Italian Art Society CFP:

Italian Art and the Confluence of Cultures, I–IV

The membership of the Italian Art Society seeks papers for the
47th International Congress of Medieval Studies

Italian Art and the Confluence of Cultures, I–IV comprises four linked
sessions dedicated to the study of the rich cultural exchanges that lie
at the foundation of Italy’s medieval art. Building upon ideas that
emerged during the IAS’s 2011 series Italian Art, a Reassessment of the
Discipline, the IAS’s 2012 sessions will seek to direct attention to
areas and periods so far neglected by American scholarship and at the
same time to challenge received notions about periodization and
geographic taxonomies. Italian Art and the Confluence of Cultures
encompasses a broad range of topics and materials, divided across the
following sessions:

- Italian Art and the Confluence of Cultures I. Early Medieval Art in
Italy. This session seeks papers that deal with the rich cultural
exchange across the Alps and across the seas during the early centuries
of the Middle Ages. Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
Brescia during the Longobard reign, Pavia as a Carolingian capital, and
Milan as a center of Ottonian artistic production.
Chair: Eliza Garrison, Middlebury College.

- Italian Art and the Confluence of Cultures II. “Latin” and “Greek”
Visual Cultures in the Italian Peninsula. Byzantine art has often been
invoked in regard to Italian art as an energizing foreign influence. The
session welcomes papers that explore the inextricable links between the
two cultures on Italian soil: from early Christian icons to the maniera
Graeca, from mosaics to cave paintings.
Chair: Linda Safran, University of Toronto.

- Italian Art and the Confluence of Cultures III. The Art of Islands and
Islets. The artistic panorama of islands presents peculiarities of
exchange that set them apart from developments on the mainland. This
session seeks papers that explore the artistic production of the Italian
islands as microcosms of cultural exchanges: from Sardinia to Sicily,
Elba to the Tremiti. Chair: Cathleen Fleck, Saint Louis University.

- Italian Art and the Confluence of Cultures IV. Cross-Cultural
Exchanges Within and Beyond the Peninsula. For centuries, Italy’s
geographic position has favored productive exchange with countries
bordering the Mediterranean basin. This session seeks papers that
explore the impact on Italian art of the circulation of objects, models,
and artists from across the Mediterranean as well as the influence of
Italian art in other countries. Chair: Lisa Mahoney, De Paul University.

For submissions and inquiries, please contact Martina Bagnoli, the IAS’s
Vice President for Program Coordination, at mbagnolithewalters.org.
Submission
forms and instructions are available on the conference website,
http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/. The deadline for submissions
is September 15, 2011.