Congresses/Seminars/Talks by Francesca Dell'Acqua, Associate Prof., History of Medieval and Byzantine Art
At a synod convened by Emperor Louis the Pious in Paris in November 825, Frankish clerics debated... more At a synod convened by Emperor Louis the Pious in Paris in November 825, Frankish clerics debated the correct use of images in churches. After carefully considering texts and the traditions of the Church, they confirmed the long-attested view that the Incarnation (the pivotal Christian doctrine that God took on human form in Jesus Christ) legitimises images. They also established that images should neither be worshipped, nor destroyed. In fact, images could be used to instruct people about religion and morals and to elevate the mind to spiritual things. In this lecture I shall limit myself to considering the presence of high-relief and three-dimensional images in repoussé metalwork or other media in western churches before and after the Paris Synod, in the period of the image controversy (c.720s–850). Generally lost, high-relief and three-dimensional images are recorded in written sources.
High-relief and three-dimensional images from Rome, Gaul/Francia, England, and Langobardia have occasionally been mentioned in studies on early medieval art, either to retrace the re-birth of three-dimensional statuary or to discuss image worship. They have also been occasionally construed as attestations of iconophilia, that is an attitude in favour of sacred images. Whether this kind of image might have functioned as an ideological statement should be evaluated not only by considering the specific circumstances in which they were situated, but also the broader body of evidence offered by written sources and material culture between the fourth and the ninth centuries in various regions of the West. I set out to do this in my paper.
Depuis les années 1970, l’archéologie a permis de renouveler considérablement notre approche du v... more Depuis les années 1970, l’archéologie a permis de renouveler considérablement notre approche du vitrail - plus globalement du verre plat - et de ses origines. Dans la lignée des travaux initiés il y a vingt ans à Bavay et Auxerre, il est utile de faire le point sur ce sujet en privilégiant une approche plurielle et globale associant archéologues, historiens de l’art, archéomètres et restaurateurs pour le verre, mais aussi le plomb et plus largement le métal généralement lié au verre de vitraux (vergettes, barlotières).
Cette approche sera à même d’examiner les nombreuses problématiques qui touchent le verre plat et le vitrail en contexte archéologique : comment traiter ces artéfacts sur site, au moment de la découverte, et assurer leur pérennité ; dans quels contextes stratigraphiques ces éléments sont-ils mis au jour : fosses, niveaux de destruction, « terres noires », etc ; pourquoi n’ont-ils pas été récupérés alors que le remploi de panneaux, voire de verrières, est une pratique bien attestée ; quelles données peut-on tirer de l’étude de ces fragments pour la connaissance des bâtiments qui les ont accueillis et leurs décors, sans exclure leur appartenance à des ateliers de production et/ou de peintres-verriers souvent présents sur les chantiers de construction ; comprendre les ateliers qui ont évolué au cours du temps avec, pour des périodes hautes, la production possible de verre plat et creux, puis, visiblement, une spécialisation, surtout après le développement des ateliers primaires en France et la demande croissante de vitrail à partir des XIe-XIIe siècles (question des ateliers de verriers et de peintres verriers) ; penser les ambiances colorées au sein de ces édifices à partir des vestiges recueillis ; comment interpréter la présence de fragments de diverses périodes dans un même ensemble stratigraphique ; quels sont les caractères techniques et physico-chimiques de ces éléments pouvant renseigner sur leurs modes de fabrication et leur mise en œuvre ; quels types de décors parent ces verres, ou traces préparatoires pour la découpe ou la peinture…
Il s’agit donc de privilégier une approche globale et dans une temporalité longue, les sites pouvant livrer des lots de diverses périodes. Pour traiter ces vastes problématiques, cette rencontre s’adressera à différents acteurs de la recherche : archéologues, historiens de l’art, archéomètres et restaurateurs, afin de favoriser les discussions et de confronter les idées, les problématiques. Les sessions seront thématisées et des ateliers seront dédiés à des échanges entre spécialistes.
Au cours des dernières années, l’équipe interuniversitaire TEMPLA a développé un projet de recher... more Au cours des dernières années, l’équipe interuniversitaire TEMPLA a développé un projet de recherche qui étudie, à partir de sources documentaires et des dispositifs visuels conservés in situ ou dans des musées, la mémoire des cultes permanents ou changeants pratiqués par des religieux et des laïcs dans des églises médiévales. Ce projet propose une étude holistique des sanctuaires d’une série de sites cathédraux (IXe-XVe
siècles). L’étude des contextes matériels des sanctuaires est menée de front avec l’examen des dispositifs artistiques destinés à orner les autels et leur environnement immédiat, à révéler et à exalter les saints titulaires et la divinité et à identifier le promoteur et le concepteur de l’œuvre (à travers l’héraldique et l’écriture). Les analyses de la matérialité des structures architecturales et des dispositifs visuels sont combinées avec une approche phénoménologique des œuvres et une compréhension liturgique des rites et des dévotions spécifiques. D’un point de vue méthodologique, nous examinons le décor visuel en relation avec les manifestations sociales attendues au moment des célébrations rituelles.
Ce colloque est convoqué pour suivre cette ligne de pensée, dans laquelle le maître-autel est envisagé comme l’épicentre rituel, spirituel, mais aussi
matériel et émotionnel de toute église. Au fil du temps, et dans le contexte de l’autel de nombreuses productions artistiques ont été privées de l’usage, du contexte et des significations envisagées lors de leur genèse. La matérialité de certaines de ces œuvres a pu être détériorée, altérée voire fusionnée
avec d’autres supports pour revêtir de nouvelles valeurs sémantiques. Les questions de conservation et d’exposition dans des musées fondés à partir du XIXe siècle offrent une excellente occasion de réfléchir à la biographie de ces objets. Ces transformations montrent qu’une œuvre peut être lue selon de nouvelles conditions de perception et d’usages culturels, contextuels
ou environnementaux modifiés, de telle sorte qu’elle peut être reconsidérée et réinterprétée dans son intégralité. En prenant en considération ces différents angles d’approche et des méthodes éprouvées dans le cadre de l’étude de la « longue vie » des objets, ce colloque a pour objectif d’attirer l’attention sur ce phénomène répandu, mais largement négligé par l’historio-
graphie, à travers diverses lignes thématiques :
· la « seconde vie » et la réception ultérieure de certains artefacts à usage liturgique ayant perdu leur fonction originelle, mués en objets de collection ou destinés à la contemplation esthétique;
· les valeurs théologiques, apotropaïques et thaumaturgiques conférées à certains objets à travers des stratégies religieuses ou des traditions populaires quant à leur matérialité ;
· l’influence des multiples facteurs (politiques, religieux, commerciaux) qui ont conduit à la variation matérielle et idéelle des œuvres d’art liées à des au-
tels médiévaux ;
· la prise en compte d’exemples de ces phénomènes dans les collections des musées, à commencer par celles du Musée du Louvre, du Musée national du
Moyen Âge, du Museu Episcopal de Vic et du Musée de l’Université de Bergen.
Ce colloque offre l’occasion de reconsidérer les œuvres en elles-mêmes, comme autant de points de départ pour la compréhension de significations modulables en fonction des contextes successifs de leur usage.
Les discussions et les résultats de cette rencontre permettront également d’envisager de nouvelles stratégies muséographiques et de médiation pour présenter ces œuvres au public.
