Earth Day Lecture at The Met Cloisters—Taming Medieval Nature, The MET Cloisters, Fuentidueña Chapel, 20 April 2024, 2:00-3:00PM

Earth Day Lecture at The Met Cloisters—Taming Medieval Nature

The MET Cloisters, Fuentidueña Chapel

20 April 2024, 2:00-3:00PM

Gregory Bryda, Assistant Professor, Art History, Barnard College
Shirin Fozi, Paul and Jill Ruddock Associate Curator, Department of Medieval Art, The Met Cloisters

Trees are not only a material resource for the making of art, but a potent symbol in Christian iconographies of the Late Middle Ages. Join medieval scholar Gregory Bryda and Met curator Shirin Fozi for a conversation on the significance of trees and their role in the economy, religious devotional practice, and environmental politics of late medieval Germany.

Presented in observance of Earth Day.

Free with Museum admission, though advance registration is required. Please note: Space is limited; first come, first served.

For more information and to reserve tickets, https://engage.metmuseum.org/events/education/talks/cloisters/free-talks/fy24/earth-day-lecture-cloisters/

The Murray Seminars at Birbeck: Not Quite 3D: Representing Architecture in the Early Middle Ages, Karl Kinsella, 20 March 2023 6:30-8:00PM GMT/2:30-4:00PM ET (In-Person & Online)

The Murray Seminars at Birbeck

Not Quite 3D: Representing Architecture in the Early Middle Ages

Karl Kinsella

Birkbeck, School of Historical Studies

43, Gordon Sq. Room 114, The Keynes Library, London WC1H 0PD, UK

20 March 2023, 6:30-8:00PM GMT/2:30-4:00PM ET

(In-Person and Online)

A research seminar considering a 5th-Century mosaic of the Holy Sepulchre and f early strategies of architectural representation.

Karl Kinsella relates that in 1971 in Bordeaux, a mosaic showing a plan and elevation was uncovered during a flurry of archaeological excavation. The mosaic was likely made in the fifth century and shows the Holy Sepulchre's rotunda and basilica in stark black tiles set against plain white plaster. We are left with the impression of a diagram writ large (2m in height). The early date of the mosaic is surprising, and suggests that diagrams of the Holy Sepulchre were transmitted around Europe not long after the buildings were completed in the fourth century. This talk considers what the mosaic can tell us about the early development of architectural representation and the strategies needed to understand the complex figures they present to the modern reader. These strategies can offer insights into the evolution of architectural representation over the course of the early Middle Ages.

In-person and live-streamed versions are posted separately on Eventbrite. Please book for one only.

To register to attend in-person, click here.

To register to attend online, click here.

Call for Papers: Embodied Preaching: Multisensorial Preaching Performances in Medieval Europe, Padua (24-25 October 2024), Due 5 April 2024

Call for Papers

Embodied Preaching: Multisensorial Preaching Performances in Medieval Europe

Padua, 24-25 October 2024

Organized by Zuleika Murat, Pieter Boonstra and Micol Long

deadline 5 April 2024

The crucial importance of preaching in medieval Europe has long been acknowledged, not only for religious culture, but also for cultural, political and social history, art history and history of material culture. An interconnected pan-European phenomenon, to be effective preaching needed to be at the same time tailored to local tastes and conventions, shaping the message to the circumstances at hand. With the term “preaching” we understand the public performance of a speech believed to be divinely inspired and meant for religious and moral education. Most importantly, medieval preaching was not the static transfer of a text from preacher to audience: rather, it was an inherently dynamic and interactive activity, involving multiple actors through time and space, communicating religious knowledge within embodied and spatialized networks. The conference will focus on the multisensorial dimension of preaching, which goes beyond the content and style of the textual sermon, to include the personal appearance of the preacher, their voice and gestures (the “embodied” dimension), the material environment in which the preaching took place (the “embedded” dimension) and the use of “special effects” (such as sounds or fire) and objects as an integral part of the performance.

