Exhibition CLosing

Healing the Body, Healing the Soul: Methods of Therapy in Medieval EuropE

June 20, 2024–December 15, 2024

Centre Street Building, Level 3, Medieval Gallery, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD

Health, wellness, and healing are universal issues that have preoccupied people since the beginning of human memory. Medieval Europeans held the belief that the body and soul were connected and impossible to separate. Maintaining bodily and spiritual health was considered a constant but necessary challenge, and people of this time period dedicated significant effort and time to finding remedies for bodily and spiritual ailments. Many of these practices are reflected in the art and books of the time.

On view June 20, Healing the Body, Healing the Soul: Methods of Therapy in Medieval Europe explores the intimate link between body and soul as envisioned during the medieval period and demonstrates how works of art contributed to medieval European understandings of wellness and even aided in therapeutic practices.

Divided into three sections which address physical healing, spiritual healing, and the interlinked nature of physical and spiritual health, works in the exhibition examine medical theories, medicine in practice, saints and health, pilgrimage, and spiritual exercise. Featuring 23 works, visitors will see rare books and manuscripts from the Walters library along with medieval objects. To provide a contemporary perspective, the exhibition also includes a photograph by blind artist Pete Eckert from his Bone Light series. According to the artist, who creates light photography of his skeleton, the loss of his sight produced a phantom sense of light coming from his bones which he captures in illuminated portraits. The work speaks to the current lived experiences of people with disabilities and creates a link to understand how disability was understood during the medieval period in the context of body and spirit.

Curators: Orsolya Mednyánszky, Former Zanvyl Krieger Doctoral Fellow; Lynley Anne Herbert, Robert and Nancy Hall Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts; Lauren Maceross, Zanvyl Krieger Doctoral Fellow

This installation is generously funded by Supporters of the Walters Art Museum. To make a contribution toward this exhibition, please consider making a gift today.

For more information, click here.

Call for PhD Applications

MSCA Doctoral Network StoryPharm: Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond. Training the New Generation of Researchers in Health Humanities

Various Locations

Due 15 December 2024 at 14:00 CET (8:00 ET)

MSCA Doctoral Network StoryPharm: Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond. Training the New Generation of Researchers in Health Humanities. Call for PhD Positions Medieval Art History

We are pleased to announce four three-year Special Scientist PhD Positions in Medieval Art History within the framework of the MSCA doctoral network StoryPharm: Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond. Training the New Generation of Researchers in Health Humanities (European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action – Doctoral Networks – Grant Agreement 101169114, https://www.ucy.ac.cy/storypharm/):

“Images of Christ’s Miraculous Healings between Medical Awareness and Social Inclusion (9th–11th c. CE)” (University of Salerno, Italy)

“The Pictorial Narratives of Herbal Medicine in Dioskorides’ De materia medica” (University of Lund, Sweden)

“Ecologies of Healing: Visual Storytelling in Medieval Medical Manuscripts and Herbals” (University of Bamberg, Germany)

“The Healthy Place: Architecture and Images for Healing Devotional Experiences in Southern Italy in a Mediterranean Context” (University of Salerno, Italy)

StoryPharm focuses on premodern narratives and images involving medicine, health, and healing. These will be studied from a transdisciplinary and comparative perspective, across linguistic and cultural borders.

For detailed information on each PhD position and on the application procedure please consult: https://www.ucy.ac.cy/storypharm/vacancies/

Applications will be accepted from 15/10/2024 until 15/12/2024 at 14:00 CET (8:00 ET).

Call for Papers

Readers, Makers, and Medieval Consumer Culture: Manuscripts and Books from 1350–1550

19th International Conference of the Early Book Society, New York University, June 23–27, 2025

Due By 15 December 2024

“Readers, Makers, and Medieval Consumer Culture: Manuscripts and Books from 1350–1550," 19th International Conference of the Early Book Society, New York University, June 23–27, 2025. What were medieval bestsellers? What constituted the book market in the Middle Ages? Papers might consider manuscripts and books as luxury items, the importation of manuscripts and/or books from the Continent, Continental influence on English books, women’s (or men’s) reading circles, multiple copies of manuscripts and books (often an indication of popularity), owners and patrons, or the development and growth of private, monastic, or university libraries. Another subject of interest is representations of manuscripts or books as status symbols in miniatures or paintings. Conference abstracts will be published on the conference website. Some sessions will be Zoomed.

Please send an abstract of 150 words to ebs2025@earlybooksociety.org by December 15, 2024, for consideration. Be sure to include your name, affiliation, and email address on your abstract, along with a brief bio. For more information, contact: ebs2025@earlybooksociety.org See also earlybooksociety.org for updates and announcements.

Oxford Medieval Manuscripts Group Lecture

Casual trip to see the ‘Medieval Women in Their Own Words’ exhibition at the British Library together

14 December 2024, 12:00PM

The Oxford Medieval Manuscripts Group (OMMG) is a collective of eight postgraduate students and early-career researchers who bonded in Oxford over their passion for medieval manuscripts. We host a seminar series through which we hope to gather a community of emerging scholars, from the University of Oxford and beyond, around the study of medieval books and the art of illumination.

Starting in Hilary Term 2024, OMMG seminars will take place twice monthly on Friday afternoons. We will discuss the most exciting recent research; share our own projects and ideas in a supportive environment; learn from lectures and tutorials given by experienced colleagues; and examine medieval manuscripts together during library visits.

By promoting exchange between scholars with diverse specialisms and different levels of experience, OMMG aims to turn the study of medieval books and illuminations into a more collaborative pursuit. We know that working with manuscripts is often a solitary business, where knowledge is acquired over silent and cautious one-on-one meetings with a delicate object. We want to share the wonder we experience before the material, visual and textual complexity of illuminated codices, as well as the interrogations or frustrations we have as we encounter obstacles in our research. The OMMG seminar series will provide manuscript enthusiasts with a stimulating platform for learning practical and analytical skills from peers as well as experts. We would love you to join us!

To subscribe to our mailing list, participate in library visits, propose a presentation of your research for work-in-progress meetings, or submit any queries, please write to: Elena Lichmanova.

Exhibition Closing

Lumen: The Art and Science of Light

Until December 8, 2024

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Featured Exhibition in the PST ART: Art & Science Collide series.