Depuis les années 1970, l’archéologie a permis de renouveler considérablement notre approche du v... more Depuis les années 1970, l’archéologie a permis de renouveler considérablement notre approche du vitrail - plus globalement du verre plat - et de ses origines. Dans la lignée des travaux initiés il y a vingt ans à Bavay et Auxerre, il est utile de faire le point sur ce sujet en privilégiant une approche plurielle et globale associant divers spécialistes, archéologues, historiens de l’art, archéomètres et restaurateurs pour le verre, en intégrant aussi le plomb, et plus largement le métal lié au verre de vitraux (vergettes, barlotières).
La table-ronde sera à même d’examiner les nombreuses problématiques qui touchent le verre plat et le vitrail en contexte archéologique, issu de fouilles récentes ou de collections anciennes : comment traiter ces artéfacts sur site, au moment de la découverte, et assurer leur pérennité ; dans quels contextes stratigraphiques ces éléments sont-ils mis au jour: fosses, niveaux de destruction, « terres noires », etc. ; pourquoi n’ont-ils pas été récupérés alors que le remploi de panneaux, voire de verrières, est une pratique bien attestée; quelles données peut-on tirer de l’étude de ces fragments pour la connaissance des bâtiments qui les ont accueillis et leurs décors, sans exclure leur appartenance à des ateliers de production et/ou de peintres-verriers souvent présents sur les chantiers de construction ; que dire des ateliers qui ont évolué au cours du temps avec, pour des périodes hautes, la production possible de verre plat et creux, puis, visiblement, une spécialisation, surtout après le développement des ateliers primaires en France et la demande croissante de vitrail à partir des XIe-XIIe siècles (question des ateliers de verriers et de peintres-verriers); comment imaginer les ambiances colorées au sein de ces édifices à partir des vestiges recueillis; comment interpréter la présence de fragments de diverses périodes dans un même ensemble stratigraphique ; quels sont les caractères techniques et physico-chimiques de ces artefacts pouvant renseigner sur leurs modes de fabrication et leur mise en œuvre ; quels types de décors parent ces verres, et existent-ils des traces préparatoires pour la découpe ou la peinture? Il s’agit donc de privilégier une approche globale et dans une temporalité longue, les sites pouvant livrer des lots de diverses périodes. Pour traiter ces vastes problématiques, cette rencontre s’adressera à différents acteurs de la recherche: archéologues, spécialistes du verre et des mobiliers métalliques, historiens de l’art, archéomètres et restaurateurs, afin de favoriser les discussions et de confronter les idées, les problématiques. Les sessions seront thématisées et des ateliers seront dédiés à des échanges entre spécialistes.
Il Volto Santo di Lucca e le rappresentazioni tridimensionali nella Chiesa occidentale altomediev... more Il Volto Santo di Lucca e le rappresentazioni tridimensionali nella Chiesa occidentale altomedievale
Il Volto Santo di Lucca, una statua tradizionalmente ritenuta acheropita, dalla seconda metà dell’XI secolo è stato oggetto di un culto diffuso in Europa e dal Duecento ha assunto una forte valenza civica. I recenti restauri hanno rimesso in discussione la datazione tradizionale proposta dagli storici dell’arte (XI-XII sec.), retrodatandone il supporto ligneo all’epoca carolingia sulla base delle moderne metodologie scientifiche (dendrocronologia e carbonio 14). Questa nuova datazione non ha convinto pienamente gli storici dell'arte, che sulla base dell’analisi stilistica ritengono di poter collocare la realizzazione dell’attuale raffigurazione pittorica non prima dell’età ottoniana o salica. Si devono quindi ipotizzare ridipinture? Una vicenda analoga ha riguardato il Crocifisso tunicato di Sansepolcro, anch’esso retrodatato sin dagli anni Novanta all’età carolingia e identificato da Anna Maria Maetzke con l’originario Volto Santo di Lucca, che secondo la sua ipotesi (non supportata da validi argomenti e ormai insostenibile) sarebbe stato trasferito da Lucca a Borgo Sansepolcro nella seconda metà del XII secolo e sostituito in loco da una nuova statua.
Agli sviluppi europei dell’iconografia del Volto Santo di Lucca ha dedicato una monografia Stefano Martinelli (L’immagine del Volto santo di Lucca, Pisa 2016), mentre Ilaria Sabbatini, studiosa dei racconti di pellegrinaggio, ha raccolto in un sito (ARVO- Archivio digitale del Volto Santo, archiviovoltosanto.org) immagini, bibliografia e rinvii ai manoscritti della leggenda agiografica leobiniana (la cui redazione definitiva, con due distinti rami della tradizione, è collocabile nel XII secolo), di cui una équipe coordinata da Michele Ferrari sta preparando da tempo l’edizione critica. Michele Ferrari ha già organizzato nel 2000 un convegno a Engelberg che ha consentito di collocare il culto e l’iconografia del Crocifisso lucchese in un contesto europeo (Il Volto Santo in Europa. Culto e immagini del Crocifisso nel Medioevo, a cura di M. Ferrari e A. Meyer, Lucca 2005), e in vari contributi ha formulato alcune ipotesi sulla stratigrafia del testo della leggenda. Mediante un’analisi accurata del De laudibus sanctae Crucis di Rabano Mauro (redatto nel secondo decennio del IX secolo) egli ha intravisto in questo poema figurato le spie di una nuova attenzione all’immagine del Crocifisso.
Il panel proposto intende analizzare il retroterra culturale che ha favorito il decollo delle rappresentazioni tridimensionali di Cristo, inquadrandole nel più ampio contesto del dibattito tra iconoduli e iconoclasti sulla legittimità del culto delle immagini e dell’emergere, a Roma e in Italia, di una “iconofilia” di cui Francesca Dell’Acqua (Iconophilia. Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the Use of Images in Rome, c. 680-880, London 2020) ha evidenziato le connessioni con i dibattiti teologici sull’Incarnazione e sull’Assunzione di Maria. Verranno quindi indagati, in una prospettiva transdisciplinare attenta ai rapporti tra Oriente e Occidente e alle interazioni tra fonti scritte e fonti iconografiche, il culto delle immagini (nelle sue diverse sfumature) e le resistenze ad esso, le tipologie rappresentative del Crocifisso nel mondo cristiano e gli aspetti devozionali e liturgico-cultuali connessi a immagini che non erano mere “opere d’arte” nel senso moderno, con una funzione in primo luogo estetica, ma oggetti sacri intorno ai quali si svilupparono devozioni private e pubbliche.
Proponente: Raffaele Savigni raffaele.savigni@unibo.it
Partecipanti:
Raffaele Savigni raffaele.savigni@unibo.it
Ilaria Sabbatini ilaria.sabbatini@gmail.com
Francesca Dell’Acqua fdellacqua@unisa.it
10.01.2024 Warburg Institute, London, Work in Progress lecture series:
'"The world's most power... more 10.01.2024 Warburg Institute, London, Work in Progress lecture series:
'"The world's most powerful woman"?: The Virgin Mary and authority in early medieval Mercia'
IALS Lecture Theatre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR
(Book at: https://sas.sym-online.com/registrationforms/warburg-booking50772512515125351255512575125951261512635126552297/done/)
Labelled on the cover of the National Geographic magazine as “the World’s most powerful woman” in 2015, the Virgin Mary has also been held responsible for presenting a role model of a humble and subservient woman, allegedly impacting past and today’s lack of female leadership in the West and elsewhere. However, when we look at how the Virgin Mary was depicted in texts, images, preaching, and tales in the eastern Mediterranean and in the early medieval West, she appears as a multivalent figure which emblematises various virtues, spanning from humility (humilitas) to wisdom (sapientia) and spiritual, moral, and even doctrinal authority (auctoritas). By the late medieval period, however, her image as a compassionate and nurturing mother prevailed, possibly as a consequence of Medicant preaching, as well as of the Protestant Reformation and the ensuing Catholic Counter Reformation.
