CALL FOR PAPERS
LATE MEDIEVAL STENCIL PAINTING OF THE 15TH AND 16TH CENTURIES ON WOODEN SUPPORTS IN CENTRAL EUROPE
CULTURAL HISTORY, ART TECHNOLOGY, CONSERVATION
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE OF THE SAXON STATE OFFICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF MONUMENTS
26-28 OCTOBER 2023 DRESDEN, STÄNDEHAUS, FESTSAAL
SUBMISSIONS DUE BY 30 JUNE 2023
Stencil painting was a common and widespread decorative technique in both sacred and profane interior design at the end of the Middle Ages and in the early modern period (until 1550). As far as we know today, its area of distribution extended over the entire Central European region. Of the once extensive and sometimes very elaborately decorated objects, only a few have survived in their entirety. Their design ideas, which are often room-related, can still be experienced today, for example in the wooden church in Dębno Podhalańskie, Poland, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
International research has been concerned with this type of stencil painting for about 100 years. In addition to art-technological aspects, cultural-historical questions about the origin and distribution of the decorative style have been raised. Approaches to the derivation and formation of groups of works on the basis of stencil similarities also offer suggestions for dealing with this design technique in a classical comparison of styles, as is common in art history.
The aim of the interdisciplinary conference is to bring together the results of current and past research, to place them in an international context and, if necessary, to re-evaluate them. Questions concerning the origin, development and dissemination of the technique will be discussed, as well as problems of conservation, restoration history and heritage preservation. At the same time, the aim is to compile a catalogue of stencil motifs used on the basis of the objects presented.
Contributions can include aspects of the following thematic sections:
1. Contributions on the cultural-historical background: Aspects of regional, supra-regional and international political, ecclesiastical-political and economic circumstances are to be discussed and the decorative style placed in its contemporary context.
2. Contributions to art history: In addition to individual case studies or discussions of regional and supra-regional object studies, this category includes contributions on the emergence, dissemination and development of the decorative style as well as stylistic-critical and iconographic considerations. Promising comparative approaches to the technique in the reflection of other art genres, such as textile art, are also given equal space here.
3. Contributions to the art technology of stencil painting: This section focuses on the entire process of producing stencil painting in connection with both buildingbound and non-building-bound objects with regard to material properties, material procurement, preparation, processing, scientific analysis procedures or historical tools.
4. Contributions to stencilled furniture of the period: Late medieval stencilled furniture represents a special genre in furniture history. Both profane furniture and sacred furniture will be discussed here with regard to their typology, joining and decoration techniques and functionality.
5. Contributions to stencil painting in the context of interior design: Stencil paintings on furniture and building-related furnishings are today often regarded as a singular objectspecific phenomenon due to their state of preservation. Other examples show that they were conceived at the time of their creation in the context of interior design, especially wall painting. This section explores questions about the complexity of interior design.
6. Contributions to the conservation and care of objects with stencil painting: In addition to individual examples of conservation and restoration, questions of current and historical conservation concepts and conservation problems in the context of cultural heritage preservation will be discussed. Examples of building climate problems in times of climate change and questions of museum conservation and presentation will be discussed.
If your contribution relates to the topic of the conference but is not assigned to one of these sections, your submission or submission is not one of these sections. Your suggestion still welcome.
Organization:
Organizer: Saxon State Office for the Protection of Monuments in Dresden, Schloßplatz 1, 01067 Dresden
Contact: Christine Kelm, LfD Sachsen, christine.kelm@lfd.sachsen.de, Tel.: +49 351 48430 416; Jörg Kestel, LfD, joerg.kestel@lfd.sachsen.de, Tel.: +49 351 48430 405; Gerald Grajcarek M.A., veranstaltung@lfd.sachsen.de, Tel.: +49 173 4060 787
The conference including excursion will take place from 26 until 28 October 2023 in Dresden and will be organised by Saxon State Office for the Protection of Monuments. Details of the programme will be published after the closing date for contributions. The conference programme will be published at the end of July 2023.
Contributions of 20 minutes are requested. To ensure the smooth running of the programme and the mutual consideration of all speakers, please keep to the speaking time. Each contribution will be allowed 5 minutes for discussion.
There is also the possibility of submitting poster contributions. The posters submitted in DIN A1 format will be printed by the Saxon State Office for the Protection of Monuments prepared for the exhibition and included in the planned conference proceedings.
The conference language is English and German.
Proposals for papers with the title of the presentation and an abstract of max. 10 lines in German and English as well as a short CV with complete postal address are requested to be sent by 30 June 2023 to:
Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Sachsen
Schloßplatz 1 01067, Dresden
Stichwort »Schablonenmalerei«
E-Mail: veranstaltung@lfd.sachsen.de
The technical equipment for a digital image presentation (PowerPoint) is available to the speakers. It is planned to stream the lectures online during the conference as a hybrid conference.
All conference contributions will subsequently be published in the series »Arbeitshefte« of the Saxon State Office for the Protection of Monuments. The manuscripts of the contributions should be completed by the time of the event and can be sent to the organisers on site.
For all submissions of stencilled objects, please include the stencil motifs to scale (as a rectified, scaled, digital photo or as a 1:1 tracing) with the papers and posters. The organisers will also accept independent submissions of original stencil motifs to scale, with the aim of publishing all collected stencils in a catalogue. The images should be compiled with the location and, if applicable, dating as well as the contact details of the collector.
PDFs of the Call for Papers and the Save the Date are also available.
For more information, including the Call for Papers and Save the Date in German, https://www.denkmalpflege.sachsen.de/