To be human is to crave light. We rise and sleep according to the rhythms of the sun, and have long associated light with divinity. Focusing on the arts of western Europe, Lumen explores the ways in which the science of light was studied by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers, theologians, and artists during the “long Middle Ages” (800-1600 CE). During this period science (or the study of the physical universe) served as the connective thread for diverse cultures across Europe and the Mediterranean, uniting scholars who inherited, translated, and improved upon a common foundation of ancient Greek scholarship. Several contemporary artworks, including special installations by Helen Pashgian and Charles Ross will extend the exhibition’s reach throughout the Museum.

Supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

This exhibition is presented in English and Spanish. Esta exhibición se presenta en inglés y en español.

All exhibitions are included in your free, timed-entry reservation to Getty. Reservations are available six weeks in advance. Please note, there is a fee for parking.

For more information, please visit the link here.

ICMA IN WASHINGTON DC
EXHIBITION TOUR OF AN EPIC OF KINGS: THE GREAT MONGOL SHAHNAMA

FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER 2024, IN PERSON
1:30–3PM ET
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART, WASHINGTON, DC

Register HERE

The Great Mongol Shahnama is the most celebrated of all medieval Persian manuscripts. Considered Iran’s national epic, the Shahnama (Book of Kings) was completed by the poet Firdawsi in 1010. The copy known as the Great Mongol Shahnama was produced three hundred years later, commissioned by a ruler of the Ilkhanid dynasty, a branch of the Mongol Empire. Between the manuscript’s covers, art, power, and history intertwined. An Epic of Kings presents twenty-five folios from this now dismantled manuscript alongside contemporaneous works from China, the Mediterranean, and the Latin West, highlighting the cosmopolitan nature of the Ilkhanid empire.

For more information on the exhibition, click HERE.

You are invited to join other ICMA Members and area medievalists for a tour led by exhibition curator Simon Rettig (Associate Curator for the Arts of the Islamic World, National Museum of Asian Art) on Friday 6 December 2024 at 1:30pm. Drinks to follow courtesy of the ICMA.
 
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
1050 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC
Meet on Floor B1 at the bottom of the stairs, in front of the entrance to the exhibition in Galleries 23 and 24.

This gathering is informal:

• Attendees are responsible for their own travel bookings. Admission to the exhibition site is free.

• The purpose of this event is to introduce ICMA members and medievalists from the area to one another, to strengthen the social and professional ties in our community, and to celebrate our mutual interest in medieval art, while exploring the exhibition together.

 
Organized by Michelle C. Wang, Georgetown University, and Matthew Westerby, National Gallery of Art.

For questions, please email icma@medievalart.org

Register HERE

Lecture Series

Medieval Visual Culture Seminar, University of Oxford, Michaelmas Term 2024

What Art Does When It’s Doing Nothing: Stillness, Perdurance, and Agency in Medieval Art

Ben Tilghman

5 December 2024, 5:00-6:30PM GMT

Arumugam Building 1.2, St Catherine's College, Manor Road OX1 3UJ

Ben Tilghman is an Associate Professor of Art History, Washington College & Visiting Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh.

Questions? Contact Nancy Thebaut, Associate Professor, History of Art & Fellow, St Catherine’s College

Research Seminar

Hands That Heal, Looks That Kill: Towards a Fabulous History of Marian Architecture

Matthew Reeve

4 December 2024, 5:00 – 7:00 pm

Paul Mellon Centre and Online

Yale University, New Haven, CT

For tickets, book here.

The Virgin Mary might be said to reign over the arts of later medieval Britain. It is well established that Britain was a fertile centre for Marian devotion during the Middle Ages, with key pilgrimage sites at Glastonbury and Walsingham, and lesser centres across the British Isles. Marian devotion in Britain created new iconographies to celebrate the Virgin such as the Coronation of the Virgin, new categories of manuscript (the Book of Hours) and new architectural typologies in the Lady Chapel.

Focusing on the settings of Marian devotion and their imagery, Matthew describes them as fabulous in two senses: first, they are inspired by fabula or stories, namely the many Marian miracles that frequently informed the making and perception of Marian art and architecture; second, they are fabulous in being – technically speaking – superlatively crafted works of art. The reason for this, Matthew proposes, is found in the very character of the Virgin herself. In her miracles, the Virgin emerges not only as a miraculous fabricator of flawless art and architecture but also as a paradigm of exquisite aesthetic judgment in the later Middle Ages.

Imagined as settings to house the Virgin’s heavenly court, Marian buildings were designed as extensions of the Virgin’s own highly charismatic and overtly glamorous character as the Queen of Heaven.

Professor Matthew M. Reeve FSA FRHistS is a professor of art history at Queen’s University, Canada. He specialises in later medieval art in Northern Europe with a particular focus on Britain, although he also has long-standing interests in the history of architecture in general and the history of sexuality. Working on art in all media, he has published extended accounts of Salisbury and Wells cathedrals, art and architecture in the secular world, the historiography of medieval art and the arts of Marian devotion. He has also explored the afterlife of medieval art and ideas (medievalism) in the oeuvre of Horace Walpole and the Grand Tours of Walpole and his companions, and the heritage of medievalist art and politics in Canadian art and architecture. 

Event format and access

The event starts with a presentation lasting around 40mins, followed by Q&A and a free drinks reception. The event is hosted in our Lecture Room, which is up two flights of stairs (there is no lift). The talk will also be streamed online and recording published on our website.

For more informations, visit here.

Murray Seminar

The Market for Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts c. 1890-1929 and its Consequences

Laura Cleaver

4 December 2024, 17:00-18:30

Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square, Birbeck, University of London

Book your place here.

In 1904 Charles Dyson Perrins, whose fortune derived from the Lea & Perrins business that made Worcestershire sauce, bought an illuminated medieval psalter for £5,250. This was an enormous sum at the time (roughly equivalent to £500,000 today) and one of the highest prices paid for a manuscript to that date. The price was justified by the aesthetic qualities of the manuscript and the circumstances of the sale: the book was new to the market, having been in a family collection since the sixteenth century. Another factor may have been the book's English origin. Sydney Cockerell persuaded Perrins both to buy the book and to employ him to write about it. In 1908 Cockerell included the manuscript in his landmark exhibition of illuminated manuscripts held at the Burlington Fine Arts Club. The exhibition was not limited to English manuscripts, but made a 'special effort' to showcase English art. This paper will explore how rising prices for some manuscripts in the early twentieth century were intertwined with ideas about books as objects of national heritage, and the impact of this on the development of both scholarship and collections in Britain, Europe and America.