An interesting case study through which to investigate how the authority and power of the Virgin came to be constructed is a carved stone relief immured in the Priory Church of St Mary and St Hardulph at Breedon-on-the-Hill (Leicestershire), part of the largest group of sculpture from the early medieval kingdom of Mercia. This relief represents the Virgin Mary, half-length, veiled, with no nimbus, as she imparts a blessing to the beholder while pointing to a book she reverently holds in her veiled left hand. It has been suggested that the Breedon iconography and style may be derived from seventh-century Byzantine icons. Yet, its iconography, let alone the fact that Mary holds a book and not her Child, is not found in Byzantine art, and remains highly unusual to the point that not all scholars who dealt with it believe it to be a representation of the Virgin. Therefore, we should ask: is the relief in Breedon to be seen as a variation of a Byzantine iconography of the Mother of God, or as a Mercian rendition of an earlier, lost model, or as an invention? What does it mean? And what does its historical context suggest?
Breedon’s sculpted reliefs have been dated to the late eighth–early ninth century based on style and themes. This was a time of splendour and political stability for Mercia and of wide-ranging contacts with the Continent and possibly with the eastern Mediterranean. However, we do not know which circumstances produced the extraordinary panel with the Virgin. It is the aim of the present lecture not only to highlight its innovative character when compared to previous Marian depictions in the East and in the West, but also to explain its significance against the background of various theological controversies which took place on the Continent and across the Mediterranean in the late eighth and early ninth centuries; they disputed, among other things, the perfect combination of the human and divine natures in Christ and the role of the Virgin Mary. The English scholar Alcuin, active at the court of Charlemagne but still much involved in the English Church and its politics, was at the forefront in defending orthodoxy and promoting the study of letters and theology to defend orthodoxy. Can we explain the conception of the Breedon Virgin with the book in this context? What relation does it have with other Mercian depictions of Mary?
Francesca Dell’Acqua, Associate Professor and Chair, History of Medieval and Byzantine Art
Università degli studi di Salerno, Italy
Email address: fdellacqua@unisa.it
Gli organizzatori di questo convegno ci hanno chiesto di riflettere sul ruolo della strada consol... more Gli organizzatori di questo convegno ci hanno chiesto di riflettere sul ruolo della strada consolare Tiburtina-Valeria come luogo di scambio e comunicazione. In effetti, ci chiedono di approfondire la dimensione culturale-religiosa di un’antica arteria di collegamento – il suo “carattere carismatico” come luogo fisico e luogo spirituale, per usare un’espressione di Veronica Della Dora tratta dal suo studio sul paesaggio, natura e sacro a Bisanzio (2016).
Nel mio intervento desidero proporre una riflessione sulla trasmissione di idee intorno alla Vergine Maria in un’area tra Sabina, Marsica e Sannio nella quale si intersecavano la Tiburtina Valeria e altre antiche strade romane. Questa area non è solo uno spazio geografico ma anche un paesaggio spirituale; ad esso si sovrammise una rete di relazioni non sempre documentate, talora solo intuibili, da cui scaturì la formulazione di concetti e immagini mentali e visuali della Vergine Maria che avranno importanti sviluppi non solo nella dottrina teologica, culti pubblici e devozione privata, ma anche nelle espressioni visive del Medioevo.
L’evidenza rimasta suggerisce che la cultura religiosa e visiva di Roma avesse funto da catalizzatore per le riflessioni su tema mariano di illustri autori monastici. Rimane da chiedersi quanto la geomorfologia dell’Italia centro-meridionale e la sua viabilità avesse favorito la costruzione di quel paesaggio spirituale in cui avvenne un fruttuoso scambio di idee su Maria e il consolidamento della sua immagine.
The Life of Pope Gregory III (731–41) in the Liber Pontificalis opens with a narrative of his act... more The Life of Pope Gregory III (731–41) in the Liber Pontificalis opens with a narrative of his active engagement against the Byzantine image controversy. Elected in February 731, in November the same year he convened a synod in front of the confessio of the basilica of Saint Peters’ to discuss the on-going image controversy. Gregory III not only invited clerics to the synod, but also lay representatives of the Romans. He also refurbished the area of the confessio – believed to be where Peter made his confession of faith ¬– with the installation of magnificently carved columns donated by Exarch Eutychius of Ravenna, matching in style and dating an earlier set of columns donated by Constantine I and marking the burial site of Peter or memoria Petri. This refurbishment has been seen as part of Gregory III’s response to Byzantine iconoclasm. But which were the political implications, if any, of the refurbishment of the confessio? Our paper will reconsider this question against the backdrop of the wider and complex political landscape, dominated by major actors such as Rome, Ravenna, Pavia, Venetiae, and Constantinople.
So far, methodological problems have hindered a wider understanding of the Byzantine image contro... more So far, methodological problems have hindered a wider understanding of the Byzantine image controversy (c.720s–840s) in the West: firstly, because of the usual separation of medieval from Byzantine studies; secondly because of the separation of textual, from visual, and liturgical studies. The analysis of ‘visual’, ‘material’, or ‘textual’ sources, in isolation from each other, can only offer a partial view. In my recent monograph, Iconophilia (Routledge, 2020) I have included eastern and western liturgical texts and practices, devotional objects and practices, not always explicitly related to the image controversy but which bear traces of an enduring, often implicit iconophile – or favorable – attitude to images. Images, however, are not only material, that is based on tangible media. In fact, images can be also immaterial; more specifically, they can be mental, textual, liturgical, etc. In order to investigatethe impact of the Byzantine image controversy on Rome and central Italy, I analyzed intersecting material and immaterial images which had at their core the Incarnate God and his Mother. They were originally intended to promote the idea that the visual could uplift the mind and therefore lead to spiritual salvation. In this sense, these images manifested an iconophile attitude on the part of their creators and/or patrons.In the first part of the lecture, I will illustrate how Iconophilia came into being by offering an overview on method(s), questions, dilemmas, and achievements.In the second part, I will focus on Ambrose Autpert, an author active in eighth-century Italy, one of the very few we know today of that period and context, who seems aligned with the religious mentality and attitudes of the popes. In his theological commentaries and homilies, he speaks through and of images – literary images which he had developed in his mind possibly inspired by real-life experience of material and immaterial images, and then he ‘translated’ into words in his texts. He even articulates which kind of images are appropriate to represent – or think of – the Incarnate God. Against the background of the western Christian tradition, which does not offer much reference, Autpert is particularly articulate when he speaks of the Virgin Mary; he does so by adopting and refreshing ‘images’ he probably encountered in Greek liturgical texts. Because of their efficacy, I refer to his literary images as ‘textual icons’. Already a few decades after his death and in the following centuries, his ‘textual icons’ were absorbed into the western monastic spirituality, liturgy, and visual arts and indelibly shaped the subsequent perception of the Mother of God in western Christian mentality and imagination.
