CALL FOR PAPERS: Coast to Coast: Artistic Exchanges and Cultural Identities from Pisa to Barcelona in the Middle Ages (Royal College of Art, AAH Annual Conference, London, 10-12 April 2014). Convenors of Session: Stefania Gerevini (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Emanuele Lugli (University of York).
The long stretch of coast that connects northern Tuscany to Cataluña features prominently in the art historical literature of the Middle Ages. Cities such as Pisa, Genoa, Marseille, Arles, Narbonne, and Barcelona were vital commercial hubs, and their discrete heritage has stimulated scholarship for decades. However, partly reflecting medieval political fragmentation and partly ensuing from modern frontiers, our knowledge of their artistic interaction remains underexplored.
This panel aims to address this shortcoming. We invite papers that, examining the diverse visual cultures of the north-western Mediterranean and exploring such issues as portability, cultural diplomacy, trade and ideologies of conquest, will promote a holistic approach to this area, and improve our understanding of its artistic, architectural and cultural topography from the twelfth to the fourteenth century.
The panel will investigate the circulation of objects, artists and ideas across this region and their impact on the formation of local artistic identities. It will highlight the role of Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands as sites of military confrontation as well as cultural interaction, and will examine the ties between this area and the wider Mediterranean context.
Topics may include (but are not limited to):
* the meaning of banded architecture from Pisa to Le-Puy;
* Byzantine and Islamic artifacts in Liguria;
* monumental wood sculpture from Olot’s Batilló Majesty to Lucca’s Volto Santo;
* military conflict and artistic exchange between Arles, Genoa and Pisa;
* Mendicant architecture across the Pyrenees; Cartography of the Balearic Sea;
* patronage and identity in the Sardinian Giudicati.
Abstracts (max. 250 words) for papers of 25-30 minutes are to be sent to Stefania Gerevini and to Emanuele Lugli by 5 September 2013.