Institute for Medieval Studies
IMC 2022 Session
Session | 201 |
Title | The Body in Medieval Art, I |
Date/Time | Monday 4 July 2022: 14.15-15.45 |
Sponsor | Universiteit van Amsterdam |
Organiser | Wendelien A. W. van Welie-Vink, Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam |
Moderator/Chair | Wendelien A. W. van Welie-Vink, Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam |
Paper 201-a | The Bathing Beauties of the Middle Ages: The History and Likeness of Susanna and Bathseba (Language: English) Mathilde van den Bosch, Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam Index Terms: Architecture - General; Art History - Painting; Gender Studies |
Paper 201-b | Beaten, Burned, and Butchered: The Martyred Body in Politics and Propaganda (Language: English) Wouter Maas, Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam Index Terms: Architecture - General; Art History - Painting; Hagiography |
Paper 201-c | On the Verge of Vulgarity: The Iconography of the Rose in the Roman de la Rose (Language: English) Sophie de Boer, Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam Index Terms: Art History - General; Art History - Painting; Manuscripts and Palaeography |
Paper 201-d | Mycon and Pero and the Missing Motive: How a Textual Tradition Warranted the Presence and Absence of an Ancient Motive in the Visual Arts (Language: English) Tycho Blauw, Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam Index Terms: Art History - General; Art History - Painting |
Abstract | Medieval expressions, thoughts and iconographies on the human body frequently surpass the borders of its material reality. Iconographical details on these bodies often grasp the gaze of the viewer, such as the wounds of Christ. Or, Mary's nipple in between her fingers, when milk sprouts from her breast. In many cases, these details inform us on the significance of human body for understanding corporality and matters beyond the body. Artists often embedded messages in these corporal details. We will aim to uncover these messages and meanings, as our contemporary minds often cannot grasp the medieval body and it's use. In these sessions, researchers and students will approach images of the body in Medieval art within and beyond the borders of the physical body. Through various artworks of the Middle Ages we will seek to assess how the body was represented to construct an iconography related to mundane topics such as hygiene, prudence and promiscuity. But also on divine topics such as the incarnation and sacrifice. |