Contact name: Allison Deutsch

Speaker: Laura Cleaver is Professor of Manuscript Studies at the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. From 2019-2024 she was Principal Investigator of the Cultivate MSS project, funded by the European Research Council, which examined the trade in medieval manuscripts in the first half of the twentieth century. She is currently completing a monograph on the manuscript trade in Britain in the early twentieth century and its impact on the development of collections and scholarship.

Call for Applications

Assistant Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies

Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean World

Department of Art History and Architectural Studies

Mount Holyoke College

Due By 1 December 2024  

The Mount Holyoke College Department of Art History and Architectural Studies invites applications for an art or architectural historian of the late antique and medieval Mediterranean world for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin July 1, 2025. We are especially interested in candidates whose research and teaching are concerned with aspects of globalism and cultural connections. The teaching load is four courses per year, comprising a general survey, upper-level courses, and advanced seminars in the candidate's area of expertise.

In addition to an active and exciting research program, applicants should have a record of strong teaching at the undergraduate level and experience mentoring students who are broadly diverse. Our department is deeply committed to diversifying our curriculum as well as our faculty. Ph.D. or ABD in art or architectural history is required. Please submit a cover letter, CV, and three statements concerning 1) teaching philosophy, (2) research interests, and (3) mentoring. Please also include a writing sample and upload this additional document in the Please upload other documents in support of your application section of the application. Reference letters will be requested at a later date in the process.

Applicants are requested to apply online by December 1, 2024 at the following site:

https://mtholyoke.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/details/Assistant-Professor-of-Art-History-and-Architectural-Studies_R-0000001388

 For more information, please contact Anthony Lee.

For a copy of this advertizement, click here.

Mount Holyoke is an undergraduate liberal arts college with 2,200 students and 220 faculty. Over half the faculty are women; one-fourth are persons of color. Mount Holyoke College is located about 90 miles west of Boston in the Connecticut River valley, and is a member of the Five College Consortium consisting of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts.

Background Checks:

Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

Special Instructions for Applicants: 

Apply online; application materials must include:

• A cover letter summarizing interests and qualifications

• A complete resume or curriculum vitae

• For faculty positions, statements on mentoring, teaching, and research will also be required.

Mount Holyoke College is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE)

Mount Holyoke College, the leading gender-diverse women’s college, is dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities for all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected status. We are a diverse community of staff, faculty, and students, united in our mission to offer an intellectually adventurous education in the liberal arts through academic programs that are renowned internationally for their cross-disciplinary excellence, experiential approach, and commitment to diversity.

Mount Holyoke College is a welcoming and inclusive environment that values and respects individuals of all backgrounds. As an EOE, we encourage members of historically underrepresented groups or nontraditional backgrounds to apply for open positions at our institution. The College has a long-standing tradition of providing women and other historically underrepresented groups with access to an innovative educational experience that prepares students for purposeful leadership by integrating hands-on opportunities into the curriculum. We firmly believe that diversity enriches our community and enhances our ability to prepare students for success in an increasingly globalized world. 

We are dedicated to providing equal opportunities for all qualified applicants and to building an exemplary workforce that reflects the diversity of our student body and the communities we serve. Our ultimate goal is to produce graduates who are capable of engaging thoughtfully, effectively, and boldly with the world.

Call For Papers

INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL SOCIETY (IMS-Paris) - 18th Annual Conference

Medieval Communities

July 3-5, 2025

Deadline for Abstracts: December 1, 2024

Keynote Addresses :

Sharon Farmer, Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara

Cécile Voyer, Centre d’Etudes supérieures de civilisation médiévale, l’Université de Poitiers

How did people in the Middle Ages define, create, and maintain a sense of community? The International Medieval Society, Paris (IMS-Paris) invites abstracts and session proposals for our 2025 symposium on the theme of Communities in Medieval France.

The word “community” may be defined as a group of people with shared characteristics, emotional values, or interests who perceive themselves as distinct from others. From communes, monasteries and confraternities to soldiers, lepers, and the blind, medieval people formed close emotional ties and created rituals and other practices that constituted community. This symposium invites new lines of investigation that will deepen our knowledge of the medieval sense of community, broadly defined.

Proposals should focus on France during the Middle Ages, but do not need to be exclusively limited to this period and geographical area. We encourage proposals and papers from all fields of medieval studies, such as anthropology, archeology, history, economic and social history, art history, gender studies, literary studies, musicology, philosophy, etc. Proposals of 300 words (in English or French) for a 20-minute paper should be e-mailed to imsparissymposium@gmail.com no later than December 1, 2024. Abstracts should be accompanied by full contact information and a short bio.

For more information, please click here.

The IMS-Paris is an interdisciplinary, bilingual (French/English) organization that fosters exchanges between French and foreign scholars. For more than a decade, the IMS has served as a center for medievalists who travel to France to conduct research, work, or study.

APPEL A COMMUNICATIONS

Société internationale des médiévistes de Paris - 18e colloque annuel

Communautés médiévales

July 3-5, 2025

Conférences plénières:

"Jehanne la Fouaciere: Parisian widow, linen merchant -- and Beguine?“ Sharon Farmer, Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara

"Les chanoines de Saint-Hilaire de Poitiers et leur saint patron au XIe siècle: une mise en images dans l'espace ecclésial de la communauté autour du fondateur de l'Église locale, Cécile Voyer, Centre d’Etudes supérieures de civilisation médiévale, l’Université de Poitiers

Comment les gens au Moyen Âge définissaient-ils, créaient-ils et maintenaient- ils les communautés dont ils faisaient partie ? La Société Internationale des Médiévistes, Paris (IMS-Paris) appelle à recevoir des propositions de communication ou de session dans le cadre de son colloque de 2025 sur le thème des communautés dans la France médiévale.

