CALL FOR PAPERS: International Medieval Congress Leeds 2025, due Sunday 29 September 2024

Call for Papers
ICMA Sponsored Session at the International Medieval Congress
Leeds, United Kingdom
7-10 July 2025

Viewing the Invisible: Multisensory Approaches to the Divine in East and West
due Sunday 29 September 2024

Viewing the Invisible: Multisensory Approaches to the Divine in East and West

Organizer:
Ioanna Christoforaki, Academy of Athens
 
Abstract Submission:
Please submit paper title and abstract to ichristoforaki@yahoo.co.uk
 
Session Proposal
 
If, as John (4:12) declares, “No man hath seen God at any time”, how is the divine experienced by the faithful? How do you believe in what cannot be seen or not evident to the senses? Can the invisible God be made visible?
 
Although vision was considered the primary sense since antiquity and continued to be perceived as such throughout the Middle Ages, faith came with the visualization of things unseen. According to Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. In other words, God is encountered by faith and experienced by the body and the senses.
 
The doctrine of the spiritual senses was first formulated by Origen in the third century and has since played a significant role in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology. It asserts that there are five spiritual senses bearing likeness to the exterior senses, by which God can be encountered.
 
In material terms, the liturgical tradition of the Christian Church combined the sacred and the sensory through elaborate rituals which engage all five senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Painted images and liturgical objects of Christian faith were instrumental in bringing into contact the faithful with the divine: mosaics, frescoes, and icons depicted Christ, the Virgin and the saints in church decoration; holy relics were venerated across the East and West, while chants were an integral part of the liturgy.
 
However, hagiographical texts attest that these seemingly static images or inanimate artefacts generated reciprocal actions, which engaged the whole array of senses. In fact, images and objects were thought of as living entities, capable of performance and interaction with the devotees through bodily senses: frescoes, icons, and relics were believed to have miracle-working powers so they were not only seen but also touched and even tasted; candles and lamps, perfumed oil and incense also involved touching and smelling; painted inscriptions may have been recited or even chanted.
 
The multi-sensory impact of images and objects on medieval Christian faith has certainly been explored in recent scholarship though not exhaustively. The ambition of this session is to host the latest research on the topic and re-ignite the discussion of experiencing the divine in a holistic way. It invites papers comparing and contrasting the multi-sensory approaches to holiness both in the East and West. In addition to vision, it will seek illustrative examples of a multi-sensory nature which place frescoes, icons, relics and inscriptions in the center of a synesthetic religious experience both in Eastern and the Western Christianity. Participants are expected to address the sensual perception of religious objects and reveal the intersection of the bodily and spiritual, the physical and intellectual, and ultimately the human and divine aspect of medieval religiosity.
 
Delivery Mode:
In-Person (The ICMA offers travel subventions for the participants in this session; see below)
 
Keywords:
Vision; Senses; History of the Senses; Medieval Senses; Sensory Studies; Art and the Five Senses; Anthropology of the Senses; Medieval Visual Culture; Medieval Religious Practice; Medieval Spaces; Medieval Saints’ Cult; Medieval Material Culture; Medieval Devotional Culture; Medieval Spirituality; Culture and Cognition.
 
Note:
Speakers must be ICMA members at the time of the conference.
 

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A NOTE ABOUT KRESS TRAVEL GRANTS

Thanks to a generous grant from the Kress Foundation, funds may be available to defray travel costs of speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions up to a maximum of $600 for domestic travel and of $1200 for overseas travel. If available, the Kress funds are allocated for travel and hotel only. Speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions will be refunded only after the conference, against travel receipts.  In addition to speakers, session organizers delivering papers as an integral part of the session (i.e. with a specific title listed in the program) are now also eligible to receive travel funding. 

Click here for more information.

ICMA in Milwaukee on Saturday 12 October 2024: Tour of "Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives" + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

ICMA in Milwaukee
Tour of Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

Saturday 12 October 2024
2pm CT

Register HERE

ICMA members are warmly invited to an informal gathering at the Haggerty Museum of Art on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday, October 12th, beginning at 2:00pm to view Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives. The co-curators of the exhibition, Abby Armstrong Check, Claire Kilgore, and Tania Kolarik will give a brief introduction to the exhibition and highlight different objects within the show. Attendees will then be welcome to roam the galleries. At 3:00pm we will walk over as group to the Joan of Arc Chapel on the campus of Marquette University where Abby Armstrong Check will give a short talk about the history of the only consecrated medieval chapel in the United States.

