ICMA in Dallas: Visit to the Bridwell Library and exhibition tour of "Unearthing the Legacy of Islamic Spain"

Visit to the Bridwell Library and exhibition tour of Unearthing the Legacy of Islamic Spain
Friday 13 December 2024, in person
9:45am–3pm CT
Bridwell Library and Meadows Museum

Register HERE

Schedule of events
9:45 AM: Arrival at Bridwell Library  
10:00–11:30 AM: Guided visit led by Arvid Nelsen, Curator of Rare Books & Manuscripts and Librarian for Special Collections  
11:45 AM: 5-minute walk to the Meadows Museum  
12:00 PM: Brown bag lunch at the Custard Institute, followed by free time to explore the permanent collection  
2:00 PM: Tour of Unearthing the Legacy of Islamic Spain, led by Cristina Aldrich  
3:00 PM: Explore the museum’s medieval holdings with Cristina Aldrich and/or Amanda Dotseth

Morning Visit: Bridwell Library Begin the day with a guided tour of Bridwell Library’s extraordinary collection of medieval manuscripts and devotional books. The tour will be led by Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Arvid Nelsen. Located on the SMU campus, Bridwell Library is renowned for its resources supporting the study of theology, religion, and history.

Lunch will be provided by the ICMA.

Afternoon Tour: Meadows Museum  The afternoon features a tour of the Meadows Museum’s exhibition Unearthing the Legacy of Islamic Spain, led by Center for Spain in America (CSA) Curatorial Fellow Cristina Aldrich. This exhibition focuses on the 19th- and 20th-century reception of Spain’s Islamic heritage, with paintings, photographs, drawings, and printed materials reflecting diverse perspectives on the country’s long history of Muslim rule—from the arrival of the Umayyads in the eighth century to the expulsion of the last Nasrid sultan in 1492. Anchoring the exhibition is one of the Meadows Museum’s medieval treasures: a 10th-century marble capital from the palace-city of Madinat al-Zahraʾ, near Córdoba. This exquisite architectural fragment serves as a tangible connection to the medieval past, embodying the material that inspired the 19th-century artists and intellectuals whose works are on display. Together, the medieval and modern objects reveal the complex tension between Spain’s medieval history and its modern reinterpretations.

Closing the Day The day concludes with a tour of the museum’s medieval holdings, showcasing the depth and diversity of Spain’s artistic heritage. Highlights include a recently acquired c. 1500 panel painting of St. Bartholomew by Domingo Ram, a 14th-century Catalan liturgical cabinet, two 12th-century frescoes from San Baudelio de Berlanga on long-term loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, late medieval alabasters by Gil de Siloe, and retablos by Martín de Soria. 

Drinks to follow.

Register HERE

ICMA in DC: Exhibition tour of "An Epic of Kings: The Great Mongol Shahnama" - Friday 6 December 2024. Register today!

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

Iskandar and the talking tree (detail), folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings), Iran, probably Tabriz, Ilkhanid dynasty, ca. 1330, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1935.23

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

Call for Nominations: ICMA Board of Directors, Associates, or Nominating Committee

Shape the ICMA's future 
Call for Nominations: Board of Directors, Associates, and Nominating Committee

The International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) is seeking candidates for election to the ICMA's leadership positions.

We seek nominees (and self-nominees) for the following posts:
- Board of Directors (3-year term, 2025-28)
- Associates (3-year term, 2025-28)
- Nominating Committee (1-year term, 2025)

Our goal is to foster the continued vitality of the ICMA by including among its leaders colleagues at every career stage, with a broad range of research specialties, and from diverse professional and geographic origins. In addition to traditional research strengths, we also seek nominees who query the “edges” of our discipline and the boundaries around research topics, who engage in the theorization of our methods and objects of study, and who might help us build a broad and inclusive membership in the future.

To achieve that diversity through a robust pool of candidates, we need your help.

Please share your ideas for candidates by Monday 18 November 2024. Please take a moment to consider adding your own name: self-nominations are welcome.

For the sake of convenience, we have created two online forms:
Nominate a colleague HERE: you will be asked to provide your name and email in the first stage; for the second stage, you will be asked to provide nominees’ name, email, post (can be multiple), and information to share with the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will follow up with the nominee.

Self-nominate HERE: you will be asked to provide your name, email, and country along with a brief statement on why you would like to be a candidate. A CV and short biography is required to upload.

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FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT POSTS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS There shall be twenty-one Directors, who shall be elected in three classes of seven and shall be eligible to serve up to two successive terms of three years. Each year, one such class of Directors, shall be elected by the Membership, their terms beginning at the Annual Meeting at which their election is announced and expiring at the Annual Meeting held on the third year following.

The Board of Directors shall establish policy for the ICMA, supervise activities of the ICMA, and approve the annual budget.

Note: Board of Directors can be from any geographic location, but much attend two (2) board meetings (Spring and Autumn) either in person or virtually.