Le terme de « communauté » peut être compris au sens large : tout groupement de personnes partageant des caractéristiques, des valeurs affectives ou des intérêts particuliers, et se percevant comme distinct des autres. Qu’il s'agisse de communes, de monastères, de confréries, ou de rassemblements de guerriers, de lépreux ou d’aveugles, les femmes et hommes du Moyen Âge ont su tisser des liens affectifs étroits et créer de multiples rituels et autres pratiques communautaires. Nous espérons avec cette conférence mettre en valeur de nouvelles pistes de recherche pour mieux comprendre la conception médiévale de la communauté au Moyen Age.

Les propositions doivent porter sur la France pendant le Moyen Age, mais peuvent ne pas se limiter exclusivement à cette période ni à cette zone géographique. Nous encourageons les propositions de communication dans tous les domaines des études médiévales, y compris en anthropologie, archéologie, histoire, histoire économique et sociale, histoire de l’art, études de genre, études littéraires, musicologie et philosophie.

Les propositions de 300 mots (en anglais ou en français) pour une communication de 20 minutes doivent être envoyées par courriel (email) à imsparissymposium@gmail.com au plus tard le 1er décembre 2024. Chaque proposition doit être accompagnée des coordonnées complètes des personnes qui présenteront, leur CV et leur liste du matériel audiovisuel nécessaire.

For more information, please click here.

IMS-Paris est un organisme interdisciplinaire et bilingue (français/anglais) dont l’objectif est de favoriser les échanges entre médiévistes français et étrangers. Pour déjà plus d’une décennie, l’IMS aide les médiévistes venant en France pour le travail, les études ou la recherche.

Oxford Medieval Manuscripts Group Lecture

Medieval Women in Their Own Words: Curating the British Library Exhibition

Eleanor Jackson | British Library 

29 November 2024, 5pm

Mure Room, Merton College, University of Oxford

The Oxford Medieval Manuscripts Group (OMMG) is a collective of eight postgraduate students and early-career researchers who bonded in Oxford over their passion for medieval manuscripts. We host a seminar series through which we hope to gather a community of emerging scholars, from the University of Oxford and beyond, around the study of medieval books and the art of illumination.

Starting in Hilary Term 2024, OMMG seminars will take place twice monthly on Friday afternoons. We will discuss the most exciting recent research; share our own projects and ideas in a supportive environment; learn from lectures and tutorials given by experienced colleagues; and examine medieval manuscripts together during library visits.

By promoting exchange between scholars with diverse specialisms and different levels of experience, OMMG aims to turn the study of medieval books and illuminations into a more collaborative pursuit. We know that working with manuscripts is often a solitary business, where knowledge is acquired over silent and cautious one-on-one meetings with a delicate object. We want to share the wonder we experience before the material, visual and textual complexity of illuminated codices, as well as the interrogations or frustrations we have as we encounter obstacles in our research. The OMMG seminar series will provide manuscript enthusiasts with a stimulating platform for learning practical and analytical skills from peers as well as experts. We would love you to join us!

To subscribe to our mailing list, participate in library visits, propose a presentation of your research for work-in-progress meetings, or submit any queries, please write to: Elena Lichmanova.

The Courtauld Medieval Work-in-Progress Seminars

Autumn Semester 2024

“Material Illusionism”: On the oeuvre of Hans Plock,  court embroider to Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg

Evelin Wetter (Abegg-Stiftung)

ourtauld’s Vernon Square Campus, London

20 November 2024, 5:30-7:00PM

Seminars are free and open to all. They are held in the Research Forum of The Courtauld Institute of Art’s Vernon Square campus,  starting at 5.30pm on Wednesdays.

Spring talks will be advertised in the Autumn. Booking opens at the end of September, and more information will be provided here: https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/whats on-research-forum-events/ 

Lecture

Art of the Haggadah: 1350-1400

Abby Kornfeld

Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus, New York, NY

155 West 60th Street, McMahon Room 109

21 November 2024 6:30PM

For more information, visit https://jewishstudies.ace.fordham.edu/events/

East of Byzantium Online Lecture

Re-Imagining Jerusalem: The Ritual Recreation of Pilgrimage between Syria and Georgia

Emma Loosley Leeming, University of Exeter

Friday, November 15, 2024 | 12:00 PM (EST, UTC -5) | Zoom

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the next lecture in the 2024–2025 East of Byzantium lecture series.

Pilgrimages to the Holy Land are a well-documented phenomenon of Late Antique Christian belief and we are accustomed to reading about the experience of walking in the footsteps of Christ through the testimony of early witnesses such as Egeria. After the Islamic conquests and the loss of Jerusalem to the Arabs, there were periods when it became more difficult to undertake such travels and by the Middle Ages the concept of pilgrimage was re-framed so that it could also mean an interior journey undertaken by a meditative process such as the navigation of the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral.

However, across the Middle East and Caucasus, liturgical texts and rare poorly-understood survivals of early liturgical furniture suggest a range of processes for re-imagining Jerusalem both within churches or by imprinting the loca sancta upon a wider regional landscape. This lecture will introduce some of the ways that believers recreated the rituals of Jerusalem pilgrimage without leaving their hometowns and villages. It will introduce examples from Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and encourage future research in this widely under-studied area of ritual practice.

Emma Loosley Leeming studied at the University of York, the Courtauld Institute of Art and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, where she specialised in the art, architecture and liturgy of Late Antique Syria. She then spent several years living and working at the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian (Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi) in Nebek, Syria, during which time she founded and directed the Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project in nearby Qaryatayn. From 2004–2013 she was lecturer in Middle Eastern Art and Architecture at the University of Manchester, before moving to the University of Exeter (2013–) where since 2019 she has been Professor of Middle Eastern and Caucasian Christianities. From 2012–2017 she held a European Research Council grant that enabled her to explore the relationship between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity and is currently working on a book with a Georgian colleague examining the origins and development of Georgian ‘three-church’ basilicas.

Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/

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

An East of Byzantium lecture. EAST OF BYZANTIUM is a partnership between the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center that explores the cultures of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine empire in the late antique and medieval periods.

Branner Forum for Medieval Art

Image Therapy: Notes on a Byzantine Picture Book

Professor Ivan Drpić

Thursday, 14 November 2024, 6:15-7:45PM

Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, New York, NY

Join us for Professor Ivan Drpić's (University of Pennsylvania) Branner Forum lecture entitled, “Image Therapy: Notes on a Byzantine Picture Book.” The lecture will take place at Columbia University on Thursday, November 14th at 6:15pm in Schermerhorn Hall, room 807.