More information about the exhibition: https://www.marquette.edu/haggerty-museum/material-muses.php

Register HERE

ICMA at the Forum Kunst Des Mittelalters on Friday 27 September 2024: Sponsored Session + Reception

ICMA at the Forum Kunst Des Mittelalters
“Shining with Truth”: Silver as Material and Medium

Ortenberg Altar (detail), ca. 1420, Middle Rhine (Mainz?)
Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, GK 4

ICMA Sponsored Session
Friday 27 September 2024
14:30 - 16:00
Location: Uni-Hauptgebäude, Fürstengraben 1, Senatssaal

Organized by Joseph Salvatore Ackley & Joshua O’Driscoll

Adrien Palladino
Silver as Social Alchemy: Saints, Symbolic Exchange, and Religious Mutations in Late Antiquity

Rowanne Dean
Silver-G(u)ild: Late Medieval French Confraternity Treasure Reconsidered

Milan Matejka
Shades of Silver, Grisaille Gleam: Materiality, Meaning, and Religious Discourse in the 15th-Century Holy Roman Empire

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Closing Reception

Friday 27 September 2024
19:00
Location: Uni-Hauptgebäude, Fürstengraben 1, Aula

Remarks by Ralph Gleis, President of Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, Svea Janzen, and Juliane von Fircks

Official opening of the exhibition Glanz, Licht, Arbeit, Symbol. Eine kleine Kulturgeschichte des Glases

Reception to follow sponsored by the ICMA

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Medieval Coming Attractions, 2024-25: Thursday 12 September 2024 at 12pm ET (18:00 CET), online. Register today!

Medieval Coming Attractions, 2024-25
An online event presented by the Friends of the ICMA

Thursday 12 September 2024
12pm ET (18:00 CET)

Register HERE

Please join the Friends of the ICMA for the latest in a series of special online events on Thursday 12 September 2024 at 12:00pm ET (18:00 CET). The hour-long program will preview three medieval exhibitions, each introduced by its curator.

Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 (13 October 2024– 26 January 2025; The Metropolitan Museum of Art), curated by Stephan Wolohojian, examines an exceptional moment at the dawn of the Renaissance and the pivotal role of Sienese artists—including Duccio, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini—in defining Western painting. While Florence is often positioned as the center of the Renaissance, this presentation offers a fresh perspective on the importance of Siena, from Duccio’s profound influence on a new generation of painters to the development of narrative altarpieces and the dissemination of artistic styles beyond Italy.  Drawing on the collections of The Met and the National Gallery, London, as well as rare loans from dozens of other major lenders, the exhibition includes over 100 works (paintings, sculptures, metalwork, and textiles) ranging from large works for public display to intimate objects for private devotion.

Silk Roads (26 September 2024 – 23 February 2025; The British Museum), co-curated by Sue Brunning, departs from the popular, romanticised image of camel caravans crossing deserts, trading silk and spices from Asia to Europe. Drawing on recent research and scientific analysis, it explores the sprawling networks that connected Asia, Africa and Europe, focusing on a defining period between c. 500 to 1000 CE. Their arteries ran in all directions by land, sea and river, carrying people, objects and ideas which were exchanged in many contexts besides trade. Magnificent worldwide loans will join objects from the Museum’s collection, providing an unmissable opportunity to see treasures from the length and breadth of the Silk Roads in one room, in conversation with each other. The exhibition is the first in the Museum’s history to have a team of curators from different specialisms, collaborating with each other and their intellectual networks.

Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World (7 September 2024–5 January 2025; San Diego Museum of Art), curated by Ladan Akbarnia, explores intersections of art and science in Islamic intellectual and visual culture from the 8th century to the present, using the lens of “wonder” as defined by an influential 13th-century Islamic cosmography. Written in Arabic and Persian by Zakariyya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini, The Wonders of Creation and Rarities of Existence catalogues the marvels of the universe in a single, richly illustrated book. Over 200 works, including manuscripts, astrolabes, magic bowls, luster dishes, architectural elements, and contemporary art, evoke sentiments of wonder inspired by the text. Following the cosmography’s framework through the celestial and terrestrial realms, topics such as astronomy, astrology, natural history, alchemy, medicine, and geometry are explored through objects from Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East to Central, South, and Southeast Asia and the modern diaspora.

The panel will be introduced and moderated by Leslie Bussis Tait, Chair of the Friends of the ICMA.

Please feel free to notify colleagues and friends who may not be ICMA members about this event. 

