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IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 213: Representing Poverty: Charitable Piety and Holy Models, I

Monday 11 July 2011, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Giotto's Circle, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Organiser:Jessica N. Richardson, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Moderator/Chair:Joanna Cannon, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Paper 213-a'Res Pauperum': The Works of Mercy in the Last Judgement by Nicolaus and Iohannes (1061-71)
(Language: English)
Federico Botana, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Index terms: Art History - General, Art History - Painting, Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography
Paper 213-bPiety towards Prisoners: St Leonard of Noblat and the Augustinian Canons
(Language: English)
Jessica N. Richardson, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Index terms: Art History - General, Hagiography, Lay Piety, Monasticism
Paper 213-cSt Anthony's Alms as a Problematic Model for the Antonites: An Hagiographical and Iconographical Study
(Language: English)
Laura Fenelli, Kunsthistorisches Institut, Max-Planck-Institut, Firenze
Index terms: Art History - General, Hagiography, Religious Life
Abstract

From administering hospitals to visiting prisoners and feeding the hungry, a sense of collective obligation permeated medieval life. Holy figures, either recently deceased or long dead, reinforced these objectives and served as models for charitable behaviour. The papers in this panel explore how images contributed to this process. Questions considered by our speakers include: In what ways did images of exemplary individuals serve as a means of advertising corporate activities? How did representations of actions such as distributing alms and clothing the poor reflect or reinforce behavioural norms within a given community? In what ways did they serve also as a means of inciting participation? The papers will address the ways in which monastic, mendicant and lay communities used images of the life and good deeds of holy figures to direct their charitable aims, and the extent to which such artistic commissions might have been directed at the poor themselves.