Tag Archives: Art History

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CILAVS: The destruction of images in the medieval and early modern world: Jews, Muslims, Protestants and Catholics in Iberia 20 November 2020 6pm

CILAVS warmly invites you to the seminar:
The destruction of images in the medieval and early modern world: Jews, Muslims, Protestants and Catholics in Iberia
Professor Borja Franco
 
Friday, 20 November 2020 from 6 to 7.30pm Live Online 
 
In this paper, Prof Borja Franco presents the main written and visual sources that captured trials for iconoclastic behaviour in medieval and early modern Iberia. He shall explore the reasons for these actions and their political and religious repercussions. A comparative study of the various socio-religious groups reveals that the theological discourse behind each iconoclastic action varied with each case study. Furthermore, it will be shown that iconoclastic attitudes were not the exclusive territory of ‘heretics’ or ‘infidels’ and that even Catholics were persecuted for their hostile attitudes to images.
 
Borja Franco Llopis is a Professor at the Department of Art History in the UNED (Spain). His research is devoted to the visual and literary representation of the otherness in Southern Europe. He has been a visiting scholar in several prestigious institutions such as the School of History and Archaeology in Rome, the Instituto Storico per el Medievo (Rome), the Warburg Institute (London), Johns Hopkins University, University of California (Berkeley), Harvard University, Columbia University, Universidade Nova of Lisbon and NYU; and Visiting Professor at the University of Genoa. He is Associate Professor at the Department of Art History in the UNED (Spain), the PI of the research group “Before Orientalism. Images of the Muslim Other in Iberia (15-17th Centuries) and their Mediterranean connections” and working Group Leader of the Cost Action 18129: Islamic Legacy: Narratives East, West, South, North of the Mediterranean. He has recently published the monographs titled: Pintando al converso: la imagen del morisco en la peninsula ibérica (1492-1614) (Cátedra, 2019), and Etnicità e conversione. Immagini di moriscos nella cultural visuale dell’età moderna (Affinità Elettive, 2020). He has also co-edited the book: Muslim and Jews made Visible in Christian Iberia and beyond (14-18th centuries) (Brill 2019).
The event is free, although you will need to book.
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Murray Seminars Autumn Term 2019

Welcome to the new academic year! We’re pleased to announce the details of this term’s Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck.  You’ll find a poster attached, which we hope will be of interest to you and your colleagues or students.  I’d be most grateful if you could display it on any noticeboards, or circulate it to any forums where you think it would be of interest.

Seminars take place at 5pm in the History of Art Department (43, Gordon Sq., London WC1H 0PD) in The Keynes Library (Room 114), unless stated otherwise.  Talks finish by 5.50pm to allow those with other commitments to leave, and are then followed by discussion and refreshments.  These talks are supported by the Murray Bequest in memory of the Department’s founder Peter Murray, and are open to all. No booking required.

This term’s papers are as follows;

Petr Uličný, 16th October, 5pm

The Origins of Renaissance Architecture in Bohemia

This seminar considers the leisure architecture of Central Europe in the Renaissance. He explores how two kings of Bohemia, Mathias Corvinus and Vladislaus Jagiello, hired foreign architects to bring the fashion for Renaissance architecture to central Europe. The Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, continued to do the same. As a result, palaces in Prague and Kutná Hora were built or ‘updated’ in styles which could be decades-old in their native Italy, but entirely novel in their new surroundings.

Michael Carter, 12th November, 5pm

Relics and monastic identity in late medieval England


Michael Carter, Senior Historian at English Heritage, analyses the importance of relics in the construction of monastic identities in late medieval England. Focussing on two Benedictine (Battle and Whitby) and two Cistercian (Hailes and Rievaulx) abbeys. He suggests that monasteries used relics to promote and sustain their wider religious role until the time of the Suppression, and that relics were also used to affirm relations between religious houses. The paper will also give an idea of the broad range of sources available for the study of the cult of relics at English monasteries, and show that significant material remains unexplored or capable of reinterpretation

Laura Jacobus, 4th December, 5pm

Faces and Enigmas: maker-portraits by Giotto and Giovanni Pisano

During the later middle ages, the questions ‘who makes an art-work?’ and ‘what is a portrait?’ had no simple answers.  The person who commissioned a work of art could be seen as the person responsible for its creation, and the person we call the artist could be regarded as just one of the means employed to make it. The word ‘portrait’ was not in use (at least not in its modern sense), and images of people were not expected to look like anyone recognisable. Giotto and Giovanni Pisano were two of the most famous artists working in Italy in the years around 1300 and they wanted recognition in every sense of the word. But how?

