Appel à communication: Visual Pleasure and the Virgin Mary

Visual Pleasure and the Virgin Mary
CFP: International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 1-4 July 2013

From the 11th century onwards, the Virgin Mary was at the nexus of a burgeoning tradition of artistic patronage and production. In glass, wood, stone, ivory, mosaic, metalwork, and painting, she formed the focus of an increasingly ornate visual and material culture. This panel aims to explore the role of pleasure in the creation and reception of the Virgin’s image throughout the Middle Ages. It also seeks to probe the relationship between such representations and contemporary discourse, for example discussion of the role of art and ornament in devotion or the state of the female body. We welcome abstracts from art history and related fields approaching the intersections of sensory pleasure – visual, tactile, aural – and the representation of the Virgin Mary.

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words to Maeve Doyle (mkdoyle@brynmawr.edu) and Jennifer Lyons (jllyons@emory.edu) before August 15.