The role played by the material environment in which the preaching took place has received little attention, and mostly with reference to memory (Carruthers 1998, Bolzoni 2002). It has been pointed out that some late medieval religious leaders (such as Bernardino of Siena) referred in their speeches to specific elements of the material environment in which they were preaching (for example, artworks), presumably to help keep awake the attention of the audience and to “anchor” the teaching to material elements which could be seen by individuals on a daily basis. However, much remains to be done to understand whether and to what extent the specific material environment affected the overall experience of preaching (open vs closed space, specific environments such as churches, saint’s tombs, graveyards, squares and so on). Preachers operated amidst a visual network of objects and spaces, against a background of paintings, sculptures, and other images present within the same space where they performed, giving opportunity for the sermon to connect, contrast, or compete for attention. This also raises the question to what extent preachers adapted their preaching to the particular environment and planned the setting in which the preaching had to take place.

A further element that deserves to be considered is that, as an act of communication, preaching was not a one-way interaction: the audience, through their attitude, verbal and non-verbal reactions to the preaching played an active role which affected the experience both of the individuals gathered to listen and of the preacher. Based on this, we propose to approach preaching an interactive performance where multiple actors and multiple elements played a role. For this purpose, we will approach audiences using the notion of “socio-sensory environment”, and assuming the existence of specific sensoria depending on social, cultural and geographical factors. Preaching relied on the various senses to be properly understood and make a lasting impact: the oral and aural performance of the sermon took place within a visually accessible space, with the preacher using both voice and body (gestures, facial expressions) to convey a message. From the sermon text, listeners are often invited to fully employ their senses as well and to imagine themselves present at religiously significant moments: to see the scene before their eyes, to hear what was occurring, to smell, taste, and feel, their internal or imaginary senses giving rise for meditation and devotion. Meanwhile, the experiences of pleasant or unpleasant smells or feelings of cold, heat, or discomfort can also be investigated from a sensory perspective.

With a primary focus on Western Europe from the 12th to the 15th century, this conference aims to explore preaching in an innovative and holistic way, by considering the multisensorial dimension of the transmission and reception of the word of God in whichever form, verbal or non-verbal. By emphasising the range of activities aimed at communicating religious knowledge and devotional practice, and the multisensorial nature of such activities, this conference will explore new aspects of the multifaceted experience of medieval preaching.

We welcome abstracts for 20-minute papers in English. Scholars may address the topic with a broad approach but always considering the role of all the senses in the performance and reception of preaching. Paper topics may include, but are by no means limited to:

• The role played by objects in the experience of preaching: for example objects and artworks used by preachers, devotional or practical items or other objects, such as hand warmers, used by the audience

• Unconventional ways of preaching reliant on the senses, for example through music or theatrical performances

• The role played by the senses in the experience of preaching, including smell, taste, and the interior senses (such as thermoception or proprioception)

• The link between preaching and art or architecture, including when preaching outside of the church

• How preaching was experienced differently by different audiences, including audience responses and interactions during preaching

• Sermons or preaching that encompass discussions of physicality, embodiment, or materiality

Please send a title and abstract of no longer than 300 words, together with a short CV and personal data (max. 300 words), to the following emails: zuleika.murat@unipd.it; pieterhendrik.boonstra@unipd.it; micol.long@unipd.it

The language of the conference is English.

Deadline: 5 April 2024. Notifications of acceptance will be given by 26 April 2024.

Selected papers will be invited for publication in a collective volume.

This conference is organised by the ERC research project SenSArt – The Sensuous Appeal of the Holy. Sensory Agency of Sacred Art and Somatised Spiritual Experiences in Medieval Europe (12th-15th century), Grant Agreement nr. 950248, PI Zuleika Murat, Università degli Studi di Padova (https://sensartproject.eu/).

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

For more information, click here.

STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT - DUE SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024

STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT
DUE SUNDAY 7 APRIL 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 7 APRIL 2024, 10am ET.  The winners will be announced at the Spring Board Meeting in May. 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.

ICMA GRADUATE STUDENT ESSAY AWARD - DUE SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024

GRADUATE STUDENT ESSAY AWARDS
DUE SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024, 11:59 PM ET

The International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) wishes to announce its annual Graduate Student Essay Award for the best essay by a student member of the ICMA.  The theme or subject of the essay may be any aspect of medieval art, and can be drawn from current research.  Eligible essays must be produced while a student is in coursework.  The work must be original and should not have been published elsewhere.  We are pleased to offer First Prize ($400), Second Prize ($200), and Third Prize ($100).

We are grateful to an anonymous donor for underwriting the Student Essay Award competition. This member particularly encourages submissions that consider themes of intercultural contact — for instance, between Latin Christendom and the Byzantine realm; among Jews, Muslims, and Christians; or the dynamics of encounters connecting Europe, Africa, and Asia. These are not requirements, however, and the awards will be granted based on quality of the papers, regardless of topic.

