Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Call for Papers
Matter and Materiality in the Study of Medieval Art
Annual Art History Research Seminar
Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas University of Oslo, 04.12.2015
In 2015, the annual Art History Research Seminar at the University of Oslo will focus on questions related to matter and materiality in the study of medieval art. The entire range of sensory perception had a part to play for the beholder’s experience, corporeally and spiritually. In recent years, the interest taken in vision and visual interpretation as a fundamental aspect of the devotee’s interaction with sacred images has been supplemented by an increasing awareness of the holy object as a physical entity. This “material turn” was heralded by, among others, Caroline Walker Bynum who, in Christian Materiality: An Essay on Religion in Late Medieval Europe (2011), explored the widespread veneration of things as holy and miraculous in themselves. Bynum relates this phenomenon to the multifaceted and dichotomatic approach taken by late medieval Christian authorities towards matter as, on the one hand, the opposite of the eternal and unchanging Divine, and on the other paradoxically sacralised by and through the Incarnation.
The study of the physical materials involved in the making of the object adds a further perspective in understanding the materiality of medieval images. This contribution to art historical interpretation via conservation analysis offers insights into the material processes behind the manufacturing of the holy objects. Knowledge gained from the technical aspects of the images as well as the repertory of materials and techniques available for the craftsman, assists in better under-standing the image’s original intention and potential to communicate meaning to the beholder. This opens for a more in-depth under-standing of the sacred image as holy matter and loci for the divine, in a semiotic and/or actual sense.
We hereby invite proposals for papers related to the above theme. We ask applicants to provide a brief abstract, up to 200 words in length, for a 20-minute presentation.
Submit as a word document to: [email protected]. Submission deadline: 15.08.2015.
Place To be announced
Organizing committee Lena Liepe and Kaja Kollandsrud
Send general queries to [email protected]
