Materiality and Aesthetics in Medieval Art
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Special Session
Organizer Name
Gerry Guest, Beth Williamson
Organizer Affiliation
John Carroll Univ., Univ. of Bristol
Presider Name
Beth Williamson
Paper Title 1
The Agency of Ivory: Tactility and Transformation in Gothic Virgin and Child Statuettes
Presenter 1 Name
Marian Bleeke
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Cleveland State Univ.
Paper Title 2
Materiality and the Reliquary Collection of Blanche of Navarre
Presenter 2 Name
Marguerite Keane
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Drew Univ.
Paper Title 3
The Beautiful Wounds of Saint Francis: Materiality and Aesthetics in the Portrayal of Medieval Sanctity
Presenter 3 Name
John Renner
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Courtauld Institute of Art
Paper Title 4
Stained Glass, Fresco, and Material Transformation in Fourteenth-Century Italy
Presenter 4 Name
Nancy M. Thompson
Presenter 4 Affiliation
St. Olaf College/Material Collective
Start Date
11-5-2014 10:30 AM
Session Location
Schneider 1330
Description
Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the material qualities of medieval art. This turn has helped to refocus our attention on the material complexity of medieval art, the ways in which various substances come together in objects yet maintain their integrity, the tendency for one medium to signify another or even multiple others, and the complex processes by which the rich materiality of medieval things was able to affect human behavior on a number of levels.
What is often left out of such analyses are the aesthetic values of medieval art. Clearly, medieval artists, patrons, and viewers found both beauty and pleasure in the materials of medieval art and their technical transformations and combinations. Certainly, quality and cost were two factors at play here, but materials and/or techniques might be chosen to call attention to themselves for a whole host of other reasons.
Consciousness of style might be influenced by the materials selected, and vice-versa. Materiality and media are undoubtedly linked, but are not necessarily synonymous. Representation itself was undoubtedly affected by the aesthetics of both materials and media. In these ways, medieval art called attention to itself as art, as made thing, and simultaneously pointed to other values, values both earthly and supernatural.
Gerry Guest, Beth Williamson
Materiality and Aesthetics in Medieval Art
Schneider 1330
Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the material qualities of medieval art. This turn has helped to refocus our attention on the material complexity of medieval art, the ways in which various substances come together in objects yet maintain their integrity, the tendency for one medium to signify another or even multiple others, and the complex processes by which the rich materiality of medieval things was able to affect human behavior on a number of levels.
What is often left out of such analyses are the aesthetic values of medieval art. Clearly, medieval artists, patrons, and viewers found both beauty and pleasure in the materials of medieval art and their technical transformations and combinations. Certainly, quality and cost were two factors at play here, but materials and/or techniques might be chosen to call attention to themselves for a whole host of other reasons.
Consciousness of style might be influenced by the materials selected, and vice-versa. Materiality and media are undoubtedly linked, but are not necessarily synonymous. Representation itself was undoubtedly affected by the aesthetics of both materials and media. In these ways, medieval art called attention to itself as art, as made thing, and simultaneously pointed to other values, values both earthly and supernatural.
Gerry Guest, Beth Williamson