The deadline for submission is SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024, 11:59pm ET. The winners will be announced at the Spring Board Meeting in May. Recipients will be asked to forward their winning essay to the donor that underwrites the Student Essay Award competition.

Applicants must submit:

1. An article-length paper (maximum 30 pages, double-spaced, not including footnotes) following the editorial guidelines of our journal Gesta. A title page with essay title, author name, contact information, and affiliation must be included.

2. Each submission must also include a 250-word abstract written in English regardless of the language of the rest of the paper.

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: SMITHabstract.pdf, SMITHessay.pdf, SMITHcv.pdf

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

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

ICMA STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS - DUE SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024

STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS
DUE SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024, 11:59PM ET

Applicants submit materials HERE.
Thesis advisor submit letter of recommendation HERE.

The ICMA offers grants for graduate students in the early stages of their dissertation research, enabling beginning scholars to carry out foundational investigations at archives and sites. Winners will be granted $3,000, and if needed, officers of the ICMA will contact institutions and individuals who can help the awardees gain access to relevant material. Three grants are awarded per year, and they are designed to cover one month of travel. 

The grants are primarily for students who have finished preliminary exams, and are in the process of refining dissertation topics. Students who have already submitted a proposal, but are still very early on in the process of their research, may also apply.  

All applicants must be ICMA members.

Applicants must submit:

1. Outline of the thesis proposal in 800 words or less.

2. Detailed outline of exactly which sites and/or archives are to be visited, which works will be consulted, and how this research relates to the proposed thesis topic. If you hope to see extremely rare materials or sites with restricted access, please be as clear as possible about contacts with custodians already made.

3. Proposed budget (airfare, lodging, other travel, per diem). Please be precise and realistic. The total need not add up to $3,000 precisely. The goal is for reviewers to see how you will handle the expenses.

4. Letter from the thesis advisor, clarifying the student’s preparedness for the research, the significance of the topic, and the relevance of the trip to the thesis.

5. A curriculum vitae.                  

Upon return, the student will be required to submit a letter and financial report to the ICMA and a narrative to the student section of the Newsletter.

Applications are due by SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024, 11:59pm ET. The ICMA will announce the winners of the three grants at the Spring Board Meeting in May.

NOTES ON FILE SUBMISSION: Please upload PDFs when possible (.jpg, .png also accepted) with the file named as LAST NAME first, then the item. Example: SMITHcv.pdf, SMITHbudget.pdf, SMITHthesis.pdf, etc.

Similarly, please notify the thesis advisor to name the file as STUDENT LAST NAME first, then the item. Example: SMITHletter.pdf

Applicants submit materials HERE.
Thesis advisor submit letter of recommendation HERE.

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

ICMA-KRESS EXHIBITION DEVELOPMENT GRANT, DUE SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024

ICMA-KRESS EXHIBITION DEVELOPMENT GRANT
Deadline for applications: Sunday 7 APRIL 2024, 11:59pm ET

Upload materials HERE

Thanks to the generosity of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, ICMA members are eligible to apply for an ICMA-Kress Exhibition Development Grant of $5,000 to support research and/or interpretive programming for a major exhibition at an institution that otherwise could not provide such financial support. Members from all geographic areas are welcome to apply.

As an organization, the ICMA encourages scholars to think expansively, exploring art and society in “every corner of the medieval world,” as characterized in our mission statement. With this grant, we hope to encourage colleagues to develop innovative exhibition themes or bring little-known objects before new audiences. We also aim to enhance the impact of exhibitions by supporting related lectures or symposia.

ICMA-Kress Exhibition Development Grant can be used to fund travel in the research and preparation stages of an exhibition and/or to underwrite public programming once a show is installed. This grant is designed to assist with an exhibition already in the pipeline and scheduled by the host museum.

