Eco-Critical Approaches to Medieval Art, East and West II: Objects

Sponsoring Organization(s)

International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA)

Organizer Name

Anne F. Harris

Organizer Affiliation

DePauw Univ.

Presider Name

Nancy P. Sevcenko

Presider Affiliation

Independent Scholar

Paper Title 1

Nature and Sacred Text in the Old English Riddle 26: An Eco-Critical Reading

Presenter 1 Name

Heide Estes

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Monmouth Univ.

Paper Title 2

The Presence of Nature within a Devotional Context: A Case Study of a Middle Byzantine Reliquary from Mount Athos

Presenter 2 Name

Brad Hostetler

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Florida State Univ.

Paper Title 3

Exquisite Corpses: Animal Remains, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ

Presenter 3 Name

Alexa K. Sand

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Utah State Univ.

Start Date

12-5-2013 10:30 AM

Session Location

Bernhard 209

Description

This panel seeks to reassert and explore the agency of natural matter upon its human “interactors” through both devotional and secular works of art. It explores the materiality of works of art as it relates to the natural world, analyzes the representation of nature as it conceptualizes nature, and localizes works of art within cultural constructions of the natural. Beyond being curious about the ability of works of art to “reflect” attitudes to nature, this panel asks how works of art in the European and Byzantine Middle Ages shaped conceptions of the natural, made nature present within a devotional context, and evoked the divine agency of nature through their materiality.

Anne F. Harris