We look forward to seeing you,

The History of Art Department, Birkbeck

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The Centre for Museum Cultures Reading Group – 13 November 2018 6pm

The Centre for Museum Cultures was launched at Birkbeck on 19 October 2018.

Based in the School of Arts, it involves academics from across the College in various disciplines, including museology, history of art, media and culture studies, history, English and humanities. It will provide a hub for intellectual exchange and debate relating to all aspects of museology, curation and heritage. It will host an annual programme of seminars, lectures and conferences involving academics and a wide range of museum professionals.

Do have a look at the Centre’s website here http://www.bbk.ac.uk/museum-cultures/ and sign up to their mailing list to receive occasional updates regarding events.

The Centre has established a new Museum Cultures Reading Group, whose aim is to explore readings and key ideas in the field. The group welcomes participation from colleagues, museum professionals and PhD students interested and engaged in museum-related research.

The Museum Cultures Reading Group will meet for the first time in room 106 at the School of Arts (43 Gordon Square) on Tuesday 13 November at 6pm:

If you wish to come please rsvp to Mark Liebenrood on m.liebenrood@gmail.com.

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Art History Sessional Tutors required  – London Region

Art History Sessional Tutors required  – London Region

£24.50 per hour + Benefits

Can you help Britain’s leading adult education charity change people’s lives?

We are the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), a unique charity and the UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education. We were recently rated “Good” in all categories by Ofsted and we aspire to be outstanding. Since 1903, we have been offering disadvantaged adults the opportunity to return to learning – inspiring them to realise their full potential and become active, engaged citizens. We deliver courses to 50,000 people in 2,300 locations across England and Scotland. Our focus is on social purpose and change and we achieve this by bringing great teaching to local communities. We run courses in community venues such as workplaces, schools, libraries and even the local pub!

We currently require sessional tutors in our London Region to deliver History of Art courses.

We need tutors with:

  • a subject specialism
  • experience of working in community settings with diverse students
  • a strong understanding of adult learning and a belief in its importance
  • a teaching qualification at least at Level 3 or you will be keen to work towards a teaching qualification
  • excellent interpersonal and organisational skills
  • a desire to share and improve teaching practice
  • Up to date CPD

WEA assumes you will be excited by using digital technology both in the classroom with the student and to manage course administration and communication.

You will be required to have a basic or enhanced DBS check to teach in certain venues or with certain student groups. Because we serve people from all walks of life, we’re keen to develop a diverse workforce and particularly welcome applications from members of minority groups.

Interested? Please visit http://www.wea.org.uk/tutors/work-us and apply directly by sending your CV to rrobshaw@wea.org.uk

If you have any specific questions, please email them to rrobshaw@wea.org.uk

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Murray Seminars Autumn Term 2018-19

I’m writing with details of this term’s Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck. These advanced research seminars are open to all, and attract interested members of the public, staff and students from other London colleges and beyond.  They are an opportunity to hear and contribute to cutting-edge research, often at the very early stages of work in progress.

All this term’s seminars take place in the History of Art Department at Birkbeck (43, Gordon Sq., London WC1H 0PD) in Room 114 (The Keynes Library) at 5pm.  Talks finish by 5.50pm (allowing those with other commitments to leave) and are then followed by discussion and refreshments.  We hope to see you there.

This term’s seminars are:

16 October, Lisa Monnas

Vestments and Textiles in Hans Memling’s ‘God with Singing and Music-making Angels 

Three large panels in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, painted by Hans Memling in the 1480’s, represent a heavenly scene framed by clouds, which part to reveal the central figure of God attended by sixteen singing and music-making angels. Thye once formed the top of the high altarpiece of the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria la Réal in Nájera, in Spain. In the central panel, God is depicted vested as priest and ruler, and the angels in this and in the flanking scenes wear clerical dress. The work has been interpreted as relating to the Good Friday liturgy and the Exaltation of the Cross, but since the panels originally formed the top of an altarpiece whose main subject was the Assumption of the Virgin, this is open to doubt. This paper will re-examine the vestments and textiles in the newly conserved panels, assessing their ‘realism’ and their contribution to the heavenly scene. It will also consider them in the wider context of some of Memling’s other works.

