IMC 2020: Sessions
Session 302: The Body in Medieval Art, II
Monday 6 July 2020, 16.30-18.00
Sponsor: | Universiteit van Amsterdam |
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Organiser: | Wendelien A. W. Van Welie-Vink, Afdeling Kunst- en cultuurwetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam |
Moderator/Chair: | Julian Gardner, Department of the History of Art, University of Warwick |
Paper 302-a | On the Borders of Prudence: The Limits of Sexual Intercourse in Medieval Images (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - General, Art History - Painting |
Paper 302-b | Pointing Fingers: The Annunciation in Early Renaissance Italy (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - General, Art History - Painting |
Paper 302-c | Sacred or Scandalous?: How to Approach Depictions of Genitals in Medieval Art (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - Decorative Arts, 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 Gabriƫl 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. |