PRESENTATION
In recent decades, the interactions between relig- ious art(s) and literature(s) – and more generally between text(s) and image(s) – in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period have been an im- portant area of study for many scholars working in the field of the humanities. More particularly, the study of the interconnectedness of texts and im- ages and of the contact zones between visual arts and literature constitutes an emerging field that is particularly stimulating for both art historians and historians of literature. Growing awareness that texts and images functioned in the same commu- nity of discourse and were destined for the same audiences means that art historians frequently turn to texts to enlighten the functions and meaning of works of art. Similarly, historians of literature are increasingly bringing images in their analysis of lit- erary works. Many scholars also consider texts and images together – as equivalent sources – in order to study cultural phenomena, concepts and notions. These scholarly interests in the relations between art and literature generate a range of general methodological and theoretical questions:
how can a text be used to understand an image?
How can an image help to discern the meaning of a text? How do we interpret texts and images to- gether in order to understand the religious culture of these periods? How do we consider them in re- lation to each other, without underestimating the specificities of each medium? What are the pur- poses and aims of the combined study of these sources?
During this conference, we would like to focus on the methodological approaches to the relation- ships between religious art(s) and literature(s) of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, with special emphasis on the mystical traditions of
these periods. The conference aims to explore not only the many forms of interactions between relig- ious texts and images in this period, but also the methodological and theoretical issues they imply in order to sketch an overview of the different ap- proaches used by scholars while studying texts and images together. Among others, the following forms of dialogue between the visual and the tex- tual will be at the centre of this enquiry: the influ- ence of spiritual authors on pictorial practices; the visual and textual discourses on images in mysti- cism; the impact of works of art on religious literary production; the complex text/image relationships in illuminated manuscripts, in printed books or in emblems books; the links between visual and bib- lical exegesis, the connections between painters and rhetoricians, etc. On a more general level, speakers will discuss how religious texts and im- ages can work together in order to produce mean- ing, the capacity of a text not only to signify but also to represent, and the ability of a work of art (or an image) not only to depict but also to produce sense.
The invited speakers will address methodological issues while presenting case studies in order to reflect on the richness of seeing and reading in late Medieval and Early Modern literature and art, as well as the diverse ways in which scholars put the visual and the textual into dialogue with each other.
RETHINKING THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE VISUAL AND THE TEXTUAL
Methodological Approaches to the Relationships Between Religious Art and Literature (ca. 1400-1700)
PRACTICAL INFORMATION Date: 20-‐22 June 2013
Venue: Leiden University, University Library (Grote vergaderzaal), WiBe Singel, 26-‐27, Leiden
InformaIon and RegistraIon: Ingrid Falque (i.m.j.falque@hum.leidenuniv.nl)
A conference organised by Ingrid Falque and Geert Warnar (LUCAS), with the collaboration of the GEMCA, GOLIATH and the Scalinger Institute Leiden University - 20-22 June 2013
With the support of the Fondation pour la protection du patrimoine culturel, historique
et artisanal (Lausanne)
THURSDAY 20 JUNE
Moderator: Wim van Anrooij
13.30 Welcome by Kitty ZIJLMANS (director of LUCAS)
13.40 Introduction (Ingrid FALQUE, Universiteit Leiden, LUCAS)
14.10Agnès GUIDERDONI (Université Catholi- que de Louvain, GEMCA) - Locutiones figuratae: Neither Text Nor Image. Figu- rability of Mystical Experience in the Ear- ly Modern Period
Coffee break
15.15Paul SMITH (Universiteit Leiden, LUCAS) - Rereading Dürer’s Representations of The Fall of Man
16.30 Keynote Lecture (open to the public) Walter MELION (Emory University) - De- vota anima sese oblectari in dies poterit:
The Tropes of Pasting, Printing, and En- graving in Martin Boschman's Paradisus precum selectarum of 1610
FRIDAY 21 JUNE
Moderator: Geert Warnar
9.15 Sanne DE VRIES (Universiteit Leiden, LUCAS) - All Roads Lead to Rome. The Mass of St. Gregory and its Prayers 10.00Kees SCHEPERS (Universiteit Antwerpen)
- The Draughtsman’s Library. Gielis van- der Hecken, his Books and his Labyrinthi Coffee break
11.15Aline SMEESTERS (Université Catholique de Louvain, GEMCA) - The Text/Image Relationship in Herman Hugo's Pia Desi- deria (1624))
12.00Ralph DEKONINCK (Université Catholique de Louvain, GEMCA) - To Give Spirit to the Mute Figure. The Enlivening Word and the Animated Image in the Early- Modern Spiritual Literature
Lunch
Moderator: Agnès Guiderdoni
14.15 Stijn BUSSELS (Universiteit Leiden, LU- CAS) & Bram VAN OOSTVELDT (Universi- teit van Amsterdam) - 'Vondel's Brethren:
Defending the Performance of the Word of God
15.00 Bart RAMAKERS (Rijksuniversiteit Gronin- gen) - Looking Through, Seeing Clearly.
Imagination, Meditation and Cognition in Cornelis Everaert's play of Mary Compa- red to the Light
Coffee break
16.15 Jurgen PIETERS (Universiteit van Gent, GOLIATH) - title to be announced
SATURDAY 22 JUNE
Moderator: Ingrid Falque
10.00Elliott WISE (Emory University) - “Hidden Sons of God”: Baptism and Transfigura- tion in Rogier van der Weyden’s St. John Triptych
10.45 Reindert FALKENBURG (NYU Abu Dhabi) - Speculation as a Solid Mode of Inter- pretation: 'Reading' Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights
Coffee break
12.00 Geert WARNAR (Universiteit Leiden, LU- CAS) - Elckerlijc and Provoost
12.45 Concluding remarks