14 November, Jana Gajdosova

Sculpted Genealogies: The Effigies of Bohemian rulers in Prague Cathedral  

With the death of Wenceslas III, the Přemyslid dynasty, which had ruled Bohemia for over four centuries, came to an end. The murder of the young king created chaos in the kingdom for several decades; however, after the marriage of Elizabeth of Přemyslid and John of Luxembourg and the subsequent birth of Charles IV (1316 – 1378), Bohemia reached the height of its political and cultural power in Europe. Charles IV saw himself as a bridge between two Bohemian dynasties – the Přemyslids of the past and the Luxembourgs of his envisioned future. This link was communicated with painted genealogies in at least three of Charles’ castles, and with staged genealogies across Prague. The fascination that Charles had with re-imagining and visualizing his role within the dynastic shift that occurred also found expression in the sculpted genealogies which are the subject of this paper—specifically the effigies of Přemyslids rulers commissioned by Charles IV for Prague Cathedral, which were made to communicate these ideas in sculpture and across real space.

5 December, Marie-Louise Lillywhite 

Blood is Thicker than Water: Artists, Friends and Family Alliances in Seventeenth-Century Venice

How did Venetian artists forge alliances to advance their interests and ensure the continuation of their workshops? Focusing on the painter Palma il Giovane, this paper explores his concerted efforts to continue his family name through strategic marriages, and safeguard his success through advantageous friendships. This study will demonstrate how these potentially positive relationships impacted artistic production in Venice for better, or indeed worse.

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VACANCY: Art History Link Up – deadline is TOMORROW

Please find the attached call for teaching assistants on a terrific programme that is helping state school children study art history A level. The deadline is tomorrow, though there is some leeway on that – but if you are interested, you are urged to get in touch with the organiser as soon as possible.

Art History Link Up

AHLU teacher application form

AHLU teaching job pack

Job advertisement AHLU teacher 2018

 

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Funding: Venetian Research Programme: British and Commonwealth Applicants – deadline 1st May 2018

Venetian Research Programme:

British and Commonwealth Applicants

The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation – British and Commonwealth Committee – announces its 2018-2019 programme of grants for study based on travel to and research in Venice and the Veneto and other territories of the former Venetian Republic.

Grants will be awarded for historical research on Venice and its empire, and for the study of contemporary Venetian society and culture. Applicants from all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences are eligible for areas of study including, but not limited to: anthropology; archaeology; architecture; art; bibliography; economics; history; history of science; law; literature; music; political thought; religion; theatre; film and television. Applications for research on the environment and conservation are welcomed. Other relevant research interests will be considered.

The application deadline for the British and Commonwealth Programme is 1st May 2018.

Applications should be submitted online at http://delmas.org/grants/venetian-program-grants/venetian-research-program-british-commonwealth/

The awards will be announced by the early summer.

Eligible applicants must:

  • Be citizens or permanent residents of Great Britain or the Commonwealth, and/or be enrolled for research at a British or Commonwealth university, and/or be permanent or affiliated members of a British or Commonwealth university. Experienced curatorial or conservation staff at British or Commonwealth galleries and museums are also welcome to apply.
  • Have experience of research at graduate level or equivalent. If a doctoral student, to have fulfilled all doctoral requirements before completion of the thesis.

Grants for the maximum amount – normally £5000.00 – are rarely awarded. Funding is granted primarily for transportation and accommodation, but additional research expenses may also be considered. Scholars who have already received and accepted a Delmas grant are eligible to apply for grants, normally for one month, to continue the work related to the previous grant, focused on Venetian material in libraries, archives, museums or galleries outside Venice. Applicants must not submit for funding for both grants within the same year.

Applicants must notify the Committee immediately upon receipt of any other grant for research in the same area.

Any person who has accepted three or more Delmas grants for Venetian research (regardless of amount or timing) will be ineligible for consideration for two programme years after the previous grant. Thereafter, the two-year hiatus continues to apply after each grant.

All successful applicants must submit a report to the Chairman within three months of completing their funded period of research. Failure to do so will render applicants ineligible for future Delmas funding.

How to apply

The Foundation is now using a two-step online application form.
Step 1: Register by providing your contact information and creating a login.
Step 2: Fill in the online application.  After your application has been submitted, you may log in to monitor the arrival of your Letters of Recommendation. Make sure you have given your referees ample notice of your intention to apply and the nature of your research.

 

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Murray Seminars: Spring Term 2018

MURRAY SEMINARS – Spring Term 2018

These advanced research seminars are open to all, and attract interested members of the public, staff and students from other London colleges and beyond.  They are an opportunity to hear and contribute to cutting-edge research, often at the very early stages of work in progress.

