An event to take place on Monday 6 February 2012, at The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2
Life in the Middle Ages has traditionally been viewed in Hobbesian terms as nasty, brutish and short. However, more recent scholarship has challenged the notion that medieval men and women were helpless in the face of disease, war and famine, stressing instead the strategies they developed and deployed to help secure their safety. These included a preoccupation with the preservation of corporeal security; efforts to attain and maintain worldly status; and perhaps most importantly of all, an overriding concern for the eternal rest of the immortal soul.
This colloquium will explore the artistic and architectural manifestations of these concerns. Changes in belief, politics and fashion have taken a heavy toll on the art and architecture of the Middle Ages, and the colloquium will also examine the physical survival, restoration and conservation of the art and architecture of the Middle Ages.
The Medieval Colloquium offers the opportunity for research students at all levels from universities in the UK and abroad to present their research and receive feedback in a friendly and constructive environment. We cannot offer travel subsidies for speakers, and therefore students from outside London are encouraged to apply to their institutions for funding to attend the colloquium.
Please send proposals of 200–300 words, for papers of 15–20 minutes, to michael.carter@courtauld.ac.uk by 8 December 2011.
L'Agenda des Médiévistes 