Middle Ages, with over 140 extraordinary items that reveal their artistry, resourcefulness, courage and struggles.

Medieval women’s voices evoke a world in which they lived active and varied lives. Their testimonies speak of diverse experiences, revealing female impact and influence across private, public and spiritual realms, and bringing alive experiences that still resonate today.

This exhibition focuses on Europe from roughly 1100 to 1500, a period in which there was strong cultural interconnection across the continent. While most medieval sources from the period were written by and about men, women’s surviving testimonies offer remarkable insight into their contributions to medieval social and economic life, culture and politics, their skilful management of households and convents, and the vibrancy of female religious culture.

Must-see highlights include:

• The Book of the Queen by Christine de Pizan: The first professional woman author in Europe

• Sibylle of Flanders' 12th-century ivory cross: Owned by Sibylle, countess of Flanders, who went on Crusade to the Holy Land

• A silk textile made in al-Andalus (Islamic Spain), where Muslim women labourers were fundamental to the silk industry

• Julian of Norwich’s The Revelations of Divine Love: the first work in English definitely authored by a woman

• A 15th-century birthing girdle: a manuscript inscribed with prayers and charms that was used for protection during childbirth

• Battel Hall retable a rare surviving painting from a medieval English nunnery

• On Women's Cosmetics: a recipe book likely to have been composed in Southern Italy in the 12th century with recipes for hair dye remover, face creams and breath freshener

• A lion skull that possibly came from a pet lion of Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England.

Break free from traditional narratives and encounter personalities both famous and forgotten who tell the story of medieval womanhood. And discover stories familiar to women today, from the gender pay gap and harmful stereotypes, to access to healthcare and education, as well as challenges faced by female leaders.

This is the story of medieval women, told in their own words.

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is supported by Joanna and Graham Barker and Unwin Charitable Trust.

For more information, visit https://www.bl.uk/whats-on/medieval-women/.

Call for Applications

American School for Classical Studies at Athens

PAUL REHAK MEMORIAL TRAVELING FELLOWSHIP

for Graduate Students

Due 1 March 2025

To allow students in attendance at the School during the 2024-2025 academic year to travel in Greece or nearby lands to conduct a research project during the academic year from September 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025.

For more Information about a Fellowship or Application, Visit https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/fellowships-and-grants/graduate-and-postdoctoral or contact: application@ascsa.org

Call for Papers

From Taxonomy to Fluxus: Nordic art at the borders between Medieval and Early Modern

NORDIK 2025, Helsinki, 20-22 October 2025

Due By 28 February 2025

This session aims to critically examine the art historical hierarchy that traditionally positions certain figures or centers as the primary sources of artistic influence in the Nordic countries. Since the 1970s, and particularly throughout the 1980s, a shift in perspective emerged with social and technical studies revisiting established ideas about borders, centers, and peripheries in Medieval northern art. However, some forces have resisted this shift, and there remains a tendency to revert to national perspectives.

Today, there is a timely opportunity for a comprehensive, renewed view of Medieval Nordic art, prompted by the emergence of global art history, advancements in technical art history, and an increasing distance from earlier art historical paradigms.

This session seeks contributions that offer fresh perspectives on Medieval Nordic art. We welcome submissions that address:

• Art Historiography: Topics illuminating the contributions of the early generation of scholars as well as the contemporary currents that resist or challenge a radical reassessment of art historical traditions.

• Defining “Nordic” in Medieval Art: Studies exploring the concept of “Nordic” within the discipline, notions of being localised “inside” or “outside” the region and the implications of horizontal art history.

• Cross-Disciplinary Case Studies: Investigations merging art history with conservation science, where material studies either challenge or reinforce traditional assumptions about the boundaries of Nordic art.

• Network Studies: Research on artistic networks, clusters, and interactions between agents and “actors” within the Nordic region’s art production and trade.

Session chairs:
Kristin Kausland, kristin.kausland@niku.no Julia Trinkert, trinkert@hhu.de

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025.