We ask applicants to upload to the ICMA submission site:

• Applicant’s cv

• Description of the exhibition and its goals, including an overview of the structure of the exhibition – themes and estimated number of objects in each section of the show – and dates of the exhibition

• Statement of other sources of funding both secured and provisional, with specifics on the amounts already awarded and expenses to be covered by secured and provisional funding

• Sample wall panel for a subsection of the exhibition and sample labels for 3-4 examples of works in the show

• If the applicant seeks funds to travel to see objects for inclusion in the exhibition, a list of institutions to be visited, names of contacts at each, and key objects (with accession numbers) to be inspected

• If the applicant seeks funds for exhibition programming, specific information on gallery talks, public lectures, or symposium, with anticipated names of speakers and estimated dates

• Letter of support from the Museum Director or Curator with whom the applicant is working, confirming that the exhibition will be mounted

• If funds will be used toward a lecture or symposium connected to an exhibition, letter of support from institutional administrator/s (Dean, Provost, or Museum/Gallery Director) confirming that space at the organizer’s institution will be made available for the event/s

Applications will be reviewed by the ICMA Grants & Awards Committee and approved by the ICMA Executive Committee. The recipient will be announced in May 2024. An update report from the recipient will be due in late Summer 2024.

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

Upload materials HERE

4th Annual Helen Damico Memorial Lecture Series/38th Spring Lecture Series: The Middle Ages on Screen, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 15-18 April 2024, 5:30 PM

4th Annual Helen Damico Memorial Lecture Series

38th Spring Lecture Series

The Middle Ages on Screen

15-18 April 2024, 5:30 PM Each Night

Institute for Medieval Studies, College of Arts & Sciences, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

"The Middle Ages on Screen" the 4th Annual Helen Damico Memorial Lecture Series and the 38th Spring Lecture Series hosted by UNM’s Institute for Medieval Studies, will offer a compelling four-day event that will span the fields of Art History, Literature, History, and Contemporary Media, Art, and Culture. It will be taking place April 15-18, 2024 in Woodward Hall 101 each evening beginning at 5:30 pm.  For the most convenient parking, we suggest the Cornell Structure or the meter parking in Lot A.

More information about the lecture Series will be available here and here.

In Focus Gallery Talk at the Barnes Foundation: Medieval French Artist’s Circumcision, Elliot Mackin, 8 April 2024, 3:00-3:30PM

In Focus Gallery Talk

Medieval French Artist’s Circumcision

Elliot Mackin

Monday, 8 April 2024, 3:00-3:30pm

Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Unidentified artist, probably French. Circumcision (detail), 15th century. BF869. Public Domain. https://www.barnesfoundation.org/whats-on/talks/gallery-talk-april-2024

Elliot Mackin, a doctoral candidate in the history of art at the University of Pennsylvania, leads an in-depth discussion about the medieval painting Circumcision. The talk takes place in Room 4.

In Focus Gallery Talks are 30-minute discussions held in the Barnes collection galleries presented in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s history of art graduate program. In Focus talks provide new interpretative approaches and intensive focus on individual works in the collection.

Mackin is a doctoral candidate in the history of art at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently writing his dissertation, “Seeing Christ Queerly: Beauty, Power, and the Passion of Christ in Byzantine Art.” Mackin‘s In Focus talks look at medieval art in the Barnes collection and explore issues of gender, sexuality, race, religion, and power.

For more information about the event, click here.

Renaissance and Early Modern Studies Lecture: On Albrecht Dürer: A Public Conversation, Susan Dackerman & Ulinka Rublack, Princeton University, 22 April 2024 4:30-6:00PM

Renaissance and Early Modern Studies lecture

On Albrecht Dürer: A Public Conversation

Susan Dackerman & Ulinka Rublack

Mon, 22 April 2024 · 4:30 pm—6:00 pm

010 East Pyne, Princeton University, New Jersey

Join us for a public conversation between these two early modern historians as they discuss their shared subject.

Susan Dackerman is the author of the forthcoming Dürer’s Knots: Early European Print and the Islamic East (Princeton University Press, Sept. 2024).

Ulinka Rublack is the author of Dürer’s Lost Masterpiece: Art and Society at the Dawn of a Global World (Oxford University Press, 2023).

Light Reception to Follow

Co-sponsored by the Department of Art and Archaeology

For more information about the event, https://renaissance.princeton.edu/event/on-albrecht-durer-a-public-conversation/

Call for Papers: Renaissance Resonances: Across Time, Across Disciplines: A Transdisciplinary Conference, London & Online (20-21 April 2024), Due by 22 March 2024

Call for Papers

LABRC (London Arts-Based Research Centre)

Renaissance Resonances: Across Time, Across Disciplines
A Transdisciplinary Conference

April 20-21, 2024
April 20: in person and online at Birkbeck, university of London (hybrid presentations)
April 21: fully online

Due by 22 March 2024

This conference invites academics, creatives, practitioners, and students to look at how the Renaissance influences culture today, from the sciences to the arts, and anything in between. In exploring the different transdisciplinary approaches to the Renaissance and its relevance today, we will look at the interstices between the Renaissance and contemporary artwork, literary pieces, performances, music, film, science, and the ways in which these interact with history, politics and culture.

