Call for Participation for the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference
(New Orleans, October 16-19, 2014)

Have you really seen them all?: The Virgin Mary in the Visual Arts of
Early Modern Europe and its Colonies

Those of us who study representations of the Virgin Mary in the Early
Modern period are often met with a version of the adage "If you've seen
one, you've seen them all!" Yet, the cult of the Virgin Mary in this
period was shaped, and reshaped, by profound religious, political, and
social changes that resulted in the production of distinct Marian
images.

This session calls for studies of Madonna images that highlight this
point. Possible lines of inquiry for prospective papers include
analysis of Marian artworks in relation to contemporary doctrinal and
artistic debates; patterns of daily devotion and liturgical functions;
exegetical and poetic texts; issues of sacred female corporeality,
exemplarity, and gendered spectatorship. Case studies from across
Europe and its colonies are welcome.

Ideally, the session will reflect diversity in approaches—e.g.,
archival, material, iconological, socio-historical, anthropological,
semiotic. With an emphasis on varied regional and cultural geographies,
it seeks to foster dialogue among scholars of the art and cult of the
Virgin Mary in the Early Modern period.


Please send abstracts of 250 words and a brief C.V. to Kim Butler
Wingfield (butleramerican.edu) and Esperança Camara (ecamarasf.edu) by
March 30.