For questions, please contact icma@medievalart.org

Register HERE
 

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Images (left to right):
(1) Duccio di Buoninsegna, Madonna and Child, Tempera and gold on wood, ca. 1290-1300. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.442.   (2)  Cross-shaped brooch with Islamic seal, Ballycotton, Ireland, late 8th-early 9th century.© Trustees of the British Museum.   (3) Alexander questions the philosopher, physician, and the goblet, folio possibly from a manuscript of the Khamseh (Quintet) of Nizami. Mughal India, ca. 1610. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. The San Diego Museum of Art, Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990.328.

Call for Papers: ICMA Sponsored Session at ICMS Kalamazoo 2025, due 15 September 2024

Call for Papers
ICMA Sponsored Session at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo 2025

Images of Dancing Women in the Middle Ages: Joy and Sorrow 
due Sunday 15 September 2024

Organizer:
Licia Buttà, Rovira i Virgili University licia.butta@urv.cat

This session focuses on the close relationship that has been established since antiquity between the female body and choreographic movements. The iconography of dance has gained increasing ground in studies on the Middle Ages. Since the pioneering work of musicologist Tilman Seebass and art historian Jonathan J.G. Alexander, it has been clear that dance images, like the texts describing choreographic performances, are an exceptional means to deal with the history of the conception of the body and the centrality of religious and secular rituals, as well as a vehicle for interpreting exegetical approaches
to sacred texts. Whatever the dance scenario, the importance of the dancing female body is evident both in the sacred sphere, with dance and celestial choruses of exaltation and praise to God, and in the imagination that stages idolatry, diabolical rites, or the perverse use of the body in earthly performances.

The tale of the young Muse, who converts the wholly worldly joy of dance into a prayer, becoming part of the choir of saints following the Virgin, or the dance of uncontainable joy of Miriam, sister of Moses, who celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea, are just two examples in which the joy that springs from movement deeply modifies the scenario and the protagonists of the narrative. In many medieval exempla, female dance turns into pain and suffering at the exact moment at which the female body is possessed by the devil. Literary, allegorical, and even historical dancing women reflect the medieval conception of the body and embody the dichotomy of joy and sorrow, which is expressed in the narrative capacity of gestures. Through the study of the representations of dance, the aim of this session is to investigate the emotions linked to choreographic narratives. The objects of study could include the enjoyment of the celestial dance and its earthly mirror: the courtly dance, narratives of death and diabolical torments, ecstasy and possessions. Allegorical-courtly literature offers countless examples of dances of joy, as in the Roman de la Rose. Moreover, Islamic and Sasanian art left traces of the importance of dance in court ceremonials, as well as rituals, as in the case of the frescoes of Qusayr Amra or the several Sasanian silver bowls and ewers. In the production of material culture, objects also introduce the tactile dimension, in addition to sight and hearing, as the choreomusical scenes depicted on a plate, a jar or a gemellion were observed but also manipulated, understood and experienced in accordance with the rites in which they were displayed.
  
This session seeks to investigate the emotions generated by dance and music both in the performer and in those who observe the dance. The proposal is developed in the field of cultural history and the visual culture of dance in medieval Europe, Byzantium, Islam and beyond, and aims to provide a new vision of the role of the woman as dancing body, as a key element for investigating the history of emotions in the Middle Ages. The session will focus on approaches that take into account a methodology of image analysis with an anthropological and sociological dimension.

Delivery Mode:
In-Person (The ICMA offers small travel subventions for the participants in this session)

keyword:
Biblical Studies, Cultural History, History of Emotions, Iconography of Dance, Medieval Performance and Medieval Visual Culture

Proposals for papers will be accepted through September 15 and need to be submitted at: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6333

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A NOTE ABOUT KRESS TRAVEL GRANTS

Thanks to a generous grant from the Kress Foundation, funds may be available to defray travel costs of speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions up to a maximum of $600 for domestic travel and of $1200 for overseas travel. If available, the Kress funds are allocated for travel and hotel only. Speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions will be refunded only after the conference, against travel receipts.  In addition to speakers, session organizers delivering papers as an integral part of the session (i.e. with a specific title listed in the program) are now also eligible to receive travel funding. 

Click here for more information.

Call for applications: Editorial Assistant to Gesta, due Tuesday 3 September 2024

Call for applications
Editorial Assistant to Gesta
due Tuesday 3 September 2024, 5:00pm ET

The International Center of Medieval Art (“the ICMA”) seeks to retain an independent contractor for a position as Editorial Assistant to Gesta, the ICMA’s peer-reviewed journal.
 
