Images" and lecture "Manipulating Histories" by Prof. Shalem (KHI
Florence, 22 May 2008)

Crossing Boundaries, Creating Images: In Search of the Prophet
Muhammad in Literary and Visual Traditions

A Presentation of Work in Progress of the Research Group directed by
Prof. Dr. Avinoam Shalem, Max-Planck-Fellow

Thursday, 22 May 2008
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut, Florence

11:00
Introductory Remarks
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz

11:10
Introduction to the Research Project
Prof. Dr. Avinoam Shalem
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

11:20
From Primordial Flux to the "Perfect Man":
The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images
Asst. Prof. Dr. Christiane Gruber
Indiana University, Bloomington

11:50
Break and light refreshments

12:00
Machometus, Mahum, and Maometto:
The Prophet Muhammad in Latin and
Romance Literary Traditions
Dr. Michelina Di Cesare
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz

12:30
The Ambiguous Portrait:
Picturing the Prophet Muhammad in Printed European Translations of the
Qur'an
Alberto Saviello, M.A.
Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf

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18:00
Avinoam Shalem: Manipulating Histories. The 'Golden Age' in Al-Andalus
as Remembered
Evening lecture of the workshop "Iberische Bildkulturen: Grenzen und
Kongruenzen"

In cooperation with the Graduiertenkolleg "Bild-Körper-Medium. Eine
anthropologische Perspektive" at the HfG Karlsruhe

The term 'Golden Age' is frequently associated with the art and
culture that developed in the Iberian Peninsula during a period of
seven hundred years stretching from 711 to 1492, namely from the Arab
conquest to the fall of the last Nasrid stronghold in Granada. The
concept of a past Muslim Golden Era in Spain seems to play an
important role not only in the eyes of historians, art historians, and
even the general public in the west but also in the Muslim Orient. Why
was the Iberian Peninsula- or al-Andalus as it was and is known in the
Arab World- during the period of Muslim rule and especially after its
decline came to known as a 'Golden Age'? - a term which is usually
reserved to describe other moments in history, when specific societies
succeeded in developing and maintaining flourishing economic,
scientific, and cultural atmospheres like those associated with
Jerusalem of King Salomon, Baghdad of Harun al-Rashid, Florence of the
Medici's, Venice of Titian and Tintoretto, and Alexandria of Forster
and Kawafy.

In this short paper several specific aspects that contributed to the
conceptual creation of the Golden Age in Muslim Spain, by Christian
and Muslim writers alike, are briefly discussed. Moreover the tendency
to glorify Muslim Spain, namely creating an imagined medieval story
for this region, is critically interpreted as part of exorcizing Islam
from the history of Europe and forging a Christian Spanish collective
identity. Finally, the nostalgic tone of exilic literature, be it by
Arab or Jewish authors, will be discussed as a contributing element to
foster this myth as well.

Contact and further information:

Astrid Müller
astrid.muellerkhi.fi.it
+39.055.2491190

www.khi.fi.it