ASSOCIATES There shall be twelve Associates drawn primarily from outside North America who will lend international expertise to the ICMA and will help further the goals of the organization. The Associates shall be elected in three classes of four and shall be eligible to serve two successive terms of three years. Each year, one such class of Associates shall be elected by the Board of Directors, their terms beginning at the next Annual Meeting after their election and expiring at the Annual Meeting held on the third year following. Associates are invited to attend meetings of the Board without vote.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE The Nominating Committee shall present to the Membership with the advice and consent of the Board of Directors nominations of one ICMA Member for any vacancy in the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer; ten ICMA Members as candidates for seven vacancies as Director, as well as individual nominations to fill vacancies among the Officers and Directors created by death, resignation, or removal from office; six ICMA Members as candidates for four members of the following year’s Nominating Committee, as well as one ICMA Member for the chair of the Nominating Committee. It is expected that the Nominating Committee will in most cases propose the current Vice-President as its candidate for President, a current or former member of the Finance Committee as its candidate for Treasurer, and a current or former member of the Nominating Committee as its candidate for chair of the Nominating Committee.

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Nominate a colleague HERE: you will be asked to provide your name and email in the first stage; for the second stage, you will be asked to provide nominees’ name, email, post (can be multiple), and information to share with the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will follow up with the nominee.

Self-nominate HERE: you will be asked to provide your name, email, and country along with a brief statement on why you would like to be a candidate. A CV and short biography is required to upload.

 

Gesta Volume 63 Number 2 now available to ICMA members!

The latest issue of Gesta (Fall 2024) is now available on the University of Chicago Press Journals website. Following is the issue's table of contents: 

Gesta, Vol. 63, No. 2

Seeing Christ on the Cross in Late Antique Syria and Mesopotamia: Crosses, Crucifixes, and the Question of Iconicity 
Daniel An

Illumination Unbound: The Victoria and Albert Museum Cross and Its Parchment Miniatures
Judith Hathaway Oliver

“Go Forth and Learn”: Visual Exegesis in the Medieval Haggadah
Abby Kornfeld

The Columns from “the Tomb of Charlemagne” between Aachen and the Louvre: A Modern Spoliation Saga
Brigitte Buettner

Remember, ICMA membership provides exclusive online access to the complete run of Gesta in full text, PDF, and ebook editions at no additional charge.

To access your members-only journal subscription, log in to the ICMA site here with your username and password.  If you have any questions, please email icma@medievalart.org. 

NEW VIDEO! FRIENDS OF THE ICMA PRESENTS MEDIEVAL COMING ATTRACTIONS, 2024-2025

NEW VIDEO

FRIENDS OF THE ICMA PRESENTS MEDIEVAL COMING ATTRACTIONS 2024-2025

12 September 2024, 12 PM ET

The Friends of the ICMA held the latest in a series of special online events on Thursday 12 September 2024, 12 PM ET. The hour-long program previeweed three medieval exhibitions, each introduced by its curator.

Stephan Wolohojian introduced the exhibition, Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350. The exhibition is on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until 26 January 2025. For more information, visit https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/siena-the-rise-of-painting-1300-1350

Sue Brunning spoke about the exhibition, Silk Roads. The exhibition is on view at The British Museum until 23 February 2025. For more information, visit https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/silk-roads

Ladan Akbarnia introduced the exhibition, Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World. The exhibition is on view at the San Diego Museum of Art until 5 January 2025. For more information, visit https://www.sdmart.org/exhibition/wonders-of-creation-art-science-and-innovation-in-the-islamic-world/

The panel was introduced and moderated by Leslie Bussis Tait, Chair of the Friends of the ICMA.

To watch the video, visit the Special Online Lectures page.

ICMA IN TOLEDO: "Ethiopia at the Crossroads" study event on Saturday 19 October 2024 - Register today!

ICMA in Toledo
Study event for Ethiopia at the Crossroads
Toledo Museum of Art
Toledo, Ohio

Saturday 19 October 2024
11am ET

Register HERE

Ethiopian, Psalter with Praise of Mary (Wəddase Maryam) and the Canticles of the Prophets. About 1400-1500. Ink and pigments on parchment with wooden boards. Open: 8 7/8 × 6 11/16 × 3 15/16 in. Toledo Museum of Art. Mrs. George W. Stevens Fund. 2021.37

ICMA members are invited to a day-long study event at the Toledo Museum of Art for the exhibition Ethiopia at the Crossroads. Curated at the TMA by Sophie Ong, the day will begin with a curator-led tour at 11am ET. Lunch will be provided before a public lecture by Michael Gervers (University of Toronto) at 2pm, titled Rock-Hewn Churches and Sacred Groves: Architecture as the Home of Religion and Art in Ethiopia. After the lecture, members will have time to view the exhibition.