The ICMA is a non-profit organization that promotes and supports the study, understanding, and preservation of visual and material cultures produced primarily between ca. 300 CE and ca. 1500 CE in every corner of the medieval world. Our journal, Gesta, is published by the University of Chicago Press and features articles on all facets of medieval artistic production. The Gesta Editors aim to showcase the most creative and rigorous research in the field.
 
The position of Editorial Assistant to Gesta entails working approximately 20 hours per month, supporting the Editors’ work by reviewing image permissions, carrying out tasks involving the University of Chicago Press’s Editorial Manager platform, and checking references in footnotes. The number of hours will vary from week to week, so applicants need to have flexible availability. 
 
Applicants must hold or be pursuing a PhD in medieval art history, be eligible to work in the United States, and currently be without full-time employment that would impede their ability to dedicate the necessary time to this position. The Editorial Assistant will work remotely, but must be available for correspondence and meetings during regular business hours with the Editors.
 
Please email to gesta@medievalart.org a CV and letter of interest (no more than two pages, single-spaced), describing: (1) your research expertise and experience; (2) your facility in learning digital platforms; and (3) your past experience in activities related to publishing (which can include work as a research assistant to an author). The CV must include the contact information for your references. No letters of recommendation are required; the committee reviewing applications will contact references.
 
The International Center of Medieval Art is a 501(c)(3) organization whose Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Committee members, Associates, and other officers work volunteer. For information on the ICMA, please visit www.medievalart.org
 
Deadline for applications: Tuesday 3 September 2024, 5:00pm ET
Compensation: $25/hour, 20 hours per month. No fringe benefits.

Send CV and letter of interest to gesta@medievalart.org.

Don’t Forget about ICMA Resources as you Look Ahead to the New Academic Year!

Recognizing that we are nearing the part of summer in which people begin to work in earnest on syllabi for the coming academic year, we wanted to remind you of the wealth of material available on the ICMA website.

Located under RESOURCES, you may find these sections particularly helpful:

First, the “Bibliographies and Teaching Resources” section includes a number of items that are particularly useful when planning your classes. These include:

• Digital Resources for Teaching Medieval Art History

• Bibliography for Teaching a Global Middle Ages

• A bibliography for Global Premodern Women Artists and Patrons

Second, in the “Lectures” section, you’ll find an array of videos which may provide you with inspiration and activities for your courses. These include recordings of recent iterations of the ICMA at the Courtauld Lectures; the inaugural IDEA lecture delivered by Nancy Wu; several of our “Mining the Collection” events examining museum holdings; and a number of other terrific online lectures and conference sessions presenting new scholarship and offering advice on pedagogical and ethical issues in our field.

Third, under the “Community” heading, you’ll see a link to “The ICMA Colleague Connection,” which can connect you to our network of experts in every facet of our field (and if you haven’t already done so, please consider adding your name to the list!).

Fourth, if you're curious about the history of our organization and the field in general, be sure to listen to episodes in the ICMA Oral History Project.

Finally, as you also consider opportunities to develop your scholarship in the months to come, be sure to have a look at our just-published Summer Newsletter, and the Calendar on the ICMA home page, which both list many calls for papers, grant opportunities, conferences, and so on.

ICMA News, Summer 2024 now available online

ICMA News               

Summer 2024
Melanie Hanan, Editor

Click here to read.
Also available on www.medievalart.org

INSIDE

Commemorations
William G. Noel, 1965–2024 22


Special Features

More Public Medievalists, Please!, By David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele

The Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database, 2009–2024, By Caroline Bruzelius


Exhibition Reports 

Blood: Medieval/Modern, By Bryan C. Keene

Art of Enterprise: Israhel van Meckenem’s 15th-Century Print Workshop, By Raenelda Rivera

Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting, By Leila Al-Shibibi


Events and Opportunities

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The deadline for the next issue of ICMA News is 15 October 2024. Please send information to newsletter@medievalart.org 

If you would like your upcoming conference, CFP, or exhibition included in the newsletter please email the information to EventsExhibitions@medievalart.org.

STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT - DUE MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024

STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT
DUE MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024, 11:59PM ET

This grant of $500 is intended to encourage an early-stage graduate student (someone enrolled in a post-baccalaureate graduate program, who may have received a MA or MPhil, or who is otherwise pre-ABD) to pursue research on cross-cultural visual connections involving art produced in parts of the medieval world that until recently have been studied separately. To be eligible, applicants must be involved in research on the connections between art of at least two of the following broadly-defined regions:  

• Africa

• Asia

• Europe and Byzantium

• North Africa, the Middle East, and the Near East

Funds awarded could be used to defray expenses of attending or presenting at a conference or visiting a museum, archive, or site. Applicants must be members of the ICMA (information on memberships can be found here).
 
We are grateful to Robert E. Jamison, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Clemson University, for underwriting this grant. The grant recipient is to send their winning application directly to Robert E. Jamison as soon as the award is announced.

The deadline for submission is MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024, 11:59pm ET.  The winners will be announced at the Fall Board Meeting. Recipients will be asked to forward their winning application to Robert E. Jamison.

 
Applicants must submit: 

1. Description of the project to be undertaken, in 400 words or less.

2. Proposed budget.  Please be precise and realistic: if the budget exceeds $500, state how you will cover the remaining portion of the cost.

3. A curriculum vitae.            

NOTE ON FILE SUBMISSION: Please submit PDF files when appropriate with the file named as LAST NAME first, then the item. Example: SMITHdescription.pdf, SMITHbudget.pdf, SMITHcv.pdf

All applicants must be ICMA members.
All submissions are to be uploaded HERE.


A parallel grant is available via The Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Technology, Science, and Art (AVISTA).  Students may apply for both the ICMA and the AVISTA grants but would be eligible to receive only one of the awards. 

Email questions to Ryan Frisinger at awards@medievalart.org. The winning application will be chosen by members of the ICMA Grants and Awards Committee, which is chaired by our Vice-President.

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Map of the world; with windfaces along upper and lower edge; stencil-coloured illustration to Ptolemy, 'Cosmographia', Ulm: Leonhard Holl, 1482. Coloured woodcut. © The Trustees of the British Museum Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Call for Proposals - International Medieval Congress Leeds 2025, due Thursday 8 August 2024

Call for Proposals
International Medieval Congress 2025
Leeds, United Kingdom; 7-10 July 2025
due THURSDAY 8 AUGUST 2024

The International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) seeks proposals for sessions to be held under the organization’s sponsorship in 2025 at the International Medieval Congress (IMC) at Leeds, England.  

While session proposals on any topic related to the art of the Middle Ages are welcome, the IMC also chooses a theme for each conference. In 2025 the theme is “Worlds of Learning.”  For more information on the Leeds 2025 congress and theme, see:  https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2025/

Session organizers and speakers must be ICMA members at the time of the conference. Proposals must include a session abstract, and a list of speakers, as one single Doc or PDF with the organizer’s name in the title, and a CV, again as a Doc or PDF with the organizer’s name in the title.

Upload your proposals HERE by Thursday 8 August 2024.

Please direct all inquiries to the Chair of the Programs Committee: Alice I. Sullivan, Tufts University, USA, alice.sullivan@tufts.edu 

The ICMA Programs and Lectures committee will select a session to sponsor and will notify the successful organizer(s) in mid-August. The organizer(s) will then submit the ICMA-sponsored proposal to the IMC.

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A note about Kress Travel Grants

Thanks to a generous grant from the Kress Foundation, funds may be available to defray travel costs of speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions up to a maximum of $600 for domestic travel and of $1200 for overseas travel. If available, the Kress funds are allocated for travel and hotel only. Speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions will be refunded only after the conference, against travel receipts.  In addition to speakers, session organizers delivering papers as an integral part of the session (i.e. with a specific title listed in the program) are now also eligible to receive travel funding. 

Click here for more information.

ICMA-Kress Research and Publication Grants, due 2 September 2024

The Kress Foundation is again generously supporting five research and publication grants to be administered by the ICMA. This year, grants are $3,500 each and ICMA members at any stage past the PhD are eligible to apply.

The deadline for the 2024 grant cycle is MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2024.
Upload materials HERE.

ELIGIBILITY
The ICMA-Kress Research and Publication grants ($3,500) are now available to scholars who are ICMA members at any stage past the PhD.

With the field of medieval art history expanding in exciting ways, it is crucial that the ICMA continue to encourage innovative research that will bring new investigations to broad audiences. These grants are open to scholars at all phases of their careers. Priority will be given to proposals with a clear path toward publication.

If travel is a facet of your application, please include an itinerary and be specific about costs for all anticipated expenses (travel, lodging, per diem, and other details). If you aim to inspect extremely rare materials or sites with restricted access, please be as clear as possible about prior experience or contacts already made with custodians.