For more information, visit
https://arthistory.columbia.edu/events/branner-forum-medieval-art-professor-ivan-drpic.

IN-PERSON AND ONLINE CONFERENCE

Unruly Iconography? Examining the Unexpected in Medieval Art

INDEX OF MEDIEVAL ART AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

9 NOVEMBER 2024

LINK TO REGISTER: https://ima.princeton.edu/conferences/

Free registration is now open for on-site attendance at the upcoming Index conference. “Unruly Iconography?” opens a new conversation about medieval images that don’t follow the rules. Speakers will challenge their listeners to rethink the unspoken paradigms that have decided when iconographic motifs should be considered canonical and which are instead “singular,” “exceptional,” or even “mistakes.” They will interrogate the value and limitations of the unspoken binaries that often underlie such labels: tradition versus invention, canon versus exception, or center versus periphery. Their wide-ranging papers will demonstrate the value of a more critically aware, contextually sensitive, and historically informed approach to the study of images and image-making in the Middle Ages. The conference will take place on November 9, 2024 in the Louis A. Simpson Building, A71, at Princeton University. Although the conference will not be recorded, a live stream link will provide digital access to those who cannot attend in person. Only those attending on site are asked to register, using the form below.

This constitutes the first of two internationally linked conferences, the second of which will be a site-based seminar at the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia” in Naples in June 2025, which makes southern Italy a laboratory for exploring the relationships between iconography and place within a geographically expanded Middle Ages. Details and a call for participation for the field seminar can be found here.

Schedule

8:45–9 am: Coffee and pastries

9:00–10:15 am

Welcome

Diliana Angelova (UC Berkeley), “Lawless, Hilarious, Black: Eros and Companions in Byzantium.”

Krisztina Ilko (University of Cambridge), “The Chessmen of the Hunt.”

10:15 am: Coffee break

10:45–12:15 pm

Heidi Gearhart (George Mason University), “A Poem, a Scribe, a Saint, and a Scriptorium: Evoking Multiple Presences in Arras Bibliothèque Municipale MS 860.”

Julie A. Harris (Independent Scholar, Chicago), “Indicate, Illustrate, Decorate, or Comment? Iberian Hebrew Bibles and Their Unruly Paratextual Marks.”

Q&A

12:15–2:00 pm: Lunch Break

2:00–3:00 pm

Alexander Brey (Wellesley College), “Iconography Between Empires: The Red Hall at Varakhsha.”

Mark H. Summers (University of Kentucky), “Dressed to Impress: Reconsidering Roger II of Sicily and the Iconography of Kingship.”

3:00–3:30: Coffee break

3:30–4:30 pm

Nicole C. Paxton (John Cabot University), “Iconographic Innovation and Political Subversion in the Medieval Serbian Akathistos Cycle.”

Patricia Simons (University of Michigan/University of Melbourne), “The Goldfinch: Flights of Fancy.”

4:30-5:15 pm

Q&A and Closing

Reception to follow in Weickart Atrium, Louis A. Simpson Building

LINK TO REGISTER: https://ima.princeton.edu/conferences/

The Courtauld Medieval Work-in-Progress Seminars

Autumn Semester 2024

The Paul Crossley Memorial Lecture

The Four Walks of the Cloister: Paradise and Practice in the Medieval Monastery

Gabriel Byng

Courtauld’s Vernon Square Campus, London

23 October 2024, 5:30-7:00 PM

It became common for monastic writers to connect the worldly cloister in the convent to the celestial paradise from the twelfth century. Over the following centuries, authors from Hugh of Fouilloy to William Durand quoted and expanded on each other in both Latin and the vernacular as they explored the structure and meanings of conventual architecture and its links to the Heavenly Jerusalem. These connections have led art historians, scholars of literature and anthropologists to describe the medieval cloister as a place of transcendence, where the heavenly was made manifest in the everyday lives of monks, friars and nuns.

This talk returns to these descriptions to reexamine how they understood the material monastery to be a place of contact with a transcendent deity. Combining this reassessment with attention to other sources from within monastic environments, it will argue that the cloister was less a place of transcendence than a place to be transcended. It will then trace this interpretation across monastic regulations, exemplary literature and the planning and decoration of the cloister itself, with a focus on the architecture of the mendicants in Germany.

Gabriel Byng is the Principal Investigator of an FWF Stand Alone Project at the University of Vienna concerning the work of the mystic Henry Suso. Previously he held a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship and a Research Fellowship at Cambridge. His first book was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017 and a collection he co-edited won ‘Best Multi-Author Book’ from the HBA in 2023. His research has won numerous awards, including a Dan David Prize scholarship from the University of Tel Aviv, a Faculty Grant at the University of Chicago and a fellowship at the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel.

The Paul Crossley Memorial Lecture is given annually in memory of the much-loved teacher and architectural historian at The Courtauld. Organised by Dr Tom Nickson (The Courtauld) as part of the Medieval Work-in-Progress Series, it is generously supported by Sam Fogg.

Seminars are free and open to all. They are held in the Research Forum of The Courtauld Institute of Art’s Vernon Square campus,  starting at 5.30pm on Wednesdays.

Booking Opens at the end of September.

For more information, visit here.

EXHIBITION CLOSING

WORLD HERITAGE OF THE MIDDLE AGES: 1,300 YEARS OF THE MONASTIC ISLAND OF REICHENAU

GREAT STATE EXHIBITION 2024

BADISCHES LANDESMUSEUM (BADEN STATE MUSEUM), KARLSRUHE, GERMANY

20 APRIL - 20 OCTOBER 2024

The exhibition "World Heritage of the Middle Ages - 1,300 Years of the Monastic Island of Reichenau" is one of the "Great State Exhibitions" of the federal state Baden-Württemberg in Southwest Germany. The exhibition celebrates the 1,300 year jubilee of the Reichenau Monastery, which was founded in the year 724 on the Reichenau Island in Lake Constance.

The exhibition is curated by the Badisches Landesmuseum and will be hosted at the Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg in the city of Constance. The historic sites on the nearby Monastic Island of Reichenau complement the exhibition.