The Virgin as Auctoritas: The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority i... more The Virgin as Auctoritas: The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages
(Sessions at the AAH Annual Conference, online, sponsored by ICMA)
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, Università degli studi di Salerno, fdellacqua@unisa.it
This session aims at exploring a fundamental issue: female authority through the lens of visual/material culture. It involves prominently the Virgin Mary – as well as figures of female authority in the medieval world – because in the late decades of the 20th century, feminist thinkers pointed at the ‘negative model’ offered by the Virgin Mary since for centuries she had been branded by the Catholic Church as a role model for modesty, submission and virginity. However, between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Virgin Mary emerged as Queen of Heaven through preaching and liturgical texts, visual arts and public assemblies – that is, the ‘mass media’ of that time. Mary was pictured as a very strong, authoritative figure, rather than weak and compliant.
Already during late Antiquity, Mary was commonly perceived as the mighty protector and spiritual stronghold of capital cities in the Mediterranean. Between the 8th and the 11th centuries, the role of royal women came to the fore, especially in Byzantium and in Ottonian Germany. Very striking is also the case of a number of major Italian city-states between the 12th and the 15th centuries where the Virgin Mary came to be identified with political and economic supremacy. But how did the preaching and missions of mendicant orders affect her image? How has a prominent role for female authorities been transmitted through visual arts and material culture? And what about the roles that women held in Africa and Asia and in other religious traditions?
In sum, this session can help understand what bearing the figure of the humble Virgin Mary eventually had on female leadership, and also how female leadership evolved or not. Topics may include but are not limited to:
• The Virgin Mary as a figure of authority and wisdom in texts and images
• The Virgin Mary in medieval preaching/arts: ‘only’ a model for humility and mercy?
• Female political authority and the Virgin Mary as a role model in texts and images
• Female moral, doctrinal, political and religious authority within and without the Christian
oecumene in texts and images
• Women and power: a difficult relationship.
Line-up
The Virgin as Auctoritas
The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages
AAH 2021 – ICMA Sponsored Sessions, 15 April 2021
https://eu-admin.eventscloud.com/website/2065/the-virgin-as-auctoritas/
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, UniSa, fdellacqua@unisa.it
09.30 - 09.45 GMT Welcome
10.00 - 11.15 GMT Introduction and Papers 1 and 2
Chair: Francesca Dell’Acqua
1. Title of Paper: Photios and the Image of the Mother of God in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople; Name of speaker(s): Mary B. Cunningham
2. Title of Paper: The Theotokos and the Widow of Zarepta: women’s authority as widows and prophets; Name of speaker(s): Barbara Crostini
11.45 - 12.50 GMT Papers 3 and 4
3. Title of Paper: Elevation of Mary’s Authority in Late Antiquity: Her Depiction on the Jewelled Throne and the Footstool; Name of speaker(s): Ernesto Mainoldi and Natalia Teteriatnikov
4. Title of Paper: The Coronation of the Virgin as the Queen of City-States; Name of speaker(s): Kayoko Ichikawa
14.30 - 15.35 GMT Papers 5 and 6
Chair: Mary B. Cunningham
5. Title of Paper: Icons of Authority: new light on the competition between images and relics in Trecento Rome; Name of speaker(s): Claudia Bolgia
6. Title of Paper: “All glory is in the King’s Daughter”: depictions of the Virgin as Empress in the late Byzantine world; Name of speaker(s): Andrei Dumitrescu
16.10 - 17.25 GMT Papers 7 and 8 and closing comments
7. Title of Paper: Sainte Foy and the Medieval Imaginary of Female Sacred Power; Name of speaker(s): Bissera V. Pentcheva
8. Title of Paper: Female Authority, Ecclesiology, and Micro-Architecture in Scandinavian Medieval Art; Name of speaker(s): Kristin B. Aavitsland
«Una cattedrale di idee» – Conversazione su L’ Autunno del Medioevo di Johan Huizinga, e' una lez... more «Una cattedrale di idee» – Conversazione su L’ Autunno del Medioevo di Johan Huizinga, e' una lezione tenuta su invito della Prof. Trotta presso il corso di Metodologia della Storia dell'Arte (piattaforma Teams).
Wittgenstein Award Project
“Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency in Byzantium”
Forum Mo... more Wittgenstein Award Project
“Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency in Byzantium”
Forum Moving Byzantium XX
Transfiguration or Second Coming?
Christ as the ‘Redeeming Light’ in the Age of the Image Controversy
The Wittgenstein Project Team invites you to our twentieth group discussion meeting. “Forum Moving Byzantium XX” will take place on Wednesday 08.01.2020, from 16:00 to 17:30, at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, IMAFO Library, Hollandstraße 11-13, third floor, 1020 Vienna.
The Forum Moving Byzantium XX will provide the unique opportunity to discuss with Prof. Francesca Dell’Acqua Boyvadaoğlu (University of Salerno) her current work on “Transfiguration or Second Coming? Christ as the ‘Redeeming Light’ in the Age of the Image Controversy”.
Francesca Dell’Acqua is Assistant Professor in History of Medieval Art at the University of Salerno and holds the Habilitation to Associate Professorship (ASN 2012). She is interested in how objects and the visual functioned as carrier of ideas and knowledge (as ‘time capsules’), and how visual, material, and intellectual aspects intersected and shaped cultures. She is affiliated with the ‘Moving Byzantium Project’ since 2017.
In this talk, she will concentrate on imagery which was intended to reveal the humanity and divinity perfectly combined in the Son of God, and in particular on the image of Christ as ‘Redeeming Light’, depicted in mosaics commissioned by popes in the first half of the ninth century.
After an introduction to the topic by Prof. Dell’Acqua, there will be time for discussion on the basis of the following preparatory readings (to be read in sequence):
1. Christe, Y., ‘Apocalypse et interprétation iconographique. Quelques remarques liminaires sur les images du Règne de Dieu et de l’Église à l’époque paléo-chrétienne,’ BZ 67 (1974): 92–100.
2. Spieser, J.-M., ‘The Representation of Christ in the Apses of Early Christian Churches,’ Gesta 37.1 (1998): 63–73.
3. Bergmeier, A.F., ‘The Crucifixion as Theophany: Divine Visions in a Sermon by Anastasius Sinaita and on the Apse Wall of Santa Maria Antiqua,’ Journal of Late Antiquity 7.1 (2014): 65–85.
4. Thunø, E., The Apse Mosaic in Early Medieval Rome. Time, Network, and Repetition (New York, 2015), 82–107.
5. Bergmeier, A.F., “Einleitung,” Visionserwartung. Visualisierung und Präsenzerfahrung des Göttlichen in der Spätantike, Spätantike–Frühes Christentum–Byzanz 43 (Wiesbaden, 2017), 11–22.
Some of the questions that will be put forward for discussion are:
1. Christ in the apse: this image was certainly rooted in an eminent textual and visual tradition of theophanies produced between the fourth and the seventh centuries meant as a response to the desire to experience the eternal vision of God. But did its meaning change or expanded in the period of the iconoclastic and adoptionist controversies between the eighth and the ninth centuries? Was the eschatological aspect of this image also (or more) meaningful?