More information about the exhibition can be found HERE

More information about the public lecture by Michael Gervers can be found HERE


Register HERE for the ICMA study event 
 

ABOUT THE LECTURE
Rock-Hewn Churches and Sacred Groves: Architecture as the Home of Religion and Art in Ethiopia
Saturday 19 October 2024 2-3pm
Michael Gervers, University of Toronto

There is a long tradition of monumental architecture in Ethiopia. Evidence is to be found in the great Sabean temple and palace in Yeha from the 8th century B.C., with more early sites being discovered in the Tigraen highlands through archaeological excavation. Medieval monuments are rare; only a handful remain standing. Heavy summer rains and periods of severe conflict have led to the destruction of most. From at least the 11th century, churches were being carved into and out of the rock; these have endured for a thousand years and are still being made. The 16th century sees the introduction of the round church in more southerly regions, today typically surrounded by what remains of a once larger forest, now a sacred grove. Whether built or carved, all these places of worship provide the space and context for the unique objects to be seen in “Ethiopia at the Crossroads.”
 
This lecture will be given by Michael Gervers of University of Toronto. Dr. Gervers has been teaching History and Art History at the University of Toronto since 1976 (after three years as Assistant Professor at New York University), and has been Full Professor since 1984.

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Ethiopia at the Crossroads is co-organized by the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), Walters Art Museum, and Peabody Essex Museum. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Christine Sciacca and curated for TMA by Sophie Ong, Assistant Director of Strategic Initiatives. The exhibition was awarded the inaugural ICMA-Kress Exhibition Development Grant, and was made possible by two major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom and a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (MA-253352-OMS-23). 

TMA’s presentation is made possible with the generous support of Presenting Sponsors Susan & Tom Palmer, Platinum Sponsors The Zenith Foundation and Cynthia & Ron Thompson, and Gold Sponsors TMA Ambassadors, with additional funding from the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, or other funders.   

Study Days for "Lumen: The Art and Science of Light" and "Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World" - 10-12 November 2024. Register today!

Study Days for Lumen: The Art and Science of Light and Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World

Getty Center and The San Diego Museum of Art
Los Angeles, CA and San Diego, CA

Sunday 10 November 2024 - Tuesday 12 November 2024

Register by emailing: medievalstudyday@gmail.com

ICMA members are invited to an event organized by our friends at Study Day Medieval Art on the occasion of two exhibitions Lumen: The Art and Science of Light at the Getty Center and Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World at The San Diego Museum of Art.



PART I
Los Angeles, CA
Getty Center

SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2024
Talk (in-person and online)
Art, Science, and Wonder in the Medieval World
The Getty Center

Free | Advance ticket required   
To attend in person, click Get Tickets  
To watch online, register via Zoom.

To complement the exhibition Lumen: The Art and Science of Light, curators and scholars present two panel discussions on the intersections of art and science in the medieval world. Designed as a series of engaging discussions, the first presentation explores topics such as astronomy and optics, and examines how medieval people thought about the science of light in both Latin and Arabic speaking regions. The second discussion invites scholars of neuroscience, philosophy, and art to discuss the way the eye and the brain react to light and how medieval people harnessed these effects to create immersive spaces of wonder.

Panel 1: Light, Time, and Magic in the Middle Ages, 11:00 am–12:30 pm

Moderator
Barry C. Smith, professor of philosophy and director, Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study

Ladan Akbarnia, curator, South Asian and Islamic art, San Diego Museum of Art
Margaret Gaida, postdoctoral researcher, California Institute of Technology
Megan McNamee, lecturer in pre-modern art, 500–1500, Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh

Panel 2: The Perception and Neuroscience of Light, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Moderator
Barry C. Smith, professor of philosophy and director, Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study

Nancy Thompson, professor of art and art history; Department Chair of Art and Art History, St. Olaf College
G. Gabrielle Starr, president, Pomona College
Abbey Stockstill, associate professor of Islamic art and architecture, Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University

Full information HERE



MONDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2024
Study Day in the exhibition Lumen: The Art and Science of Light with the curators of the exhibition: Kristen Collins, Nancy Turner, and Glenn Phillips

Click HERE for exhibition info. 


Afternoon / evening: individual travel to San Diego



PART II
San Diego, CA
The San Diego Museum of Art

Tuesday 12 November 2024
Study Day in the exhibitionWonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World with curator Ladan Akbarnia

Click HERE for exhibition info.  

 
Afternoon:  return travel
 

Please send your registration as soon as possible to:
medievalstudyday@gmail.com

CALL FOR PAPERS: International Medieval Congress Leeds 2025, due Sunday 29 September 2024

Call for Papers
ICMA Sponsored Session at the International Medieval Congress
Leeds, United Kingdom
7-10 July 2025

Viewing the Invisible: Multisensory Approaches to the Divine in East and West
due Sunday 29 September 2024

Viewing the Invisible: Multisensory Approaches to the Divine in East and West

Organizer:
Ioanna Christoforaki, Academy of Athens
 
Abstract Submission:
Please submit paper title and abstract to ichristoforaki@yahoo.co.uk
 
Session Proposal
 
If, as John (4:12) declares, “No man hath seen God at any time”, how is the divine experienced by the faithful? How do you believe in what cannot be seen or not evident to the senses? Can the invisible God be made visible?
 