Find out more here.

Lecture

Imagining the World in the Medieval Book of Marvels

Joshua O’Driscoll

Associate Curator of Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts at the Morgan Library & Museum

Fordham University

Lincoln Center, McMahon Hall rm. 109, 155 West 60th Street, New York, Ny

27 February 2025, 6:00 PM EST

Sponsored by the Center for Medieval Studies and Department of Art History & Music

For questions, please contact Nina Rowe, Professor of Art History (nrowe@fordham.edu) or the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies (medievals@fordham.edu).

2025 AISEES Lecture Series

AISEES Lecture - North of Byzantium

Lecture and Discussion of the Routledge Handbook of Byzantine Visual Culture in the Danube Regions, 1300-1600

Wednesday February 26, 12:00 - 1:30 PM

Sponsored by the American Institute for Southeast European Studies

Join us on ZOOM for a lecture and discussion of our recent volume, which aims to broaden knowledge about the history, art, culture, and heritage of Eastern Europe relative to Byzantium in regions of the Danube River. This river has long stood at the intersection of different traditions, serving as a marker of connection and division, as well as a site of cultural contact and negotiation.

The lecture will consist of a presentation from the editors and shorter reflections from invited contributors to this volume.

To join, click the link below. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87920980895pwd=9x8YsrUk7zaFEuX9nGbHgkyrO0JnlO.1

To start, click the link below.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87920980895pwd=9x8YsrUk7zaFEuX9nGbHgkyrO0JnlO.1
Meeting ID: 879 2098 0895
Passcode: 028295

Call for Applications

Full-Time Assistant/Associate Professor for Art History

Appalachian State University

Evaluations Begin 28 February 2025

Position Begins 01 August 2025

Housed within the Art Department the Art and Visual Culture program at Appalachian State University draws from a number of disciplines to explore the meanings, practices, and processes of looking and imaging across historical periods and diverse cultures. The BA degree in Art and Visual Culture has three concentrations: in Art History, Art Management, and Studio Art. All three concentrations provide students with unique opportunities to integrate an in-depth study of art and visual culture with a minor in another discipline and foreign language study. The Art and Visual Culture program also offers General Education courses in the form of art history surveys.

The Art and Visual Culture program has five full-time faculty in Art History, two full-time faculty in Art Management, additional faculty in Studio Art, and is one of six degree programs in the Department of Art. Students in the program regularly work in gallery positions on campus, study abroad, and complete internships at institutions in North Carolina and beyond.

The Department of Art is NASAD-accredited and has over 45 full-time faculty members, nearly 800 majors, and offers BFA degrees in Art Education, Graphic Design, Photography, and Studio Art; a BA degree with concentrations in Art History, Art Management, and Studio Art; and a BS degree in Graphic Communications Management.

Minimum Qualifications

• Earned Ph.D. at time of hire in Art History, Visual Culture, or related area

• Demonstrated specialization from prehistory to 1400 in any geographic region that complements current faculty expertise

• Engagement with current and emerging trends in art and visual culture and a global approach that challenges hierarchies of knowledge production

• Evidence of teaching effectiveness

• Evidence of commitment to accessibility in research, service, and/or pedagogy

• Evidence of a promising research agenda

• Ability to teach art history surveys from a global perspective and courses within area(s) of specialization

• Experience with, or commitment to, educating and mentoring students of diverse backgrounds and demographics

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Teach three courses per semester (9 hours), including art history
  surveys, introductory to advanced undergraduate courses in art
  history and visual culture, and courses in area(s) of specialization

• Participate in departmental and university service, including
  collaborating with Art and Visual Culture colleagues on curriculum,
  program development, and student advising

• Sustained scholarly research program in the field of art history and
  visual culture

Additional information about the position can be found online at https://appstate.peopleadmin.com/postings/49548. Additional information about the department, the university, and the surrounding area can be found on our website at art.appstate.edu.