2. Which was the role of preaching about the Transfiguration? Did Greek and Latin homilies on the Transfiguration disseimated a new interpretation of Christ in the clouds? And which was the role of recent commentaries on the Apocalypse?
3. In sum: should we see the apsidal mosaics depicting Christ promoted by (iconophile) popes in the first half of the ninth century as "timeless" or "timely"? or else?
If you are interested in attending the event, please contact Dr. Paraskevi Sykopetritou (Project Coordinator) in order to receive further information and the relevant reading material: paraskevi.sykopetritou@univie.ac.at
For further information and updates on future events you may also consult our website: http://rapp.univie.ac.at/
We hope that you can join our Forum for fruitful discussions!
Tavola Rotonda, Approcci interdisciplinari allo studio dei Beni culturali, Convegno dell'ASSOCIAZ... more Tavola Rotonda, Approcci interdisciplinari allo studio dei Beni culturali, Convegno dell'ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA INSEGNANTI DI GEOGRAFIA, Salerno 3–6 Ottobre 2019
Partecipano: Mariagiovanna Riitano (Università di Salerno), Stefania Zuliani (Università di Salerno), Fausto Longo (Università di Salerno), Francesca Dell’Acqua (Università di Salerno), Luigi Vecchio (Università di Salerno), Vincenzo Aversano (Università di Salerno)
Francesca Dell'Acqua: Il paesaggio come patrimonio culturale – un confronto tra due realtà europee
Three sessions on ROME IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
Organizers: Gregor Kalas and John Osborne
Nel 1304-05 venne approntato da tre orafi francesi, su ordine del re Carlo II d’Angiò, uno straor... more Nel 1304-05 venne approntato da tre orafi francesi, su ordine del re Carlo II d’Angiò, uno straordinario busto-reliquario per san Gennaro, il patrono della capitale angioina in Italia meridionale. Questo non è l’unico busto-reliquario prodotto nella regione nel Basso Medioevo. Alcuni busti-reliquario in argento conservati in musei ‘minori’ della provincia di Salerno attendono di essere rivalutati non solo per le loro peculiarità tecnico-stilistiche, ma soprattutto come contenitori di storie. Prodotti per lo più in epoca angioina, nei secoli più tardi questi busti-reliquario hanno subito riadattamenti per aggiornarli ad un gusto in evoluzione, che insieme a resoconti di processioni e cerimonie liturgiche, testimoniano la continuità del loro utilizzo, e pertanto la lunga durata del culto dei santi che rappresentano.
Chiara Lambert – Francesca Dell'Acqua
La Vergine come orante: un riflesso dell'Aldila' in un dip... more Chiara Lambert – Francesca Dell'Acqua
La Vergine come orante: un riflesso dell'Aldila' in un dipinto murale della Costa d'Amalfi intorno al Mille.
La dedica mariana di un'abbazia rupestre in Costa d'Amalfi (S. Maria de Olearia) è allusa in una pittura murale che raffigura la Vergine come orante, attorniata da due santi e da un donatore con il modellino dell'edificio.
L'attitudine della Vergine ne suggerisce, in conformità con la natura dell'ambiente – uno spazio cultuale a vocazione funeraria – una lettura come riflesso dell'Aldilà, attinto dalla Madre di Dio attraverso l'Assunzione.
Il tipo iconografico dell'orante era di antica tradizione cristiana. Maria-orante tra gli Apostoli era raffigurata al di sotto dell'Ascensione di Cristo al cielo su manufatti devozionali di produzione greco-orientale. Ella è stata interpretata non solo come testimone dell'evento, ma anche come soggetto di una futura Assunzione al cielo. Per inquadrare culturalmente il dipinto in questione, sarà utile ripercorrere il pensiero sul transito di Maria verso la dimensione ultraterrena, che maturò in Oriente nei secoli VII–IX per essere accolto ed elaborato in Occidente tra l'VIII e il XIII. Il dipinto potrebbe infatti vedersi come manifestazione della volontà del committente di godere dell'intercessione di Maria, a sua volta accolta in cielo e suprema mediatrice di salvezza. Per quanto riguarda i santi che la circondano, per uno di essi verrà avanzata una inedita ipotesi di identificazione, con Dionigi l'Areopagita, lo pseudo-apostolo convertito da san Paolo, presunto testimone oculare del trapasso della Vergine.
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Congresses/Seminars/Talks by Francesca Dell'Acqua, Associate Prof., History of Medieval and Byzantine Art
High-relief and three-dimensional images from Rome, Gaul/Francia, England, and Langobardia have occasionally been mentioned in studies on early medieval art, either to retrace the re-birth of three-dimensional statuary or to discuss image worship. They have also been occasionally construed as attestations of iconophilia, that is an attitude in favour of sacred images. Whether this kind of image might have functioned as an ideological statement should be evaluated not only by considering the specific circumstances in which they were situated, but also the broader body of evidence offered by written sources and material culture between the fourth and the ninth centuries in various regions of the West. I set out to do this in my paper.
Cette approche sera à même d’examiner les nombreuses problématiques qui touchent le verre plat et le vitrail en contexte archéologique : comment traiter ces artéfacts sur site, au moment de la découverte, et assurer leur pérennité ; dans quels contextes stratigraphiques ces éléments sont-ils mis au jour : fosses, niveaux de destruction, « terres noires », etc ; pourquoi n’ont-ils pas été récupérés alors que le remploi de panneaux, voire de verrières, est une pratique bien attestée ; quelles données peut-on tirer de l’étude de ces fragments pour la connaissance des bâtiments qui les ont accueillis et leurs décors, sans exclure leur appartenance à des ateliers de production et/ou de peintres-verriers souvent présents sur les chantiers de construction ; comprendre les ateliers qui ont évolué au cours du temps avec, pour des périodes hautes, la production possible de verre plat et creux, puis, visiblement, une spécialisation, surtout après le développement des ateliers primaires en France et la demande croissante de vitrail à partir des XIe-XIIe siècles (question des ateliers de verriers et de peintres verriers) ; penser les ambiances colorées au sein de ces édifices à partir des vestiges recueillis ; comment interpréter la présence de fragments de diverses périodes dans un même ensemble stratigraphique ; quels sont les caractères techniques et physico-chimiques de ces éléments pouvant renseigner sur leurs modes de fabrication et leur mise en œuvre ; quels types de décors parent ces verres, ou traces préparatoires pour la découpe ou la peinture…
Il s’agit donc de privilégier une approche globale et dans une temporalité longue, les sites pouvant livrer des lots de diverses périodes. Pour traiter ces vastes problématiques, cette rencontre s’adressera à différents acteurs de la recherche : archéologues, historiens de l’art, archéomètres et restaurateurs, afin de favoriser les discussions et de confronter les idées, les problématiques. Les sessions seront thématisées et des ateliers seront dédiés à des échanges entre spécialistes.
siècles). L’étude des contextes matériels des sanctuaires est menée de front avec l’examen des dispositifs artistiques destinés à orner les autels et leur environnement immédiat, à révéler et à exalter les saints titulaires et la divinité et à identifier le promoteur et le concepteur de l’œuvre (à travers l’héraldique et l’écriture). Les analyses de la matérialité des structures architecturales et des dispositifs visuels sont combinées avec une approche phénoménologique des œuvres et une compréhension liturgique des rites et des dévotions spécifiques. D’un point de vue méthodologique, nous examinons le décor visuel en relation avec les manifestations sociales attendues au moment des célébrations rituelles.
