Postgraduate colloquium

Authority and Identity in the Middle Ages

A Mosaic detail of Roger II wearing a blue robe and a gilded sash, receiving the crown from Christ. Christ appears taller than him and as if hovering, wearing a brown and dar blue robe, he also holds a parchment on his left hand. i Mosaic detail of Roger II receiving the crown from Christ, Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, Palermo, Sicily, 12th century. Image: Matthias Süßen, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Studies of medieval art have often focused on works of art featuring, or patronised by, those in positions of authority.  More recently scholars have moved towards a wider understanding of the ways in which works of art established a sense of authority and impacted the identity of the communities who viewed and used them.  However, concepts of ‘authority’ and ‘identity’, and their complex interrelationship, are rarely interrogated in a holistic way.

The two concepts are often inextricably linked.  Identities were shaped by those in positions of authority; images endowed with ‘authority’ could influence how those interacting with them self- identified; patrons claimed authority through images, often forging their public identity as charitable, pious figures.  But what does it mean to claim authority in the Middle Ages?  And what exactly did it mean to have an identity?  Even today, these concepts are complex and multi-faceted – most notably one self-identification can differ dramatically from that imposed by others.

In this colloquium, we want to address these topics afresh, exploring how art and material culture reflect and produce concepts of identity and authority.  We will also consider how alternative perspectives could reinforce or subvert ideas of an authoritative voice or image.

The colloquium begins at 10.30am at The Courtauld Institute of Art in Vernon Square.

Programme

10:00: – Registration opens

10:30: Welcome by organisers Jane Stewart, Laura Feigen, Irakli Tezelashvili, Florence Eccleston

Session 1 – Power of Popes and the Shaping of Monastic Identity 
Chaired by Sam Truman, Samuel H. Kress Predoctoral fellow, The Courtauld Institute of Art.

Emma Iadanza, Courtauld PhD student, ‘A New Reconstruction of Leo X’s Liturgical Manuscripts’.
Vittoria Magnoler, PhD student, University of Genoa, ‘Stating the Authority of Aquinas. The Triumph by Bonaiuti as an Identity Manifesto of the Dominicans of Santa Maria Novella’.
Blanche Lagrange, PhD Student, University of Poitiers (CESCM), ‘The reform at Saint-Bertin during the 10th century: new institutional authority and identity in Boulogne-sur-Mer, BM, MS. 107’.

12.15 – 13.15: Break

Session 2 – Religion and Shaping of Individual Identity 
Chaired by Sophia Dumoulin, Courtauld PhD student.

Sophia Adams, Courtauld PhD student, ‘“Þat tyme þis schrowyll I dyd wryte”: Canon Percival of Coverham’s Prayer Roll, Morgan Library and Museum, Glazier MS 39’.
Natalia Muñoz-Rojas, Courtauld PhD candidate, ‘ “We first settlers”: The altarpieces of San Bartolomé and Virgen de la Antigua in the Parish Church of San José in Granada’.
Lucy Splarn, PhD student in the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent, ‘The identity of pilgrims through the art of souvenirs’.

14.45 – 15.15: Break

Session 3 – Church Architecture and Shaping of Community Identity
Chaired by Helen Dejean, Courtauld PhD candidate.

Florence Eccleston, Courtauld PhD student, ‘Moral and Political Identity in Late Medieval English Wall Paintings of Sin’.
Klaudia Sniezek, PhD student, Jagiellonian University in Cracow, ‘Unveiling Identities in Stone: Burial in the Portico of Czerwinsk Abbey’.
Isabelle Chisholm, MPhil student, University of Cambridge, ‘The “Afterlife” of The Rajhrad Dormition of the Virgin (1375-1380): defining Czech Nationaism Across Transcultural Impulses’.

16.45: Drinks Reception

Organised by Courtauld PhD students Jane Stewart, Laura Feigen, Irakli Tezelashvili and Florence Eccleston. 

This event has passed.

15 Mar 2024

10:00 - 16:30

Free, booking essential

Vernon Square Campus, Lecture Theatre 2

This event takes place at our Vernon Square campus (WC1X 9EW)

Tags: 

Research

Series: 

MedievalPhD
A Mosaic detail of Roger II wearing a blue robe and a gilded sash, receiving the crown from Christ. Christ appears taller than him and as if hovering, wearing a brown and dar blue robe, he also holds a parchment on his left hand.
Mosaic detail of Roger II receiving the crown from Christ, Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, Palermo, Sicily, 12th century. Image: Matthias Süßen, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Citations