“Renaissance”, meaning “re-birth”, refers to the breaking free from the Middle Ages and founding the modern world as we know it today, mainly through the transdisciplinarity of its artists and scientists. The world owes many of its inventions to the Renaissance (like the pencil by the Bernacottis, the printing press by Gutenberg, the airplane by Leonardo da Vinci, and the microscope by Galileo), which also influenced art, literature, and drama (as we see in the case of Shakespeare and the Renaissance masters like Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Donatello). So perhaps, the influence of the Renaissance goes beyond the names of the Ninja Turtles!

The conference will have two tracks:

• Renaissance Europe

• Shakespeare

We welcome 15-minute presentations on topics including (but certainly not limited to) the following:

Renaissance Europe track:

• Archetypal themes and patterns in Renaissance art

• Renaissance-inspired historical novels

• Modern adaptations of iconic Renaissance paintings, such Botticelli’s Birth of Venus

• Relevance of medieval alchemy today

• Arab Spain

• Renaissance Florence

• Comparative art history

• Ekphrastic responses to Renaissance art

• Influence of Renaissance architecture

• Renaissance-influenced pop music (such as Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Ariana Grande)

• Contemporary Renaissance-inspired painting

• The Renaissance-inspired fashion world (Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton, etc.)

• Renaissance influences on modern sciences and medicine

• Renaissance-inspired photography

• Renaissance depictions of magic and the supernatural

• Renaissance women

Shakespeare track:

William Shakespeare: the bard, the playwright, the poet, the actor. You probably quote him on a regular basis without even knowing it. Celestial bodies are named after some characters in his plays. His name has become a brand for bookstores, coffee shops, toys, and cigars, and has even been dubbed by literary scholar Doug Lanier as “the Coca-Cola of canonical culture.” How relevant is Shakespeare today? And how far has the playwright’s ingenuity resonated across generations and disciplines? The enduring popularity and influence of Shakespeare is a clear testimony to his relevance and contributions to the English language, the arts, and even people’s behaviour. Shakespeare still has a significant presence in contemporary culture, ad is ever-present within fields of art across all genres and disciplines. Looking at the impact of Shakespeare, we see that he has greatly contributed to shaping society in various ways while inspiring a new generation of contemporary artists and filmmakers!

From coining thousands of words in English, to new concepts, grammatical structures, and phrases, Shakespeare had shaped the language we still use everyday (“all’s well that ends well”). He offered timeless themes, and his plays live on again and constantly evolve and remake themselves through modern adaptations in art, theatre, film, and literature, not only because of his fame, but also because of the universality of his themes and characterization.

We welcome 15-minute presentations on topics including (but certainly not limited to):

• Shakespearean archetypes and universal themes

• Ideas of space and place

• “All the world’s a stage”: Shakespearean models in characterization and/or drama

• Shakespeare as a brand

• Concepts of dreams and surrealism

• “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep”: Shakespeare-influenced perceptions of different layers of reality

• Shakespearean influences in today’s fiction (romance, history, thrillers, mysteries, fantasy, sci-fi, etc.)

• Innovative ways of teaching Shakespeare

• Shakespeare and film

• Shakespearean plays as pedagogic tools

• Presentation of the environment and climate change

• “All’s well that ends well”: Words, phrases, and aphorisms

• “Be not afraid of shadows”: Jungian theory and therapy regarding shadow work

• The magical and supernatural

• “Cruel to be kind”: Shakespeare and psychology today

• Shakespeare in visual art

• Shakespeare in tourism

• “the lady doth protest too much”: feminist takes on Shakespeare

Presenters may either share academic papers and/or creative work (poetry, prose, photography, music, painting, performance, etc.), as we highly encourage arts-based research. Please fill out the proposal form by March 22, 2024 (and please indicate whether you need an early response for travel plans).

For inquiries or further information, please contact us on conferences@labrc.co.uk (kindly allow at least 2-3 days response time)

We look forward to receiving your abstracts!