Ce colloque est convoqué pour suivre cette ligne de pensée, dans laquelle le maître-autel est envisagé comme l’épicentre rituel, spirituel, mais aussi
matériel et émotionnel de toute église. Au fil du temps, et dans le contexte de l’autel de nombreuses productions artistiques ont été privées de l’usage, du contexte et des significations envisagées lors de leur genèse. La matérialité de certaines de ces œuvres a pu être détériorée, altérée voire fusionnée
avec d’autres supports pour revêtir de nouvelles valeurs sémantiques. Les questions de conservation et d’exposition dans des musées fondés à partir du XIXe siècle offrent une excellente occasion de réfléchir à la biographie de ces objets. Ces transformations montrent qu’une œuvre peut être lue selon de nouvelles conditions de perception et d’usages culturels, contextuels
ou environnementaux modifiés, de telle sorte qu’elle peut être reconsidérée et réinterprétée dans son intégralité. En prenant en considération ces différents angles d’approche et des méthodes éprouvées dans le cadre de l’étude de la « longue vie » des objets, ce colloque a pour objectif d’attirer l’attention sur ce phénomène répandu, mais largement négligé par l’historio-
graphie, à travers diverses lignes thématiques :
· la « seconde vie » et la réception ultérieure de certains artefacts à usage liturgique ayant perdu leur fonction originelle, mués en objets de collection ou destinés à la contemplation esthétique;
· les valeurs théologiques, apotropaïques et thaumaturgiques conférées à certains objets à travers des stratégies religieuses ou des traditions populaires quant à leur matérialité ;
· l’influence des multiples facteurs (politiques, religieux, commerciaux) qui ont conduit à la variation matérielle et idéelle des œuvres d’art liées à des au-
tels médiévaux ;
· la prise en compte d’exemples de ces phénomènes dans les collections des musées, à commencer par celles du Musée du Louvre, du Musée national du
Moyen Âge, du Museu Episcopal de Vic et du Musée de l’Université de Bergen.
Ce colloque offre l’occasion de reconsidérer les œuvres en elles-mêmes, comme autant de points de départ pour la compréhension de significations modulables en fonction des contextes successifs de leur usage.
Les discussions et les résultats de cette rencontre permettront également d’envisager de nouvelles stratégies muséographiques et de médiation pour présenter ces œuvres au public.
La table-ronde sera à même d’examiner les nombreuses problématiques qui touchent le verre plat et le vitrail en contexte archéologique, issu de fouilles récentes ou de collections anciennes : comment traiter ces artéfacts sur site, au moment de la découverte, et assurer leur pérennité ; dans quels contextes stratigraphiques ces éléments sont-ils mis au jour: fosses, niveaux de destruction, « terres noires », etc. ; pourquoi n’ont-ils pas été récupérés alors que le remploi de panneaux, voire de verrières, est une pratique bien attestée; quelles données peut-on tirer de l’étude de ces fragments pour la connaissance des bâtiments qui les ont accueillis et leurs décors, sans exclure leur appartenance à des ateliers de production et/ou de peintres-verriers souvent présents sur les chantiers de construction ; que dire des ateliers qui ont évolué au cours du temps avec, pour des périodes hautes, la production possible de verre plat et creux, puis, visiblement, une spécialisation, surtout après le développement des ateliers primaires en France et la demande croissante de vitrail à partir des XIe-XIIe siècles (question des ateliers de verriers et de peintres-verriers); comment imaginer les ambiances colorées au sein de ces édifices à partir des vestiges recueillis; comment interpréter la présence de fragments de diverses périodes dans un même ensemble stratigraphique ; quels sont les caractères techniques et physico-chimiques de ces artefacts pouvant renseigner sur leurs modes de fabrication et leur mise en œuvre ; quels types de décors parent ces verres, et existent-ils des traces préparatoires pour la découpe ou la peinture? Il s’agit donc de privilégier une approche globale et dans une temporalité longue, les sites pouvant livrer des lots de diverses périodes. Pour traiter ces vastes problématiques, cette rencontre s’adressera à différents acteurs de la recherche: archéologues, spécialistes du verre et des mobiliers métalliques, historiens de l’art, archéomètres et restaurateurs, afin de favoriser les discussions et de confronter les idées, les problématiques. Les sessions seront thématisées et des ateliers seront dédiés à des échanges entre spécialistes.
Il Volto Santo di Lucca, una statua tradizionalmente ritenuta acheropita, dalla seconda metà dell’XI secolo è stato oggetto di un culto diffuso in Europa e dal Duecento ha assunto una forte valenza civica. I recenti restauri hanno rimesso in discussione la datazione tradizionale proposta dagli storici dell’arte (XI-XII sec.), retrodatandone il supporto ligneo all’epoca carolingia sulla base delle moderne metodologie scientifiche (dendrocronologia e carbonio 14). Questa nuova datazione non ha convinto pienamente gli storici dell'arte, che sulla base dell’analisi stilistica ritengono di poter collocare la realizzazione dell’attuale raffigurazione pittorica non prima dell’età ottoniana o salica. Si devono quindi ipotizzare ridipinture? Una vicenda analoga ha riguardato il Crocifisso tunicato di Sansepolcro, anch’esso retrodatato sin dagli anni Novanta all’età carolingia e identificato da Anna Maria Maetzke con l’originario Volto Santo di Lucca, che secondo la sua ipotesi (non supportata da validi argomenti e ormai insostenibile) sarebbe stato trasferito da Lucca a Borgo Sansepolcro nella seconda metà del XII secolo e sostituito in loco da una nuova statua.
Agli sviluppi europei dell’iconografia del Volto Santo di Lucca ha dedicato una monografia Stefano Martinelli (L’immagine del Volto santo di Lucca, Pisa 2016), mentre Ilaria Sabbatini, studiosa dei racconti di pellegrinaggio, ha raccolto in un sito (ARVO- Archivio digitale del Volto Santo, archiviovoltosanto.org) immagini, bibliografia e rinvii ai manoscritti della leggenda agiografica leobiniana (la cui redazione definitiva, con due distinti rami della tradizione, è collocabile nel XII secolo), di cui una équipe coordinata da Michele Ferrari sta preparando da tempo l’edizione critica. Michele Ferrari ha già organizzato nel 2000 un convegno a Engelberg che ha consentito di collocare il culto e l’iconografia del Crocifisso lucchese in un contesto europeo (Il Volto Santo in Europa. Culto e immagini del Crocifisso nel Medioevo, a cura di M. Ferrari e A. Meyer, Lucca 2005), e in vari contributi ha formulato alcune ipotesi sulla stratigrafia del testo della leggenda. Mediante un’analisi accurata del De laudibus sanctae Crucis di Rabano Mauro (redatto nel secondo decennio del IX secolo) egli ha intravisto in questo poema figurato le spie di una nuova attenzione all’immagine del Crocifisso.