Precious loaned objects along with two UNESCO World Heritage titles make the Great State Exhibition 2024 one of the most spectacular special exhibitions in Europe: The imperial cloister Reichenau was one of the most innovative cultural and political centers of the realm and an influential school of painting in the 10th and 11th centuries . Long before printing was invented, the cloister was considered one of the greatest European centers of learning and knowledge. The “Monastic Island of Reichenau” has been included in the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in the year 2000.

The cloister scriptorium on Reichenau was among the most prodigious book producers of the early Middle Ages. Some of the most precious and magnificent manuscripts in the world originated there. At the order of powerful emperors, kings and imperial bishops, the monks created works of art, which fascinate to this day with their perfection and beauty. The main works of Reichenau manuscripts were named UNESCO World Documentation Heritage in 2003 as “unique documents of cultural history, which are exemplary for the collective memory of mankind.”

The exhibition, which will be hosted in the Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg in Constance, brings the fascinating history of the cloister to life: The magnificent manuscripts from the Reichenau scriptorium, which have never been exhibited in such number, are one particular highlight. The rich monastic landscape at Lake of Constance and the upper Rhine are presented, as well as the life of the monks.

MONASTIC ISLAND OF REICHENAU

The Reichenau island is of outstanding natural beauty. Vegetables, herbs and wine thrive in the gardens, fields and vineyards of the island in Lake Constance at the foot of the Alps. The three medieval churches, which used to belong to the cloister Reichenau are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. They form a unique ensemble of Carolingian and Ottonian architecture.

A spectacular treasure chamber presents numerous reliquaries and other cult objects dating from the 5th to the 18th centuries. The newly designed cloister gardens are inspired by two famous medieval treatises on horticulture, which are associated with the monastery. The "Museum Reichenau" hosts an exhibition on the cultural and historical significance of the Reichenau.

For more information, visit here.

EXHIBITION CLOSING

MERVEILLEUX TRÉSOR D’OIGNIES: ÉCLATS DU 13E SIÈCLE

THE WONDERFUL TREASURE OF OIGNIES : 13TH CENTURY SPARKS OF BRILLIANCE

MUSÉE DE CLUNY LE MONDE MÉDIÉVAL, PARIS

19 MAR 2024 - 20 OCTOBRE 2024

The Treasure of Oignies, recognised since 1978 as one of the Seven Wonders of Belgium, is leaving its home country almost in its entirety for the first time. From 19 March to 20 October 2024, the Musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge is presenting these pieces of gold and silversmithery in an exhibition entirely dedicated to them.

The exhibition “The Wonderful Treasure of Oignies : 13th Century Sparks of Brilliance” is presented at the Musée de Cluny in the current events room. The curators are Christine Descatoire, Chief Curator at the Musée de Cluny, responsible for the gold and silversmithery collection, and Julien De Vos, Chief Curator, Director of the Cultural Heritage Department of the Province of Namur.

It is organised with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation, which owns the Treasure of Oignies. 

For more information, visit here.

Le Trésor d’Oignies est un extraordinaire ensemble d'orfèvrerie du 13e siècle, reconnu comme l'une des sept merveilles de Belgique. 

L'exposition "Merveilleux Trésor d'Oignies : Éclats du 13e siècle" présente pour la première fois hors du territoire belge la quasi-intégralité de cet ensemble : des pièces d’orfèvrerie (surtout des reliquaires) et quelques textiles. 
Elle reviendra sur l'histoire du prieuré d'Oignies, pour lequel les pièces ont été réalisées. Elle  constituera également un éclairage sur la production orfévrée de Hugo d’Oignies et de son atelier.

Des visites guidées de l'exposition sont organisées en septembre et octobre 2024. Retrouvez toutes les dates ici. 

Commissariat :
Christine Descatoire, conservatrice générale au musée de Cluny, responsable de la collection d’orfèvrerie
Julien De Vos, Directeur du Service des Musées et du Patrimoine culturel de la Province de Namur

Exposition organisée par le Musée de Cluny et le Musée provincial des Arts anciens du Namurois avec la contribution de la Fondation Roi Baudouin.

Pour plus d’informations visitez leur site ici.

Branner Forum for Medieval Art

Boundaries, Passages, and the Play of Media: The Painted Screen-Walls of Franciscan Churches in the Italian Alps

Professor Jacqueline Jung

Tuesday, 17 October 2024, 6:15-7:45PM

Stronach Center, Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, NEw York, NY

Join us for Professor Jacqueline Jung's (Yale University) Branner Forum lecture entitled, “Boundaries, Passages, and the Play of Media: The Painted Screen-Walls of Franciscan Churches in the Italian Alps.” The lecture will take place at Columbia University on Thursday, October 17th at 6:15pm in the Stronach Center (8th floor of Schermerhorn Hall).

For more information, visit https://arthistory.columbia.edu/events/branner-forum-medieval-art-professor-jacqueline-jung

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

AVISTA GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT

ART & ARCHITECTURES ACROSS BORDERS IN THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

DUE 15 OCTOBER 2024, 5:00PM ET

Our application for the AVISTA Graduate Student Research Grant for the study of art and architecture across borders in the medieval world is now open!

This grant of $500 is intended to support an early-stage graduate student’s research on the theme of art that crosses the borders or peripheries of the medieval world. Funds should support research and/or dissemination of scholarship, which may include expenses for conference travel, site visits, or archive visits. The award includes a one-year gift membership to AVISTA.

We are grateful to Robert E. Jamison, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Clemson University, for underwriting this grant.

The deadline for submitting your application is October 15, 2024, 5:00pm ET.

For the full application instructions and guidelines please see our “Prizes and Grants” page here.

ICMA in Milwaukee
Tour of Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

Saturday 12 October
2pm CT

Register HERE

ICMA members are warmly invited to an informal gathering at the Haggerty Museum of Art on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday, October 12th, beginning at 2:00pm to view Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives. The co-curators of the exhibition, Abby Armstrong Check, Claire Kilgore, and Tania Kolarik will give a brief introduction to the exhibition and highlight different objects within the show. Attendees will then be welcome to roam the galleries. At 3:00pm we will walk over as group to the Joan of Arc Chapel on the campus of Marquette University where Abby Armstrong Check will give a short talk about the history of the only consecrated medieval chapel in the United States.