If your application is for funds that will support the production of a book, please include a copy of the contract from your publisher, the publisher’s request for a subvention, and/or specifics on costs for images and permissions.

Preference will be given to applicants who have not received an ICMA-Kress grant in the past.

Please submit these documents for your application:

1) A detailed overview of the project (no more than three pages, single spaced). Please also confirm that your ICMA membership is active and specify whether or not you have been awarded an ICMA-Kress grant previously.

2) A full cv.

3) A full budget.

4) Supporting materials – an itinerary (for applications involving travel), a contract and schedule of costs (if a press requires a subvention), or table of anticipated fees for image permissions (if applicable).

Please note: If you are applying for funds to support the production of a book, please do not upload the entire typescript or portions of the text.

The application should be submitted electronically HERE. Recipients will be notified in November 2024.

Questions can be addressed to Ryan Frisinger, Executive Director, at awards@medievalart.org.

Failure to include all required materials adversely affects the review process.

ICMA at the International Medieval Congress, Leeds: Sponsored Session and Reception, Monday 1 July 2024

ICMA Sponsored Session
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
Afterlives and Legacies: Interventions in Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts
Monday 1 July 2024, 11:15-12:45

ICMA Reception 
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
The Dry Dock
Monday 1 July 2024, 19:00-21:30
All are welcome! Invite a colleague! 

ICMA Sponsored Session
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
Afterlives and Legacies: Interventions in Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts
Monday 1 July 2024, 11:15am-12:45pm

Session 102
Esther Simpson Building, Room 1.08

From Ashkenaz to Italy: The Giant Masoretic Bible in the Berio Civic Library of Genoa
Ilona Steimann, Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg

Andalusi Prestige and Magical Migration: The Ritual and Diasporic Legacy of the Sefer Ahavat 
Sara Gardner, Department of Spanish & Portuguese Studies, University of Minnesota

Reimagining Visual Narratives: Interventions in Illustrations of Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts
Sivan Gottlieb, Departamento de Estudios Semíticos, Universidad de Granada


Organized by 
Laura Feigen, History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Reed O'Mara, Department of Art History & Art, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio

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ICMA Reception 
International Medieval Congress, Leeds
The Dry Dock
Monday 1 July 2024, 19:00-21:30

Student Meet and Greet, 18:30
Reception, 19:00

All are welcome! Invite a colleague! 


Join fellow ICMA members for a special off-site reception at The Dry Dock on Monday 1 July 2024 from 19:00-21:30. Students are invited to join early at 18:30 to meet other student colleagues. Complimentary drinks and small bites will be provided. 

The Dry Dock is about a 10 minute walk from the University of Leeds campus, en route to central Leeds. 

The Dry Dock
Woodhouse Lane
Leeds LS2 3AX

https://www.crafted-social.co.uk/dry-dock-leeds

Workshop on pedagogy: Teaching medieval art and “controversial” images, Wednesday 29 May 2024 - REGISTER TODAY!

Workshop on pedagogy: Teaching medieval art and “controversial” images 
Wednesday 29 May 2024, 1pm-3pm ET
Online
Register HERE

The IDEA Committee invites ICMA members to an online workshop on pedagogy on May 29, 1:00 PM–3:00 PM, Eastern Time
 
The ICMA accommodates a broad range of approaches to medieval art as well as an array of specializations. While some community members work in environments that are hostile to teaching about inclusion, equity, diversity, and accessibility, others may be concerned about saying something “wrong” if they do engage such issues. Given the challenges of teaching medieval art in an era of social and political upheaval, this workshop seeks to provide a supportive and open setting for probing such questions as:

• How do we discuss medieval attitudes and negative stereotyping without merely condemning them for failing to achieve our own “enlightened” standards?

• How do we contextualize medieval bigotry, racializing, and othering without appearing to justify them?

• How do we establish the importance of studying these images when some students feel they should be dismissed or “cancelled” because they express ugly ideas or create discomfort?

The workshop will provide opportunities for you to share teaching strategies, reflect on the 2023–23 academic year, and brainstorm about the future.

Register HERE

ICMA ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE, SUBMISSIONS DUE 31 MAY 2024

2024 ICMA ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE

Deadline: 31 May 2024

Authors: Notify your publisher to submit your book!

Email BookPrize@medievalart.org with the title(s), author(s), and press name. If self-nominating, please send along your press contact’s email.