Il panel proposto intende analizzare il retroterra culturale che ha favorito il decollo delle rappresentazioni tridimensionali di Cristo, inquadrandole nel più ampio contesto del dibattito tra iconoduli e iconoclasti sulla legittimità del culto delle immagini e dell’emergere, a Roma e in Italia, di una “iconofilia” di cui Francesca Dell’Acqua (Iconophilia. Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the Use of Images in Rome, c. 680-880, London 2020) ha evidenziato le connessioni con i dibattiti teologici sull’Incarnazione e sull’Assunzione di Maria. Verranno quindi indagati, in una prospettiva transdisciplinare attenta ai rapporti tra Oriente e Occidente e alle interazioni tra fonti scritte e fonti iconografiche, il culto delle immagini (nelle sue diverse sfumature) e le resistenze ad esso, le tipologie rappresentative del Crocifisso nel mondo cristiano e gli aspetti devozionali e liturgico-cultuali connessi a immagini che non erano mere “opere d’arte” nel senso moderno, con una funzione in primo luogo estetica, ma oggetti sacri intorno ai quali si svilupparono devozioni private e pubbliche.
Proponente: Raffaele Savigni raffaele.savigni@unibo.it
Partecipanti:
Raffaele Savigni raffaele.savigni@unibo.it
Ilaria Sabbatini ilaria.sabbatini@gmail.com
Francesca Dell’Acqua fdellacqua@unisa.it
'"The world's most powerful woman"?: The Virgin Mary and authority in early medieval Mercia'
IALS Lecture Theatre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR
(Book at: https://sas.sym-online.com/registrationforms/warburg-booking50772512515125351255512575125951261512635126552297/done/)
Labelled on the cover of the National Geographic magazine as “the World’s most powerful woman” in 2015, the Virgin Mary has also been held responsible for presenting a role model of a humble and subservient woman, allegedly impacting past and today’s lack of female leadership in the West and elsewhere. However, when we look at how the Virgin Mary was depicted in texts, images, preaching, and tales in the eastern Mediterranean and in the early medieval West, she appears as a multivalent figure which emblematises various virtues, spanning from humility (humilitas) to wisdom (sapientia) and spiritual, moral, and even doctrinal authority (auctoritas). By the late medieval period, however, her image as a compassionate and nurturing mother prevailed, possibly as a consequence of Medicant preaching, as well as of the Protestant Reformation and the ensuing Catholic Counter Reformation.
An interesting case study through which to investigate how the authority and power of the Virgin came to be constructed is a carved stone relief immured in the Priory Church of St Mary and St Hardulph at Breedon-on-the-Hill (Leicestershire), part of the largest group of sculpture from the early medieval kingdom of Mercia. This relief represents the Virgin Mary, half-length, veiled, with no nimbus, as she imparts a blessing to the beholder while pointing to a book she reverently holds in her veiled left hand. It has been suggested that the Breedon iconography and style may be derived from seventh-century Byzantine icons. Yet, its iconography, let alone the fact that Mary holds a book and not her Child, is not found in Byzantine art, and remains highly unusual to the point that not all scholars who dealt with it believe it to be a representation of the Virgin. Therefore, we should ask: is the relief in Breedon to be seen as a variation of a Byzantine iconography of the Mother of God, or as a Mercian rendition of an earlier, lost model, or as an invention? What does it mean? And what does its historical context suggest?
Breedon’s sculpted reliefs have been dated to the late eighth–early ninth century based on style and themes. This was a time of splendour and political stability for Mercia and of wide-ranging contacts with the Continent and possibly with the eastern Mediterranean. However, we do not know which circumstances produced the extraordinary panel with the Virgin. It is the aim of the present lecture not only to highlight its innovative character when compared to previous Marian depictions in the East and in the West, but also to explain its significance against the background of various theological controversies which took place on the Continent and across the Mediterranean in the late eighth and early ninth centuries; they disputed, among other things, the perfect combination of the human and divine natures in Christ and the role of the Virgin Mary. The English scholar Alcuin, active at the court of Charlemagne but still much involved in the English Church and its politics, was at the forefront in defending orthodoxy and promoting the study of letters and theology to defend orthodoxy. Can we explain the conception of the Breedon Virgin with the book in this context? What relation does it have with other Mercian depictions of Mary?
Francesca Dell’Acqua, Associate Professor and Chair, History of Medieval and Byzantine Art
Università degli studi di Salerno, Italy
Email address: fdellacqua@unisa.it
Nel mio intervento desidero proporre una riflessione sulla trasmissione di idee intorno alla Vergine Maria in un’area tra Sabina, Marsica e Sannio nella quale si intersecavano la Tiburtina Valeria e altre antiche strade romane. Questa area non è solo uno spazio geografico ma anche un paesaggio spirituale; ad esso si sovrammise una rete di relazioni non sempre documentate, talora solo intuibili, da cui scaturì la formulazione di concetti e immagini mentali e visuali della Vergine Maria che avranno importanti sviluppi non solo nella dottrina teologica, culti pubblici e devozione privata, ma anche nelle espressioni visive del Medioevo.
L’evidenza rimasta suggerisce che la cultura religiosa e visiva di Roma avesse funto da catalizzatore per le riflessioni su tema mariano di illustri autori monastici. Rimane da chiedersi quanto la geomorfologia dell’Italia centro-meridionale e la sua viabilità avesse favorito la costruzione di quel paesaggio spirituale in cui avvenne un fruttuoso scambio di idee su Maria e il consolidamento della sua immagine.
(Sessions at the AAH Annual Conference, online, sponsored by ICMA)
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, Università degli studi di Salerno, fdellacqua@unisa.it
This session aims at exploring a fundamental issue: female authority through the lens of visual/material culture. It involves prominently the Virgin Mary – as well as figures of female authority in the medieval world – because in the late decades of the 20th century, feminist thinkers pointed at the ‘negative model’ offered by the Virgin Mary since for centuries she had been branded by the Catholic Church as a role model for modesty, submission and virginity. However, between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Virgin Mary emerged as Queen of Heaven through preaching and liturgical texts, visual arts and public assemblies – that is, the ‘mass media’ of that time. Mary was pictured as a very strong, authoritative figure, rather than weak and compliant.
Already during late Antiquity, Mary was commonly perceived as the mighty protector and spiritual stronghold of capital cities in the Mediterranean. Between the 8th and the 11th centuries, the role of royal women came to the fore, especially in Byzantium and in Ottonian Germany. Very striking is also the case of a number of major Italian city-states between the 12th and the 15th centuries where the Virgin Mary came to be identified with political and economic supremacy. But how did the preaching and missions of mendicant orders affect her image? How has a prominent role for female authorities been transmitted through visual arts and material culture? And what about the roles that women held in Africa and Asia and in other religious traditions?
In sum, this session can help understand what bearing the figure of the humble Virgin Mary eventually had on female leadership, and also how female leadership evolved or not. Topics may include but are not limited to:
• The Virgin Mary as a figure of authority and wisdom in texts and images
• The Virgin Mary in medieval preaching/arts: ‘only’ a model for humility and mercy?
• Female political authority and the Virgin Mary as a role model in texts and images
• Female moral, doctrinal, political and religious authority within and without the Christian
oecumene in texts and images
• Women and power: a difficult relationship.