Although vision was considered the primary sense since antiquity and continued to be perceived as such throughout the Middle Ages, faith came with the visualization of things unseen. According to Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. In other words, God is encountered by faith and experienced by the body and the senses.
 
The doctrine of the spiritual senses was first formulated by Origen in the third century and has since played a significant role in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology. It asserts that there are five spiritual senses bearing likeness to the exterior senses, by which God can be encountered.
 
In material terms, the liturgical tradition of the Christian Church combined the sacred and the sensory through elaborate rituals which engage all five senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Painted images and liturgical objects of Christian faith were instrumental in bringing into contact the faithful with the divine: mosaics, frescoes, and icons depicted Christ, the Virgin and the saints in church decoration; holy relics were venerated across the East and West, while chants were an integral part of the liturgy.
 
However, hagiographical texts attest that these seemingly static images or inanimate artefacts generated reciprocal actions, which engaged the whole array of senses. In fact, images and objects were thought of as living entities, capable of performance and interaction with the devotees through bodily senses: frescoes, icons, and relics were believed to have miracle-working powers so they were not only seen but also touched and even tasted; candles and lamps, perfumed oil and incense also involved touching and smelling; painted inscriptions may have been recited or even chanted.
 
The multi-sensory impact of images and objects on medieval Christian faith has certainly been explored in recent scholarship though not exhaustively. The ambition of this session is to host the latest research on the topic and re-ignite the discussion of experiencing the divine in a holistic way. It invites papers comparing and contrasting the multi-sensory approaches to holiness both in the East and West. In addition to vision, it will seek illustrative examples of a multi-sensory nature which place frescoes, icons, relics and inscriptions in the center of a synesthetic religious experience both in Eastern and the Western Christianity. Participants are expected to address the sensual perception of religious objects and reveal the intersection of the bodily and spiritual, the physical and intellectual, and ultimately the human and divine aspect of medieval religiosity.
 
Delivery Mode:
In-Person (The ICMA offers travel subventions for the participants in this session; see below)
 
Keywords:
Vision; Senses; History of the Senses; Medieval Senses; Sensory Studies; Art and the Five Senses; Anthropology of the Senses; Medieval Visual Culture; Medieval Religious Practice; Medieval Spaces; Medieval Saints’ Cult; Medieval Material Culture; Medieval Devotional Culture; Medieval Spirituality; Culture and Cognition.
 
Note:
Speakers must be ICMA members at the time of the conference.
 

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A NOTE ABOUT KRESS TRAVEL GRANTS

Thanks to a generous grant from the Kress Foundation, funds may be available to defray travel costs of speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions up to a maximum of $600 for domestic travel and of $1200 for overseas travel. If available, the Kress funds are allocated for travel and hotel only. Speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions will be refunded only after the conference, against travel receipts.  In addition to speakers, session organizers delivering papers as an integral part of the session (i.e. with a specific title listed in the program) are now also eligible to receive travel funding. 

Click here for more information.

ICMA in Milwaukee on Saturday 12 October 2024: Tour of "Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives" + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

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

Saturday 12 October 2024
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

ICMA at the Forum Kunst Des Mittelalters on Friday 27 September 2024: Sponsored Session + Reception

ICMA at the Forum Kunst Des Mittelalters
“Shining with Truth”: Silver as Material and Medium

Ortenberg Altar (detail), ca. 1420, Middle Rhine (Mainz?)
Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, GK 4

ICMA Sponsored Session
Friday 27 September 2024
14:30 - 16:00
Location: Uni-Hauptgebäude, Fürstengraben 1, Senatssaal

Organized by Joseph Salvatore Ackley & Joshua O’Driscoll

Adrien Palladino
Silver as Social Alchemy: Saints, Symbolic Exchange, and Religious Mutations in Late Antiquity

Rowanne Dean
Silver-G(u)ild: Late Medieval French Confraternity Treasure Reconsidered

Milan Matejka
Shades of Silver, Grisaille Gleam: Materiality, Meaning, and Religious Discourse in the 15th-Century Holy Roman Empire

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Closing Reception

Friday 27 September 2024
19:00
Location: Uni-Hauptgebäude, Fürstengraben 1, Aula

Remarks by Ralph Gleis, President of Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, Svea Janzen, and Juliane von Fircks

Official opening of the exhibition Glanz, Licht, Arbeit, Symbol. Eine kleine Kulturgeschichte des Glases

Reception to follow sponsored by the ICMA

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Medieval Coming Attractions, 2024-25: Thursday 12 September 2024 at 12pm ET (18:00 CET), online. Register today!

Medieval Coming Attractions, 2024-25
An online event presented by the Friends of the ICMA

Thursday 12 September 2024
12pm ET (18:00 CET)

Register HERE

Please join the Friends of the ICMA for the latest in a series of special online events on Thursday 12 September 2024 at 12:00pm ET (18:00 CET). The hour-long program will preview three medieval exhibitions, each introduced by its curator.

Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 (13 October 2024– 26 January 2025; The Metropolitan Museum of Art), curated by Stephan Wolohojian, examines an exceptional moment at the dawn of the Renaissance and the pivotal role of Sienese artists—including Duccio, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini—in defining Western painting. While Florence is often positioned as the center of the Renaissance, this presentation offers a fresh perspective on the importance of Siena, from Duccio’s profound influence on a new generation of painters to the development of narrative altarpieces and the dissemination of artistic styles beyond Italy.  Drawing on the collections of The Met and the National Gallery, London, as well as rare loans from dozens of other major lenders, the exhibition includes over 100 works (paintings, sculptures, metalwork, and textiles) ranging from large works for public display to intimate objects for private devotion.

Silk Roads (26 September 2024 – 23 February 2025; The British Museum), co-curated by Sue Brunning, departs from the popular, romanticised image of camel caravans crossing deserts, trading silk and spices from Asia to Europe. Drawing on recent research and scientific analysis, it explores the sprawling networks that connected Asia, Africa and Europe, focusing on a defining period between c. 500 to 1000 CE. Their arteries ran in all directions by land, sea and river, carrying people, objects and ideas which were exchanged in many contexts besides trade. Magnificent worldwide loans will join objects from the Museum’s collection, providing an unmissable opportunity to see treasures from the length and breadth of the Silk Roads in one room, in conversation with each other. The exhibition is the first in the Museum’s history to have a team of curators from different specialisms, collaborating with each other and their intellectual networks.

Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World (7 September 2024–5 January 2025; San Diego Museum of Art), curated by Ladan Akbarnia, explores intersections of art and science in Islamic intellectual and visual culture from the 8th century to the present, using the lens of “wonder” as defined by an influential 13th-century Islamic cosmography. Written in Arabic and Persian by Zakariyya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini, The Wonders of Creation and Rarities of Existence catalogues the marvels of the universe in a single, richly illustrated book. Over 200 works, including manuscripts, astrolabes, magic bowls, luster dishes, architectural elements, and contemporary art, evoke sentiments of wonder inspired by the text. Following the cosmography’s framework through the celestial and terrestrial realms, topics such as astronomy, astrology, natural history, alchemy, medicine, and geometry are explored through objects from Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East to Central, South, and Southeast Asia and the modern diaspora.

The panel will be introduced and moderated by Leslie Bussis Tait, Chair of the Friends of the ICMA.

Please feel free to notify colleagues and friends who may not be ICMA members about this event. 

For questions, please contact icma@medievalart.org

Register HERE
 

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Images (left to right):
(1) Duccio di Buoninsegna, Madonna and Child, Tempera and gold on wood, ca. 1290-1300. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.442.   (2)  Cross-shaped brooch with Islamic seal, Ballycotton, Ireland, late 8th-early 9th century.© Trustees of the British Museum.   (3) Alexander questions the philosopher, physician, and the goblet, folio possibly from a manuscript of the Khamseh (Quintet) of Nizami. Mughal India, ca. 1610. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. The San Diego Museum of Art, Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990.328.

Call for Papers: ICMA Sponsored Session at ICMS Kalamazoo 2025, due 15 September 2024

Call for Papers
ICMA Sponsored Session at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo 2025

Images of Dancing Women in the Middle Ages: Joy and Sorrow 
due Sunday 15 September 2024

Organizer:
Licia Buttà, Rovira i Virgili University licia.butta@urv.cat

This session focuses on the close relationship that has been established since antiquity between the female body and choreographic movements. The iconography of dance has gained increasing ground in studies on the Middle Ages. Since the pioneering work of musicologist Tilman Seebass and art historian Jonathan J.G. Alexander, it has been clear that dance images, like the texts describing choreographic performances, are an exceptional means to deal with the history of the conception of the body and the centrality of religious and secular rituals, as well as a vehicle for interpreting exegetical approaches
to sacred texts. Whatever the dance scenario, the importance of the dancing female body is evident both in the sacred sphere, with dance and celestial choruses of exaltation and praise to God, and in the imagination that stages idolatry, diabolical rites, or the perverse use of the body in earthly performances.

The tale of the young Muse, who converts the wholly worldly joy of dance into a prayer, becoming part of the choir of saints following the Virgin, or the dance of uncontainable joy of Miriam, sister of Moses, who celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea, are just two examples in which the joy that springs from movement deeply modifies the scenario and the protagonists of the narrative. In many medieval exempla, female dance turns into pain and suffering at the exact moment at which the female body is possessed by the devil. Literary, allegorical, and even historical dancing women reflect the medieval conception of the body and embody the dichotomy of joy and sorrow, which is expressed in the narrative capacity of gestures. Through the study of the representations of dance, the aim of this session is to investigate the emotions linked to choreographic narratives. The objects of study could include the enjoyment of the celestial dance and its earthly mirror: the courtly dance, narratives of death and diabolical torments, ecstasy and possessions. Allegorical-courtly literature offers countless examples of dances of joy, as in the Roman de la Rose. Moreover, Islamic and Sasanian art left traces of the importance of dance in court ceremonials, as well as rituals, as in the case of the frescoes of Qusayr Amra or the several Sasanian silver bowls and ewers. In the production of material culture, objects also introduce the tactile dimension, in addition to sight and hearing, as the choreomusical scenes depicted on a plate, a jar or a gemellion were observed but also manipulated, understood and experienced in accordance with the rites in which they were displayed.
  