More information about the exhibition: https://www.marquette.edu/haggerty-museum/material-muses.php

Register HERE

Last Conques EU Project Meeting

Conques in the Global World

11 October 2024, 9:30-13:00

Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome, Italy

The last meeting of the Conques EU project will take place in Rome in person--For those who cannot attend, look for a book publication within the year that is full of the newest research on Conques. See: https://conques.eu/outputs for material that has already appeared.

Call for Proposals

Medieval Academy of America's podcast series

Season 4

The Multicultural Middle Ages

Due 11 October 2024

The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series welcomes proposals for single episodes to be featured in its fourth season. After three successful seasons, The Multicultural Middle Ages (MMA) will return for its fourth in 2025. Sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America, MMA is an anthology-style podcast that welcomes the global turn in Medieval Studies. This podcast series is a platform from which to continue ongoing conversations and generate new and exciting avenues of inquiry related to the Middle Ages that emphasize its diversity. We seek to highlight thoughtful reflections on culturally responsible approaches to the study of the Middle Ages. This is a space from which to speak to fellow medievalists and, more importantly, the wider public to inform our audience about the multicultural reality of the medieval period and the plurality of voices that comprise the fields of medieval studies.

We invite proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines, including graduate students, for single podcast episodes aimed at fellow medievalists and the wider public.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Innovative methodological and disciplinary approaches to the Middle Ages

• The future of Medieval Studies

• Research on the multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic Middle Ages

• Discussions of recent scholarship

• Archival discoveries

• Academic activism and responses to misappropriations of the Middle Ages

• Pedagogical approaches

• Medievalisms

• Medieval culture in contemporary political discourse

• Cultural heritage and approaches to curating exhibitions of the Middle Ages

Possible formats may include narrative expositions, interviews, textual analysis, visual analysis, oral performances, and panel discussions.

No previous experience with podcasting is required. The Graduate Student Committee of the MAA has hosted several podcasting workshops, which are now available on the MAA YouTube channel. If accepted, an MMA team member will support you through the episode development process and post-production. If you would like our technical assistance to realize your episode, such as facilitating an interview, helping record the episode, or taking care of the audio editing, please make a note of it in your proposal.

Your application should include a brief description (500 words) of your proposed

episode, noting the following:

• the chosen topic and its relevance;

• the plan for adapting the topic to a podcast medium (we encourage 40-50 min. episodes, but also welcome proposals for shorter or longer episodes);

• and the episode format (interview, narrative, etc.) with an overview of its structure a description of the support you’ll need (if any) from the MMA production team.

This information is not binding but will help the committee assess the potential of the project. Please include the name and CV of each author. Submit your proposals and any questions to mmapodcast1@gmail.com and to Loren Lee (lel7qsf@virginia.edu) by October 11, 2024.

For a PDF of the call for papers, click here.

For a JPG of the shortened-version of the call for papers, click here.

The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series Production Team

Will Beattie | wbeattie@nd.edu

Jonathan Correa Reyes | jonatcr@clemson.edu

Loren Lee | lel7qsf@virginia.edu

Reed O’Mara | rao44@case.edu

Logan Quigley | quigleylogan@gmail.com

Website: https://multiculturalmiddleages.com/

X: @Podcast_MMA_MAA

Instagram: @MulticulturalMiddleAgesPod

The Courtauld Medieval Work-in-Progress Seminars

Autumn Semester 2024

Christianity Before Conversion

Helen Gittos

Courtauld’s Vernon Square Campus, London

9 October 2024, 5:30-7:00 PM

How did people convert to Christianity in early medieval England? What happens if we prioritise archaeological and art historical sources? In this seminar paper, Helen Gittos will propose a new framework for thinking about how such radical change happened.

Helen Gittos is particularly interested in the history of the church and its rituals in the Middle Ages, and is as keen on buildings, objects and archaeological evidence as on written texts. Her first book was Liturgy, Architecture and Sacred Places in Anglo-Saxon England (2013); she also co-edited two collections of essays on the topic: The Liturgy of the Late Anglo-Saxon Church (2005) and Understanding Medieval Liturgy (2015). A second strand of her research is about language, and in particular the role and status of English in relation to Latin; with Alban Gautier she co-edited Vernacular Languages in the Long Ninth Century (2021) and is currently writing a book, English in the Liturgy before the Reformation. She also been working on aspects of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and the history of the sixth and seventh centuries in Britain.

Organised by Dr Tom Nickson (The Courtauld) as part of the Medieval Work-in-Progress Series.

Seminars are free and open to all. They are held in the Research Forum of The Courtauld Institute of Art’s Vernon Square campus,  starting at 5.30pm on Wednesdays.

Booking Opens at the end of September.

For more information, visit here.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS

DR. GÜNTHER FINDEL-STIFTUNG / ROLF UND URSULA SCHNEIDER-STIFTUNG

HERZOG-AUGUST-BIBLIOTHEK, WOLFENBÜTTEL, GERMANY

ANNUAL APPLICATION DEADLINES: APRIL 1 AND OCTOBER 1.

Thanks to the initiatives by private foundations (Dr. Günther Findel-Stiftung/Rolf und Ursula Schneider-Stiftung) fellowships programmes for doctoral candidates have been established at the Herzog August Bibliothek. These programmes are open to applicants from Germany and abroad and from all disciplines.

Applicants may apply for a fellowship of between 2 and 10 months, if research on their dissertation topic necessitates the use of the Wolfenbüttel holdings. The fellowship is € 1.300 per month. Fellowship holders are housed in library accommodation for the duration of the fellowship and pay the rent from their fellowship. There is also an allowance of € 100 per month to cover costs of copying, reproductions etc. Candidates can apply for a travel allowance if no funds are available to them from other sources.

Candidates who already hold fellowships (eg. state or college awards or grants from Graduiertenkollegs) or are employed can apply for a rent subsidy (€ 550) to help finance their stay in Wolfenbüttel.

New: Thanks to generous financial support by the Anna Vorwerk-Stiftung, the monthly fellowship will be increased by € 150 per month until further notice.

Please request an application form, which details all the documents that need to be submitted, at ed.bah@gnuhcsrof. Reviewers will be appointed to evaluate the applications. The Board of Trustees of the foundations will decide on the award.