Line-up
The Virgin as Auctoritas
The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages
AAH 2021 – ICMA Sponsored Sessions, 15 April 2021
https://eu-admin.eventscloud.com/website/2065/the-virgin-as-auctoritas/
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, UniSa, fdellacqua@unisa.it
09.30 - 09.45 GMT Welcome
10.00 - 11.15 GMT Introduction and Papers 1 and 2
Chair: Francesca Dell’Acqua
1. Title of Paper: Photios and the Image of the Mother of God in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople; Name of speaker(s): Mary B. Cunningham
2. Title of Paper: The Theotokos and the Widow of Zarepta: women’s authority as widows and prophets; Name of speaker(s): Barbara Crostini
11.45 - 12.50 GMT Papers 3 and 4
3. Title of Paper: Elevation of Mary’s Authority in Late Antiquity: Her Depiction on the Jewelled Throne and the Footstool; Name of speaker(s): Ernesto Mainoldi and Natalia Teteriatnikov
4. Title of Paper: The Coronation of the Virgin as the Queen of City-States; Name of speaker(s): Kayoko Ichikawa
14.30 - 15.35 GMT Papers 5 and 6
Chair: Mary B. Cunningham
5. Title of Paper: Icons of Authority: new light on the competition between images and relics in Trecento Rome; Name of speaker(s): Claudia Bolgia
6. Title of Paper: “All glory is in the King’s Daughter”: depictions of the Virgin as Empress in the late Byzantine world; Name of speaker(s): Andrei Dumitrescu
16.10 - 17.25 GMT Papers 7 and 8 and closing comments
7. Title of Paper: Sainte Foy and the Medieval Imaginary of Female Sacred Power; Name of speaker(s): Bissera V. Pentcheva
8. Title of Paper: Female Authority, Ecclesiology, and Micro-Architecture in Scandinavian Medieval Art; Name of speaker(s): Kristin B. Aavitsland
“Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency in Byzantium”
Forum Moving Byzantium XX
Transfiguration or Second Coming?
Christ as the ‘Redeeming Light’ in the Age of the Image Controversy
The Wittgenstein Project Team invites you to our twentieth group discussion meeting. “Forum Moving Byzantium XX” will take place on Wednesday 08.01.2020, from 16:00 to 17:30, at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, IMAFO Library, Hollandstraße 11-13, third floor, 1020 Vienna.
The Forum Moving Byzantium XX will provide the unique opportunity to discuss with Prof. Francesca Dell’Acqua Boyvadaoğlu (University of Salerno) her current work on “Transfiguration or Second Coming? Christ as the ‘Redeeming Light’ in the Age of the Image Controversy”.
Francesca Dell’Acqua is Assistant Professor in History of Medieval Art at the University of Salerno and holds the Habilitation to Associate Professorship (ASN 2012). She is interested in how objects and the visual functioned as carrier of ideas and knowledge (as ‘time capsules’), and how visual, material, and intellectual aspects intersected and shaped cultures. She is affiliated with the ‘Moving Byzantium Project’ since 2017.
In this talk, she will concentrate on imagery which was intended to reveal the humanity and divinity perfectly combined in the Son of God, and in particular on the image of Christ as ‘Redeeming Light’, depicted in mosaics commissioned by popes in the first half of the ninth century.
After an introduction to the topic by Prof. Dell’Acqua, there will be time for discussion on the basis of the following preparatory readings (to be read in sequence):
1. Christe, Y., ‘Apocalypse et interprétation iconographique. Quelques remarques liminaires sur les images du Règne de Dieu et de l’Église à l’époque paléo-chrétienne,’ BZ 67 (1974): 92–100.
2. Spieser, J.-M., ‘The Representation of Christ in the Apses of Early Christian Churches,’ Gesta 37.1 (1998): 63–73.
3. Bergmeier, A.F., ‘The Crucifixion as Theophany: Divine Visions in a Sermon by Anastasius Sinaita and on the Apse Wall of Santa Maria Antiqua,’ Journal of Late Antiquity 7.1 (2014): 65–85.
4. Thunø, E., The Apse Mosaic in Early Medieval Rome. Time, Network, and Repetition (New York, 2015), 82–107.
5. Bergmeier, A.F., “Einleitung,” Visionserwartung. Visualisierung und Präsenzerfahrung des Göttlichen in der Spätantike, Spätantike–Frühes Christentum–Byzanz 43 (Wiesbaden, 2017), 11–22.
Some of the questions that will be put forward for discussion are:
1. Christ in the apse: this image was certainly rooted in an eminent textual and visual tradition of theophanies produced between the fourth and the seventh centuries meant as a response to the desire to experience the eternal vision of God. But did its meaning change or expanded in the period of the iconoclastic and adoptionist controversies between the eighth and the ninth centuries? Was the eschatological aspect of this image also (or more) meaningful?
2. Which was the role of preaching about the Transfiguration? Did Greek and Latin homilies on the Transfiguration disseimated a new interpretation of Christ in the clouds? And which was the role of recent commentaries on the Apocalypse?
3. In sum: should we see the apsidal mosaics depicting Christ promoted by (iconophile) popes in the first half of the ninth century as "timeless" or "timely"? or else?
If you are interested in attending the event, please contact Dr. Paraskevi Sykopetritou (Project Coordinator) in order to receive further information and the relevant reading material: paraskevi.sykopetritou@univie.ac.at
For further information and updates on future events you may also consult our website: http://rapp.univie.ac.at/
We hope that you can join our Forum for fruitful discussions!
Partecipano: Mariagiovanna Riitano (Università di Salerno), Stefania Zuliani (Università di Salerno), Fausto Longo (Università di Salerno), Francesca Dell’Acqua (Università di Salerno), Luigi Vecchio (Università di Salerno), Vincenzo Aversano (Università di Salerno)
Francesca Dell'Acqua: Il paesaggio come patrimonio culturale – un confronto tra due realtà europee
La Vergine come orante: un riflesso dell'Aldila' in un dipinto murale della Costa d'Amalfi intorno al Mille.
La dedica mariana di un'abbazia rupestre in Costa d'Amalfi (S. Maria de Olearia) è allusa in una pittura murale che raffigura la Vergine come orante, attorniata da due santi e da un donatore con il modellino dell'edificio.
L'attitudine della Vergine ne suggerisce, in conformità con la natura dell'ambiente – uno spazio cultuale a vocazione funeraria – una lettura come riflesso dell'Aldilà, attinto dalla Madre di Dio attraverso l'Assunzione.
Il tipo iconografico dell'orante era di antica tradizione cristiana. Maria-orante tra gli Apostoli era raffigurata al di sotto dell'Ascensione di Cristo al cielo su manufatti devozionali di produzione greco-orientale. Ella è stata interpretata non solo come testimone dell'evento, ma anche come soggetto di una futura Assunzione al cielo. Per inquadrare culturalmente il dipinto in questione, sarà utile ripercorrere il pensiero sul transito di Maria verso la dimensione ultraterrena, che maturò in Oriente nei secoli VII–IX per essere accolto ed elaborato in Occidente tra l'VIII e il XIII. Il dipinto potrebbe infatti vedersi come manifestazione della volontà del committente di godere dell'intercessione di Maria, a sua volta accolta in cielo e suprema mediatrice di salvezza. Per quanto riguarda i santi che la circondano, per uno di essi verrà avanzata una inedita ipotesi di identificazione, con Dionigi l'Areopagita, lo pseudo-apostolo convertito da san Paolo, presunto testimone oculare del trapasso della Vergine.