This session seeks to investigate the emotions generated by dance and music both in the performer and in those who observe the dance. The proposal is developed in the field of cultural history and the visual culture of dance in medieval Europe, Byzantium, Islam and beyond, and aims to provide a new vision of the role of the woman as dancing body, as a key element for investigating the history of emotions in the Middle Ages. The session will focus on approaches that take into account a methodology of image analysis with an anthropological and sociological dimension.

Delivery Mode:
In-Person (The ICMA offers small travel subventions for the participants in this session)

keyword:
Biblical Studies, Cultural History, History of Emotions, Iconography of Dance, Medieval Performance and Medieval Visual Culture

Proposals for papers will be accepted through September 15 and need to be submitted at: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6333

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A NOTE ABOUT KRESS TRAVEL GRANTS

Thanks to a generous grant from the Kress Foundation, funds may be available to defray travel costs of speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions up to a maximum of $600 for domestic travel and of $1200 for overseas travel. If available, the Kress funds are allocated for travel and hotel only. Speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions will be refunded only after the conference, against travel receipts.  In addition to speakers, session organizers delivering papers as an integral part of the session (i.e. with a specific title listed in the program) are now also eligible to receive travel funding. 

Click here for more information.

Call for applications: Editorial Assistant to Gesta, due Tuesday 3 September 2024

Call for applications
Editorial Assistant to Gesta
due Tuesday 3 September 2024, 5:00pm ET

The International Center of Medieval Art (“the ICMA”) seeks to retain an independent contractor for a position as Editorial Assistant to Gesta, the ICMA’s peer-reviewed journal.
 
The ICMA is a non-profit organization that promotes and supports the study, understanding, and preservation of visual and material cultures produced primarily between ca. 300 CE and ca. 1500 CE in every corner of the medieval world. Our journal, Gesta, is published by the University of Chicago Press and features articles on all facets of medieval artistic production. The Gesta Editors aim to showcase the most creative and rigorous research in the field.
 
The position of Editorial Assistant to Gesta entails working approximately 20 hours per month, supporting the Editors’ work by reviewing image permissions, carrying out tasks involving the University of Chicago Press’s Editorial Manager platform, and checking references in footnotes. The number of hours will vary from week to week, so applicants need to have flexible availability. 
 
Applicants must hold or be pursuing a PhD in medieval art history, be eligible to work in the United States, and currently be without full-time employment that would impede their ability to dedicate the necessary time to this position. The Editorial Assistant will work remotely, but must be available for correspondence and meetings during regular business hours with the Editors.
 
Please email to gesta@medievalart.org a CV and letter of interest (no more than two pages, single-spaced), describing: (1) your research expertise and experience; (2) your facility in learning digital platforms; and (3) your past experience in activities related to publishing (which can include work as a research assistant to an author). The CV must include the contact information for your references. No letters of recommendation are required; the committee reviewing applications will contact references.
 
The International Center of Medieval Art is a 501(c)(3) organization whose Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Committee members, Associates, and other officers work volunteer. For information on the ICMA, please visit www.medievalart.org
 
Deadline for applications: Tuesday 3 September 2024, 5:00pm ET
Compensation: $25/hour, 20 hours per month. No fringe benefits.

Send CV and letter of interest to gesta@medievalart.org.

Don’t Forget about ICMA Resources as you Look Ahead to the New Academic Year!

Recognizing that we are nearing the part of summer in which people begin to work in earnest on syllabi for the coming academic year, we wanted to remind you of the wealth of material available on the ICMA website.

Located under RESOURCES, you may find these sections particularly helpful:

First, the “Bibliographies and Teaching Resources” section includes a number of items that are particularly useful when planning your classes. These include:

• Digital Resources for Teaching Medieval Art History

• Bibliography for Teaching a Global Middle Ages

• A bibliography for Global Premodern Women Artists and Patrons

Second, in the “Lectures” section, you’ll find an array of videos which may provide you with inspiration and activities for your courses. These include recordings of recent iterations of the ICMA at the Courtauld Lectures; the inaugural IDEA lecture delivered by Nancy Wu; several of our “Mining the Collection” events examining museum holdings; and a number of other terrific online lectures and conference sessions presenting new scholarship and offering advice on pedagogical and ethical issues in our field.

Third, under the “Community” heading, you’ll see a link to “The ICMA Colleague Connection,” which can connect you to our network of experts in every facet of our field (and if you haven’t already done so, please consider adding your name to the list!).

Fourth, if you're curious about the history of our organization and the field in general, be sure to listen to episodes in the ICMA Oral History Project.