Fees: In person: 165 GBP/Online: 90 GBP

To register for the conference, click here

For more information about the organization and the conference, click here.

Online Lecture: ‘The hooly blisful martir for to seke’: Manuscripts with Chaucer’s pilgrims, Dr. Allison Ray and Dr. Andrew Dunning, 25 March 2024, 4.30–5.30pm GMT/12:30-1:30PM ET

Online Lecture

‘The hooly blisful martir for to seke’: Manuscripts with Chaucer’s pilgrims

Dr. Allison Ray and Dr. Andrew Dunning

Monday 25 March 2024, 4.30–5.30pm GMT/12:30-1:30PM ET

Free, booking required.

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales tell the story of pilgrims 'from every shires ende / Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende’. Experience these journeys, both real and imagined, through discussion and sharing of medieval manuscripts from the Bodleian collection live under the visualiser. 

Dr Alison Ray, archivist at St Peter’s College, and Dr Andrew Dunning, RW Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries, will explore the new iconography that developed after Thomas Becket’s murder, the impact of his death on Oxford’s religious houses and how Canterbury became a significant pilgrimage destination. 

For more information about the event, click here.

ONLINE TALK: Exploring Chaucer Here and Now, Marion Turner, Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, 14 March 2024 5-6PM GMT/1-2PM ET

ONLINE TALK

Exploring Chaucer Here and Now

Professor Marion Turner

Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

 Thursday 14 March 2024,  5–6pm GMT/1-2PM ET

Image credit: Ian Wallman, https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/mar24/exploring-chaucer-here-and-now

Free, booking required

In this webinar, Professor Marion Turner introduces some of the themes of Chaucer Here and Now, the exhibition currently on view at the Weston Library.

Focusing on manuscripts and printed books from the fifteenth century to the twenty-first, she will discuss some of the ways in which readers of Chaucer have responded to and reimagined Chaucer's works. From medieval scribes to Zadie Smith, via early printers, Victorian children's authors and William Morris, Professor Turner explores the afterlife of one of our greatest poets.

This webinar will be interactive, with plenty of time for Q&A, and will feature some of the Bodleian's treasures shown under the visualiser. 

For more information about the event, click here.

Exhibition Closing: Chaucer Here and Now, Weston Library, University of Oxford, Ends 28 April 2024

Exhibition Closing

Chaucer Here and Now

ST Lee Gallery, Weston Library

Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, UK

8 December 2023 - 28 April 2024

This is a stunning example of a Chaucer manuscript, 'The Complaint of Mars'. The artist has been identified as the Abingdon Missal Master, who worked near Oxford in the mid-15th century (MS Fairfax 16). Image © Ian Wallman https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/chaucer

Misogynist. Feminist. Conservative. Radical. Respectful. Irreverent. Monocultural. Multicultural. Imperial. Domestic. English. European. Catholic. Protestant.

Chaucer Here and Now presents Geoffrey Chaucer as you haven’t seen him before. Not as the “Father of English Literature”, but as a dynamic, global author, whose works have been reworked and reinterpreted over time and around the world. Each generation reinvents Chaucer, taking inspiration from his work, and finding new meanings.

Drawing on material ranging from the earliest known manuscript of The Canterbury Tales to contemporary adaptions in theatre and film, this exhibition explores the many creative responses to Chaucer and asks why this medieval author still fascinates so many people today.

Come and reinvent Geoffrey Chaucer for yourself.

This exhibition is curated by Professor Marion Turner, JRR Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford.

Free and no ticket required.

For more information about the exhibition, click here.

Call for Papers for Various Panels: 2025 MLA Annual Convention, New Orleans (9-12 January 2025), Due by 15-17 March 2024

Call for Papers for VArious PanelS

2025 MLA Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, 9-12 January 2025

Due by 15-17 March 2024

All of the panels below specifically noted either medieval art or visual aspects. Other panels at the conference focus on medieval studies more generally or medieval writings.

Premodern Practices of Space in Iberia and the Americas: Digital Perspectives

We welcome papers which engage with the digital turn to explore how (physical, textual, visual, etc.) spaces in premodern Iberian and American worlds were constructed, distorted, communicated or erased.

250-word abstract and a one-page CV.