Application deadlines: October 1st or April 1st. The Board holds its selection meetings in February and July. Successful applicants can take up the award from April 1st or October 1st onwards each year.

If you send your applications by mail, please submit only unstapled documents and no folders.

You can find more information about the foundation here.

For more information about the fellowship and other funding, visit here.

CALL FOR PAPERS

GENDER, IDENTITY, AND AUTHORITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY

UNIVERSITY OF TULSA, MARCH 20-23, 2025

DUE BY 1 OCTOBER 2024

The Society for Late Antiquity is pleased to announce the sixteenth biennial meeting of Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity, which will be held at The University of Tulsa, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We encourage papers that investigate issues and aspects of gender, identity, and/or authority within the broader late antique world, either in relation to one another or on their own. This thematic scope is intentionally broad, allowing for many different approaches and from a host of disciplines and methodologies. Gender, for example, might include the impact of religion or other factors on ideas of the family, sex, and sexuality, understandings of the nature of gender differences, or conceptions of identity and authority in relationship to the gendered or genderless self or other. Likewise, identity might focus on its self-perception or ascription by others, its potential to be malleable, situational, or contested, or its various components, like ethnicity, political allegiance, religious affiliation, or class. Finally, authority might interrogate its attribution to or expectation for a particular person (e.g., an empress or saint), place (e.g., Rome), or thing (e.g., a text or creed), the mechanisms for its attainment or rejection, such as tradition, merit, or force, or its realization of lack thereof, either as an actual fact or ideal.

Abstracts (no more than 500 words) for papers presenting original scholarship should be submitted for consideration no later than October 1, 2024.

Conference email: shiftingfrontiersxvi@gmail.com

For more information, https://sites.utulsa.edu/shiftingfrontiersxvi/

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR FIELD SEMINAR

UNRULY ICONOGRAPHIES / ICONOGRAFIE INDISCIPLINATE: EXCEPTIONS OR NEW PATTERNS?

CENTER FOR THE ART AND ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF PORT CITIES “LA CAPRAIA”, MUSEO E REAL BOSCO DI CAPODIMONTE, NAPLES
12-13 JUNE 2025

DUE BY 1 OCTOBER 2024

Art history’s recent turn toward what the field has long considered Europe’s peripheries and border zones has brought to the fore countless examples of seemingly strange, unusual, and unique iconographic motifs, which complicate the relationship between an artwork’s iconography and its place in space and time. Until now, the dominant model has presupposed standard iconographies and their adaptations, exceptions, and deviations, which are often understood within historiographic paradigms such as tradition and invention, center and periphery, urban and rural, elite and non-elite. This approach falls short, however, especially in places like southern Italy, where the abundance of exceptions brings into question the rule itself. Merely extending these historiographic paradigms to encompass “unruly iconographies” or "iconografie indisciplinate" only reperforms their marginalization. This state of play challenges us to explore the nexus between place and iconographic rules and exceptions, not by modifying the traditional framework to include peripheries and border zones, but by examining how case studies invite us to trace new art historical patterns and build new methodological models.

In November 2024, the Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University will convene "Unruly Iconographies?", a one-day conference dedicated to rethinking historiographic paradigms that have shaped how we understand iconographic motifs that don’t follow the rules. (Please find the Call for Papers for the Index conference at https://ima.princeton.edu/2024/02/15/call-for-papers-unruly-iconographies-examining-the-unexpected-in-medieval-art/ and a preliminary program at https://ima.princeton.edu/2024/05/16/save-the-date-for-the-fall-index-conference-unruly-iconography-examining-the-unexpected-in-medieval-art-on-november-9-2024/.)

In a linked event hosted by the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia” in June 2025, "Unruly Iconographies / Iconografie Indisciplinate: Exceptions or New Patterns?" will take medieval Naples and southern Italy as a laboratory for exploring relationships between iconography and place within a geographically expanded Middle Ages.

We invite proposals that take individual case studies from medieval Naples and southern Italy as points of departure for investigating questions including so-called exceptions, hapaxes, mistakes, and lost originals; dynamics between “center” and “periphery”; challenges of chronology and dating in so-called peripheries and border zones; circulations of iconographies through polycentric cultural networks; translations of motifs across mediums, formats, functional contexts, and audiences; the legibility and illegibility of iconographies across cultures; mechanisms of transfer including mobile artworks, artists, and patrons; interplays between royal, non-royal elite, and non-elite patronage; and the limitations of previous models of iconography when confronted with cases in medieval Naples and southern Italy. We welcome in particular proposals that locate southern Italy within broader Mediterranean worlds, at the convergence of multiple cultural and religious currents including Latin and Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

"Unruly Iconographies / Iconografie Indisciplinate" is designed as a field seminar. Contributions may take the form of a seminar-style presentation with slides, or an on-site presentation with an artwork in Naples. (For presentations on site, we will print hand-outs with comparative images.) Presentations may be made in English or Italian, and should run no longer than 20 minutes, followed by 15-20 minutes of discussion.

La Capraia will cover the cost of lodging in Naples for three nights, lunch and dinner on the two days of the conference, admission to collections and sites, and transport to site visits as necessary. The organizing committee will award one graduate student among selected participants to receive an honorarium (disbursed immediately after the field seminar) to cover costs of travel up to $750.

Proposals should include a curriculum vitae, a brief narrative biography (max. 150 words), and an abstract (max. 350 words), and may be in Italian or English. The abstract should also indicate whether the proposed contribution would take the form of a seminar-style presentation or an on-site presentation. Please combine these materials in a single PDF document with Lastname_Firstname as the title, and send to La Capraia’s Center Coordinator Francesca Santamaria (lacapraia@gmail.com) by 1 October 2024. Selected participants will be notified in early November 2024.

"Unruly Iconographies / Iconografie Indisciplinate" is organized by Maria Harvey (James Madison University), Sarah K. Kozlowski (The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History / Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia”), Ali Alibhai (The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History), Francesca Santamaria (Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia”), with the collaboration of the Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University.

The Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia” is a partnership between the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Franklin University Switzerland, and the Amici di Capodimonte.

Learn more about La Capraia at https://arthistory.utdallas.edu/port-cities/ and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lacapraia/.