Finally, as you also consider opportunities to develop your scholarship in the months to come, be sure to have a look at our just-published Summer Newsletter, and the Calendar on the ICMA home page, which both list many calls for papers, grant opportunities, conferences, and so on.

ICMA News, Summer 2024 now available online

ICMA News               

Summer 2024
Melanie Hanan, Editor

Click here to read.
Also available on www.medievalart.org

INSIDE

Commemorations
William G. Noel, 1965–2024 22


Special Features

More Public Medievalists, Please!, By David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele

The Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database, 2009–2024, By Caroline Bruzelius


Exhibition Reports 

Blood: Medieval/Modern, By Bryan C. Keene

Art of Enterprise: Israhel van Meckenem’s 15th-Century Print Workshop, By Raenelda Rivera

Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting, By Leila Al-Shibibi


Events and Opportunities

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The deadline for the next issue of ICMA News is 15 October 2024. Please send information to newsletter@medievalart.org 

If you would like your upcoming conference, CFP, or exhibition included in the newsletter please email the information to EventsExhibitions@medievalart.org.

STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT - DUE MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024

STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT
DUE MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024, 11:59PM ET

This grant of $500 is intended to encourage an early-stage graduate student (someone enrolled in a post-baccalaureate graduate program, who may have received a MA or MPhil, or who is otherwise pre-ABD) to pursue research on cross-cultural visual connections involving art produced in parts of the medieval world that until recently have been studied separately. To be eligible, applicants must be involved in research on the connections between art of at least two of the following broadly-defined regions:  

• Africa

• Asia

• Europe and Byzantium

• North Africa, the Middle East, and the Near East

Funds awarded could be used to defray expenses of attending or presenting at a conference or visiting a museum, archive, or site. Applicants must be members of the ICMA (information on memberships can be found here).
 
We are grateful to Robert E. Jamison, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Clemson University, for underwriting this grant. The grant recipient is to send their winning application directly to Robert E. Jamison as soon as the award is announced.

The deadline for submission is MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024, 11:59pm ET.  The winners will be announced at the Fall Board Meeting. Recipients will be asked to forward their winning application to Robert E. Jamison.

 
Applicants must submit: 

1. Description of the project to be undertaken, in 400 words or less.

2. Proposed budget.  Please be precise and realistic: if the budget exceeds $500, state how you will cover the remaining portion of the cost.

3. A curriculum vitae.            

NOTE ON FILE SUBMISSION: Please submit PDF files when appropriate with the file named as LAST NAME first, then the item. Example: SMITHdescription.pdf, SMITHbudget.pdf, SMITHcv.pdf

All applicants must be ICMA members.
All submissions are to be uploaded HERE.


A parallel grant is available via The Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Technology, Science, and Art (AVISTA).  Students may apply for both the ICMA and the AVISTA grants but would be eligible to receive only one of the awards. 

Email questions to Ryan Frisinger at awards@medievalart.org. The winning application will be chosen by members of the ICMA Grants and Awards Committee, which is chaired by our Vice-President.

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Map of the world; with windfaces along upper and lower edge; stencil-coloured illustration to Ptolemy, 'Cosmographia', Ulm: Leonhard Holl, 1482. Coloured woodcut. © The Trustees of the British Museum Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Call for Proposals - International Medieval Congress Leeds 2025, due Thursday 8 August 2024

Call for Proposals
International Medieval Congress 2025
Leeds, United Kingdom; 7-10 July 2025
due THURSDAY 8 AUGUST 2024

The International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) seeks proposals for sessions to be held under the organization’s sponsorship in 2025 at the International Medieval Congress (IMC) at Leeds, England.  

While session proposals on any topic related to the art of the Middle Ages are welcome, the IMC also chooses a theme for each conference. In 2025 the theme is “Worlds of Learning.”  For more information on the Leeds 2025 congress and theme, see:  https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2025/

Session organizers and speakers must be ICMA members at the time of the conference. Proposals must include a session abstract, and a list of speakers, as one single Doc or PDF with the organizer’s name in the title, and a CV, again as a Doc or PDF with the organizer’s name in the title.

Upload your proposals HERE by Thursday 8 August 2024.

Please direct all inquiries to the Chair of the Programs Committee: Alice I. Sullivan, Tufts University, USA, alice.sullivan@tufts.edu 

The ICMA Programs and Lectures committee will select a session to sponsor and will notify the successful organizer(s) in mid-August. The organizer(s) will then submit the ICMA-sponsored proposal to the IMC.

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A note about Kress Travel Grants

Thanks to a generous grant from the Kress Foundation, funds may be available to defray travel costs of speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions up to a maximum of $600 for domestic travel and of $1200 for overseas travel. If available, the Kress funds are allocated for travel and hotel only. Speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions will be refunded only after the conference, against travel receipts.  In addition to speakers, session organizers delivering papers as an integral part of the session (i.e. with a specific title listed in the program) are now also eligible to receive travel funding. 