All this term’s seminars take place in the History of Art Department at Birkbeck (43, Gordon Sq., London WC1H 0PD) in Room 114 (The Keynes Library) at 5pm.  Talks finish by 5.50pm (allowing those with other commitments to leave) and are then followed by discussion and refreshments. This term’s seminars are:

17 January: Carol Richardson

Britons and Anglo-Saxons in Sixteenth-Century Rome: the 1580s fresco cycle at the English College

William Allen referred to Bede’s Ecclesiastical History as a seminarian’s reader because it proved that Christianity in Britain derived directly from the Catholic church in Rome from its very origins. This was an important argument in the context of Tudor persecution of Catholics because of the Protestant assertion that British Christianity had taken root long before the missions of Augustine of Canterbury introduced the corrupted Roman version of Christianity. This paper will consider the earliest part of the fresco cycle in the English College, which survives as printed images, in light of this deliberate historiographical choice.

13 February: Emanuele Lugli

Chasing Absence: The Body of Christ and the Measures to Enter in Touch with it

This talk focuses on the singular devotion for the ‘mensura Christi,’ or the act of praying with objects that reproduced the height of Christ. It explores the reasons for its phenomenal success, from its diffusion in the twelfth century up to its ban in the seventeenth, and the motives for its marginalization in historical accounts today. The talk asks questions about what turns an orthodox veneration into a mere superstition, an inversion that is all the more puzzling given that the ‘mensura Christi’ relies on measuring, one of the methods to fight credulity. The lecture thus reconsiders the relationships of measuring practices, visual belief, and religious orders, thus contributing to discussions on representations, faith, and material studies.

14 March: Luca Palozzi

‘And the great lion walks through his innocent grove’. A cross-disciplinary study of lion paw prints in Giovanni Pisano’s Pisa pulpit

Giovanni Pisano carved animal tracks on the base of one of two lions bearing columns in his pulpit for Pisa Cathedral (1302-1310). Overlooked for more than seven centuries, these are the first naturalistic paw prints carved in marble in post-Classical Western art. This paper presents the initial results of a joint art historical and anatomical study of the Pisa paw prints conducted by Dr Luca Palozzi and Dr Gurå Bergkvist. In so doing, it tackles the much-debated issue of Medieval ‘naturalism’ (and its means) from an unusual perspective. A cross-disciplinary approach, that is, may help us find new answers to long-standing questions.

We hope to see you there.

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Basic Instincts: Art, Women & Sexuality in the Eighteenth Century – 20 November 17

Basic Instincts: Art, Women & Sexuality in the Eighteenth Century

Monday 20 November 2017

10:00-17:00 | Keynes Library, School of Arts, Birkbeck, University of London

43 Gordon Square, London. WC1H 0PD

This symposium has been organised alongside the Foundling Museum exhibition, Basic Instincts (29 September 2017 – 7 January 2018). Curated by Dr Jacqueline Riding, Historical Consultant, Author and Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Arts at Birkbeck, University of London, Basic Instincts explores Georgian attitudes to love, desire and female respectability through the radical paintings of Joseph Highmore.
The symposium will draw out some of the key themes of the exhibition, focusing on the depiction of women and sexuality in eighteenth-century culture. The confirmed speakers are: Emma Barker, Joanne Begiato (published as Bailey), Karen Lipsedge, Mary Peace, Kate Retford, Jacqueline Riding and Kirsten Tambling. Delegates will also be taken on a tour of the exhibition at the Foundling Museum.
For further details, and to book a place, please follow this link: http://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/basic-instincts-symposium/. Tickets are £40, £30 concessions & Foundling Friends.

 

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Seminar Networks for Art Historians – 3 March 2017

SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF COLLECTING
Seminar: Network Research for Art Historians: Why and How it is Important.

Led by Prof. Koenraad Brosens, University of Leuven

Respondent: Dr. Mark Westgarth, Lecturer, University of Leeds

Date & Time: Friday 3 March 2017, 3-7pm

3-4pm: Presentation by Koen Brosens
4-4.30pm: Response by Mark Westgarth
4.30-6pm: Discussion and workshop
6-7pm: Informal reception and drinks

Venue: Holden Room, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU

Cost: £10 (full price); free for students

Networking is now recognised as a key avenue for understanding how artists,
dealers and collectors interact in the art market. At the same time, it is one of the
most difficult to define- how do you determine the value of relationships? What
connections are significant for an artist or craftsman? How can we understand the
links between different groups in the art market?

For the past ten years, Koen Brosens has been working on different ways to chart
such connections, drawing on many different disciplines to construct methods of
interpreting past relationships. In his workshop, Koen will draw on his own experience to explain how his methods and database can be used by art historians, cultural historians and economic historians in their own research. Koen’s methods provide an important tool which will add to this important aspect of the study of collecting.

The nature of the workshop, bringing a small group of people to question and discuss these issues, will encourage lively debate and intense questioning.

To book, please contact: events.sochistcoll@gmail.com

 

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