Deadline for submissions: Saturday, 16 March 2024

Marija Blašković, Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Campus del Mar (marija.blaskovic@upf.edu )

Visualizing Medieval Iberia

The session explores how Medieval Iberia is represented in visual culture. Papers addressing, comparing, and contrasting how Medieval Iberia is represented globally via different mediums, & periods are welcome. 150 word abstract and short bio.

Deadline for submissions: Friday, 15 March 2024

Dr. Yasmine Beale-Rivaya, PhD, Texas State University (yb10@txstate.edu )

Visible and Invisible Cities in Medieval and Early Modern Italy

This panel explores how literature, drama, painting, and treatises deployed visual strategies, discourses, and tropes to envision, theorize and/or critique urban worlds (local/global, utopic/fantastic/infernal, past/present/future).

[250-word abstract, one-page CV]

Deadline for submissions: Sunday, 17 March 2024

Paola Ugolini, State University of New York at Buffalo (ugolini@buffalo.edu )

“Ut Pictura Poësis”: Visual Poetics and Visual Arts in Medieval and Early Modern Italy

We invite contributions that deal with visual poetics as writing exploring the materiality of the word, in a manuscript or a printed book, and/or visual arts closely connected with literary texts.

[250-word abstract, one-page CV]

Deadline for submissions: Sunday, 17 March 2024

Paola Ugolini, State University of New York at Buffalo (ugolini@buffalo.edu )

Visibility and the Visual in Medieval and Early Modern German Culture (Sponsored by LLC German to 1700)

Visibility and invisibility played a fundamental role in medieval and early modern social, cultural, and religious contexts. We seek papers exploring in/visibility and the visual in pre-modern German literature and culture.

Deadline for submissions: Friday, 15 March 2024

Jonathan Seelye Martin, Princeton U (jsmart5@ilstu.edu ) Aleksandra Prica, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (aprica@email.unc.edu )

Visualizing Bodies in Medieval and Early Modern Italy

This panel intends to explore how different bodies were categorized, described, and represented in Medieval and Early Modern Italy considering questions of gender, race, disability, and class differences.

[250-word abstract, one-page CV]

Deadline for submissions: Sunday, 17 March 2024

Paola Ugolini, State University of New York at Buffalo (ugolini@buffalo.edu )

For more information about the call for papers more generally, click here.

Call for Applications: Assistant Professor in Global History of Art, Trinity College Dublin, Due By 4 April 2024 12:00PM IST/7:00AM ET

Call for Applications

Assistant Professor in Global History of Art

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Due by 4 April 2024 12:00PM IST/7:00AM ET

The School of Histories and Humanities at Trinity College Dublin seeks to appoint an Assistant Professor in Global History of Art, based in the Department of History of Art and Architecture. Candidates can have expertise in any period from early modern to contemporary but, preferably, their research will encompass global histories of art. Candidates must demonstrate an ability to incorporate collections in Ireland in their teaching and research. It is also desirable that candidates should have experience of working with museum collections. The primary purpose of this post is to contribute to teaching and research in history of art and to undertake administrative activities in the Department and School. The successful applicant will have a proven ability or evidence of potential to establish a strong record of research and publication in the history of art and will be expected to contribute to both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in this field and to interdisciplinary curricular teaching, supervision, and mentoring.

The successful candidate will be expected to take up post on 1 August 2024 or as soon thereafter as possible.

For more information about the position, https://my.corehr.com/pls/trrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form

Opportunity for Graduate Students & ECRs: Inscriptions in a Digital Environment: An Introduction to EpiDoc for Byzantinists (5, 12, and 26 April 2024 - Zoom), Register By 22 March 2024

Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Byzantine Studies Association of North America

Opportunity for Graduate Students & ECRs

Inscriptions in a Digital Environment: An Introduction to EpiDoc for Byzantinists

Workshop by Martina Filosa (University of Cologne)

5, 12, and 26 April 2024 / 11:00 AM–3:00 PM EDT with a break from 12:30–1:00 PM - Zoom

Registrations By 22 March 2024

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Byzantine Studies Association of North America are pleased to offer a three-part EpiDoc workshop for graduate students and early career researchers in collaboration with Martina Filosa of the University of Cologne.

In this online workshop, participants will explore the use of EpiDoc, the established standard for digitally encoding ancient inscriptions, papyri, and other primary and documentary texts in TEI XML for online publication and interchange. The workshop will also introduce the participants to the EFES (EpiDoc Front-End Services) platform for viewing and publishing EpiDoc editions. The workshop will include asynchronous tutorials, real-time sessions, and guided hands-on exercises. Participants will have the opportunity to work with their own epigraphic material, broadly understood.