Click here for more information.

ICMA-Kress Research and Publication Grants, due 2 September 2024

The Kress Foundation is again generously supporting five research and publication grants to be administered by the ICMA. This year, grants are $3,500 each and ICMA members at any stage past the PhD are eligible to apply.

The deadline for the 2024 grant cycle is MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024.
Upload materials HERE.

ELIGIBILITY
The ICMA-Kress Research and Publication grants ($3,500) are now available to scholars who are ICMA members at any stage past the PhD.

With the field of medieval art history expanding in exciting ways, it is crucial that the ICMA continue to encourage innovative research that will bring new investigations to broad audiences. These grants are open to scholars at all phases of their careers. Priority will be given to proposals with a clear path toward publication.

If travel is a facet of your application, please include an itinerary and be specific about costs for all anticipated expenses (travel, lodging, per diem, and other details). If you aim to inspect extremely rare materials or sites with restricted access, please be as clear as possible about prior experience or contacts already made with custodians.

If your application is for funds that will support the production of a book, please include a copy of the contract from your publisher, the publisher’s request for a subvention, and/or specifics on costs for images and permissions.

Preference will be given to applicants who have not received an ICMA-Kress grant in the past.

Please submit these documents for your application:

1) A detailed overview of the project (no more than three pages, single spaced). Please also confirm that your ICMA membership is active and specify whether or not you have been awarded an ICMA-Kress grant previously.

2) A full cv.

3) A full budget.

4) Supporting materials – an itinerary (for applications involving travel), a contract and schedule of costs (if a press requires a subvention), or table of anticipated fees for image permissions (if applicable).

Please note: If you are applying for funds to support the production of a book, please do not upload the entire typescript or portions of the text.

The application should be submitted electronically HERE. Recipients will be notified in November 2024.

Questions can be addressed to Ryan Frisinger, Executive Director, at awards@medievalart.org.

Failure to include all required materials adversely affects the review process.

ICMA at the International Medieval Congress, Leeds: Sponsored Session and Reception, Monday 1 July 2024

ICMA Sponsored Session
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
Afterlives and Legacies: Interventions in Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts
Monday 1 July 2024, 11:15-12:45

ICMA Reception 
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
The Dry Dock
Monday 1 July 2024, 19:00-21:30
All are welcome! Invite a colleague! 

ICMA Sponsored Session
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
Afterlives and Legacies: Interventions in Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts
Monday 1 July 2024, 11:15am-12:45pm

Session 102
Esther Simpson Building, Room 1.08

From Ashkenaz to Italy: The Giant Masoretic Bible in the Berio Civic Library of Genoa
Ilona Steimann, Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg

Andalusi Prestige and Magical Migration: The Ritual and Diasporic Legacy of the Sefer Ahavat 
Sara Gardner, Department of Spanish & Portuguese Studies, University of Minnesota

Reimagining Visual Narratives: Interventions in Illustrations of Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts
Sivan Gottlieb, Departamento de Estudios Semíticos, Universidad de Granada


Organized by 
Laura Feigen, History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Reed O'Mara, Department of Art History & Art, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio

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ICMA Reception 
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
The Dry Dock
Monday 1 July 2024, 19:00-21:30

Student Meet and Greet, 18:30
Reception, 19:00

All are welcome! Invite a colleague! 


Join fellow ICMA members for a special off-site reception at The Dry Dock on Monday 1 July 2024 from 19:00-21:30. Students are invited to join early at 18:30 to meet other student colleagues. Complimentary drinks and small bites will be provided. 

The Dry Dock is about a 10 minute walk from the University of Leeds campus, en route to central Leeds. 

The Dry Dock
Woodhouse Lane
Leeds LS2 3AX

https://www.crafted-social.co.uk/dry-dock-leeds

Workshop on pedagogy: Teaching medieval art and “controversial” images, Wednesday 29 May 2024 - REGISTER TODAY!

Workshop on pedagogy: Teaching medieval art and “controversial” images 
Wednesday 29 May 2024, 1pm-3pm ET
Online
Register HERE

The IDEA Committee invites ICMA members to an online workshop on pedagogy on May 29, 1:00 PM–3:00 PM, Eastern Time
 
The ICMA accommodates a broad range of approaches to medieval art as well as an array of specializations. While some community members work in environments that are hostile to teaching about inclusion, equity, diversity, and accessibility, others may be concerned about saying something “wrong” if they do engage such issues. Given the challenges of teaching medieval art in an era of social and political upheaval, this workshop seeks to provide a supportive and open setting for probing such questions as:

• How do we discuss medieval attitudes and negative stereotyping without merely condemning them for failing to achieve our own “enlightened” standards?

• How do we contextualize medieval bigotry, racializing, and othering without appearing to justify them?

• How do we establish the importance of studying these images when some students feel they should be dismissed or “cancelled” because they express ugly ideas or create discomfort?

The workshop will provide opportunities for you to share teaching strategies, reflect on the 2023–23 academic year, and brainstorm about the future.

Register HERE