IMC 2020: Sessions
Session 202: The Body in Medieval Art, I
Monday 6 July 2020, 14.15-15.45
| Sponsor: | Universiteit van Amsterdam |
|---|---|
| Organiser: | Wendelien A. W. Van Welie-Vink, Afdeling Kunst- en cultuurwetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam |
| Moderator/Chair: | Huib Iserief, Afdeling Kunst- en cultuurwetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam |
| Paper 202-a | The Bathing Women of the Old Testament: Susanna and Bathsheba during the Middle Ages (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - General, Art History - Painting |
| Paper 202-b | From Head to Toe: The Body and Head of St James the Great Reconnected through Architecture? (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - General, Art History - Sculpture |
| Paper 202-c | Beaten, Burned, and Butchered: The Martyred Body in Politics and Propaganda (Language: English) 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, corporeal reality. Small iconographical details on these bodies often grasp the gaze of the viewer, such as the wounds of Christ, or the hand of Gabriël in scenes of the Annunciation. In many cases, these details inform us of the significance of the 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 and early Renaissance, 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. |