Registration closes Friday, March 22.

Who is eligible?
* Graduate students and early career researchers (PhD received after April 2016) in the field of Byzantine studies.
* All participants must be BSANA members. BSANA membership is free for graduate students and early-career contingent scholars who have earned their PhD within the last eight years and who do not hold a permanent or tenure-track appointment.

For a full description of the workshop and to register your interest, please visit https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/inscriptions-in-a-digital-environment.

Contact Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, with any questions.

Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture Lecture Series: Recycled Cities: Sardis and the Fortifications of Early Byzantine Anatolia, Jordan Pickett, 28 March 2024 12:00PM ET (Zoom)

Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture Lecture Series

Recycled Cities: Sardis and the Fortifications of Early Byzantine Anatolia

Jordan Pickett, University of Georgia

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | 12:00 PM EDT | Zoom

Sardis Acropolis, oblique view from east. Photo: Jordan Pickett for Sardis Expedition, 2019, https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/recycled_cities

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce the final lecture in our 2023–2024 lecture series.

The largest standing architecture at the ruined city of Sardis is not its famous Temple of Artemis, the fourth largest Ionic temple of antiquity, but is instead the massive but little-published fortification that sits on its Acropolis. This paper delivers preliminary results from new study of the Byzantine fortifications on the Acropolis at Sardis, part of the larger Harvard-Cornell Exploration of Sardis ongoing since 1958. Composed entirely of thousands of architectural blocks and sculpture recycled from older Iron Age and Roman monuments of Sardis, our understanding of the Acropolis fortifications hinges on three questions considered here. How has the Acropolis, composed of extraordinarily friable loose conglomerate subject to erosion and earthquake, changed since Antiquity? When were the Acropolis fortifications constructed? Possibilities range from c. 550 during the reign of Justinian to as late as c. 850. And, how and by whom were the Acropolis fortifications constructed? Set at a remarkably steep elevation, the labor for transport and construction with reused materials was extraordinary. No minor monument of the “Dark Ages”, the fortifications on the Acropolis at Sardis stand as a remarkably well-preserved complex of defensive architecture that sheds light on the priorities and capacities of communities in Byzantine Anatolia.

Jordan Pickett is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Georgia and co-PI, with Benjamin Anderson (Cornell University), for Acropolis investigation for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Turkey, under the direction of Nick Cahill (University of Wisconsin).

Advance registration required at https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/recycled_cities

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

Call for Sessions: Mary Jaharis Center Sponsored Panel, 50th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference, Due 3 April 2024

Call for Sessions

Mary Jaharis Center Sponsored Panel, 50th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference

Due 3 April 2024

As part of its ongoing commitment to Byzantine studies, the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for Mary Jaharis Center sponsored sessions at the 50th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference to be held in New York City, October 24–27, 2024. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to Byzantine studies.

Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website. The deadline for submission is April 3, 2024.

If the proposed session is accepted, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse a maximum of 5 session participants (presenters and chair) up to $800 maximum for scholars based in North America and up to $1400 maximum for those coming from outside North America. Funding is through reimbursement only; advance funding cannot be provided.

For further details and submission instructions, please visit https://maryjahariscenter.org/sponsored-sessions/50th-bsc

Contact Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, with any questions.

Upcoming Exhibition! The Book of Marvels: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages, The J. Paul Getty Museum, 11 June - 25 August 2024

Upcoming Exhibition

The Book of Marvels: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages

June 11–August 25, 2024

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

This exhibition explores the text and images of the Book of the Marvels of the World, a manuscript made in the 1460s that weaves together tales of places both near and far. Told from the perspective of a medieval armchair traveler in northern France, the global locations are portrayed as bizarre, captivating, and sometimes dangerously different. Additional objects in the exhibition from the Getty’s permanent collection highlight how the overlapping sensations of wonder and fear helped create Western stereotypes of the “other” that still endure today. A complementary exhibition focusing on a second illuminated copy of the same text at the Morgan will open at the Morgan in the spring, and a publication will unite both exhibitions, The Book of Marvels: A Medieval Guide to the Globe.

For more information: https://www.getty.edu/visit/exhibitions/future.html