To be eligible for the 2024 prize, the book must have been printed in 2023. 

 
The ICMA invites submissions for the annual prize for best single- or co-authored book on any topic in medieval art. To be eligible for the 2024 competition, books must have been printed in 2023. No anthologies, exhibition catalogues, or special issues of journals can be considered. 

The competition is international and open to all ICMA members. To join or renew, click here. A statement of current membership is required with each submission.

Languages of publication: English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish

Prize: US $1,000 to a single author, or US $1,000 split equally between co-authors.
 

Submission of books: only printed books are eligible for the prize. A statement of current ICMA membership must accompany each submission. 

Presses and self-nominations: books must be sent directly to the jury members. Please email BookPrize@medievalart.org with the title(s), author(s), and press name. If self-nominating, please send along your press contact’s email.

EXTENDED! Call for Proposals - Association for Art History Annual Conference 2025, due 2 June 2024

Call for Proposals
Association For Art History Annual Conference 2025
York, United Kingdom; 9-11 April 2025
due Sunday 2 June 2024

The International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) seeks proposals for sessions to be held under the organization’s sponsorship at the Association for Art History Annual Conference to be held 9-11 April 2025 at the University of York.  
 
Proposals to the ICMA must include a session abstract and a CV of the organizer(s).

Please note the following:  

• The AAH does not require a slate of speakers; the AAH will generate a CFP once sessions have been selected. Therefore the ICMA will not request a slate of speakers. 

• The ICMA requires the CVs of the session organizers, but the AAH does not. 

• Session organizers and speakers must be ICMA members but are not required to become AAH members. However, AAH members receive a preferential conference rate. 

• Sessions at the AAH conference are built of 70-minute blocks, with a minimum of two blocks per session, up to four blocks in a day. Each block consists of two papers of 25 minutes plus 10 minutes of questions for each paper. The ICMA seeks to sponsor one session of two 70-minute blocks (four papers). 

Upload your proposals HERE by 2 June 2024. 

Please direct all inquiries to the Chair of the Programs Committee: Alice I. Sullivan, Tufts University, USA, alice.sullivan@tufts.edu 

 
The ICMA Programs and Lectures committee will select a session to sponsor and will notify the successful organizer(s) by 15 June 2024. The organizer(s) will then submit the ICMA-sponsored proposal to the AAH, which will make the final decision. 

Call for applications: Gesta Editorship (due 31 May 2024; begins 1 January 2025)

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: EDITORSHIP OF GESTA

 
The ICMA solicits applications for the next editor (or co-editors) of the ICMA’s flagship journal,Gesta. The position is an important one: Gesta is the only journal in North America devoted to medieval art history, and it serves a crucial function in our field as well as in medieval studies more generally. It is also one of the primary means by which the ICMA meets its core mission: “to promote and support the study, understanding, and preservation of visual and material cultures produced primarily between ca. 300 CE and ca. 1500 CE in every corner of the medieval world.”

The appointment is for a three-year-term beginning on 1 January 2025; it can be renewed for a second three-year-term term by mutual agreement. Following a model increasingly favored by other professional organizations (and which has been successfully implemented atGestasince 2013), we will consider the option of appointing two colleagues to serve as co-editors. We are thus asking for single or paired applications.

Scholars in the field who have relevant editorial experience (vetting articles and carrying out extensive developmental editing) are encouraged to apply. Eligible applicants include faculty members at any rank from lecturer to professor, emeriti/ae, people in cognate professions, and independent scholars. However, we advise faculty on a tenure track appointment who have not yet been granted tenure to carefully consider their workload balance before applying to take on this substantial work. The position carries an annual stipend of $6,500 (or $3,250 each in the case of co-editors).

The Editors work with the production team at the University of Chicago Press (Journals Division). Chicago handles the design, printing, and distribution of the journal, and manages subscriptions. They also work directly with an Editorial Board that has a consultative function and the ICMA’s Publications Committee. The Editors will have the help of a professional copy editor appointed by the ICMA, and a part-time Editorial Assistant (typically a graduate student). During December 2024, the incoming editor(s) will receive orientation from the current editors, whose term will be over on 31 December 2024. 

Those interested in applying should submit a CV and a statement of interest and relevant experience, addressed to the address below. The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on 31 May 2024.

Signed,
Brigitte Buettner
Chair, ICMA Publications Committee

Click HERE to submit application.

ICMA IN LA: Study day for "The Book of Marvels: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages" and "Albrecht Dürer: Wanderlust" - Monday 10 June 2024

ICMA in LA
Study day for The Book of Marvels: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages and Albrecht Dürer: Wanderlust
The Getty and The Huntington
Monday 10 June 2024, 11am PT
Register HERE

ICMA members are invited to a study day taking place at both The Getty and The Huntington on Monday 10 June 2024. Attendees will receive a special preview of The Getty's upcoming exhibition The Book of Marvels: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages before it opens to the public. Lunch will be provided at The Getty before the group moves to The Huntington to view the exhibition Albrecht Dürer: Wanderlust.

Attendees are responsible for their own transportation to each venue, but ICMA will help organize a carpool if needed.  

ABOUT THE EXHIBITIONS
The Book of Marvels: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages
Told from the perspective of a medieval armchair traveler in fifteenth-century northern France, the Book of the Marvels of the Worldweaves together tales of global locations that are portrayed as bizarre, captivating, and sometimes dangerously different. This exhibition pairs the Getty’s newly-acquired illuminated copy of the text with its twin from the collections of the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. Additional objects in the exhibition highlight how the overlapping sensations of wonder and fear helped create Western stereotypes of the “other” that continue to influence society today.

Albrecht Dürer: Wanderlust
German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer's journeys to Italy and the Low Countries were crucial to his education and informed his art. The exhibition showcases Dürer’s art and legacy through prints, books, and paintings drawn from The Huntington’s collections. The presentation focuses on works created during and following his travels, illuminating the cultural network of artists and how they supported, competed with, and learned from each other, ultimately transforming European art.

Register HERE

ICMA in LA: Exhibition tour of Blood: Medieval/Modern at the Getty, Friday 17 May 2024, 3pm

ICMA in LA
Exhibition tour of Blood: Medieval/Modern at The Getty
Friday 17 May 2024, 3pm
Los Angeles, California
Register HERE

Bloodscape X (detail), 1987, Andres Serrano. Silver dye bleach print. Getty Museum, Gift of Robert and Dolores Cathcart. © Andres Serrano, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Blood has both fascinated and repelled generations of artists and viewers. Medieval manuscripts testify to a rich visual culture surrounding blood: devotional, medical, genealogical, and as evidence of violence. In examining the meanings of medieval blood, this exhibition extends to intersecting contemporary conversations—artists have used the potent visual connotations of blood to explore issues of feminism, HIV/AIDS, and the science of DNA. Medieval and modern approaches to the representation of blood offer instances of both connection and rupture across time.

Join ICMA members for a special tour of the exhibition Blood: Medieval/Modern on Friday 17 May 2024 at 3pm. Exhibition curator Larisa Grollemond will lead the tour, then attendees are welcome for casual drinks at a nearby location.

Register HERE

Call for Proposals - International Congress on Medieval Studies Kalamazoo 2025, due Wednesday 15 May 2024

Call for Proposals
International Congress on Medieval Studies 2025
Kalamazoo and Online, 8-10 May 2025
due Wednesday 15 May 2024

The International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) seeks proposals for sessions to be held under the organization’s sponsorship at the International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS) at Kalamazoo. Session organizers and speakers must be ICMA members.  
 
Proposals to the ICMA must include a session abstract and a CV of the organizer(s). A list of speakers is not required at the time of application. Organizers will have the opportunity to send out a call for papers after the session is selected by the ICMA and has been approved by the Congress Committee in July.
 
Upload your proposals HERE by 15 May 2024. 
 
Please direct all inquiries to the Chair of the Programs & Lectures Committee: Alice I. Sullivan, Tufts University, USA, alice.sullivan@tufts.edu 
 
The ICMA Programs & Lectures committee will select a session to sponsor and will notify the successful organizer(s) by 31 May 2024. The organizer(s) will then submit the ICMA-sponsored proposal to the ICMS by 1 June 2024. 

ICMA Reception at ICMS Kalamazoo - Friday 10 May 2024 at 7pm (6:30pm Student Meet and Greet)

ICMA Reception at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo
Friday 10 May 2024

6:30pm - Student Meet and Greet
7:00pm - Reception (open to all)

Join other ICMA members and the ICMA community for a special off-site reception near campus (approximately a 10-20 minute walk) on Friday 10 May 2024 from 7pm-9:30pm. Students are invited to join early at 6:30pm to meet other student colleagues. Drinks and light bites provided while supplies last.

University Roadhouse
1332 W. Michigan Ave (MAP)
Kalamazoo, MI 49006