Southeast European Silversmithing: Liturgical Objects and the Construction of a Cultural, Technological and Iconographical Network in the Early Modern Period.

Artistic objects made from precious metals and intended for liturgical use play a key role in the complex and rich history of Christianity. Such objects from the early modern period are often kept in various church and monastery treasuries, museums and other collections. Liturgical objects were frequently marginalized by art historians and treated as less important in comparison to sacral architecture, painting and sculpture. However, the arts of goldsmithing – silversmithing were considered equal to so-called “fine art” until the 19th century, when the emergence of Great Exhibitions and technological processes that increasingly excluded hand-made craft, led to the categorization of goldsmithing and silversmithing as applied arts, crafts, or decorative arts. Moreover, research on goldsmithing and silversmithing was largely focused on the study of representative commissions by European aristocracy mainly belonging to the profane domain. Such objects were most frequently exhibited in world museums, while liturgical objects were less commonly represented. A key reason for this is their liturgical function and sacral status, which makes them less easily available to academic researchers.
Artworks made from precious metals reflect the artistic, social, religious and economic context of their time, as well as social changes that took place throughout the early modern period, and earlier, on the territory of southeastern Europe. In this case, the geographical definition of southeastern Europe encompasses all states of the European eastern Mediterranean and neighboring countries. Southeastern Europe is, in a cultural sense, deeply connected with the Mediterranean. Levantine master goldsmiths, Venetian workshops, Ottoman culture, imports from the Russian Empire, and precious objects from Mount Athos and the Holy Land, all intertwine to create a very complex and distinct material culture in the region. Objects made from precious metals, predominantly silver, were intermediaries which could travel vast distances, carrying ideas and iconographical patterns, various kinds of “secondary decorations” as well as morphological characteristics of certain types of liturgical objects.
The conference on Southeast European Silversmithing gathers researchers dedicated to the study of sacral silver objects from the early modern period who will, through their research and works, contribute to the comparative analysis of this complex field. Material presented at the conference will contribute to the objective of improving methodological means of interpretation through the gathering of devoted researchers working in this area. The conference will enable the presentation of thus far unpublished and unknown to the academic community artistic silver objects. A more meticulous approach to this field of research will represent a valuable contribution to the field of art history, and to a more comprehensive understanding of the visual culture of the specified period.

The conference is conceived and organized by Vuk Dautović (Department of History of Art, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Republic of Serbia), Darina Boykina (Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Republic of Bulgaria) and Mateja Jerman (Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Republic of Croatia).

PROGRAM
Friday 4th November 2022, The Rectorate Building – University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 1, Belgrade (1 The Students` Square), Room 016

9:00 Welcome

9:30 – 10:00 Introduction

Prof. Milan STANČIĆ Vice Dean for Research, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
Prof. Saša BRAJOVIĆ, on behalf of the Art History Department at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
Vuk DAUTOVIĆ, on behalf of the Organization Committee

10:00 – 11:00 ARTISTIC PATRONAGE AND OBJECTS IN MOTION

Mateja JERMAN, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and University of Rijeka
Commissioning Goldsmiths’ Works in Istria and the Kvarner Bay (Croatia) in the Early Modern Period

Snježana ORLOVIĆ, University of Belgrade
Artistic Metalwork in the Territory of the Dalmatian and Gornjokarlovac (i.e. Upper Karlovac) Bishoprics

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break

11:30 – 13:00 IMAGERY AND ICONOGRAPHY

Georgi R. PARPULOV, Independent Scholar, Plovdiv
Silver Drinking Cups of the Late Ottoman Period

Anita PAOLICCHI, University of Pisa
More than Meets the Eye: Political Reasons Behind the Adoption of a Confessionally-Connotated Iconography

Yannis D. VARALIS & Constantine DOLMAS, University of Thessaly
Prolific Imagery on Metal: The Gospel Book Covers of the Silversmithing Workshop at Retziani, Thessaly

13:00 – 14:00 Snacks & Coffee break

14:00 – 15:00 MATERIALISATION OF PIETY

Francesca STOPPER, Independent Scholar
Precious Sacred Sculptures in 17th and 18th centuries Venetian Republic

Iglika MISHKOVA, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Ex-Votos from Bulgaria

15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break

15:30 – 17:00 FUNCTION AND APPEARANCE

Arijana KOPRČINA, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb
Late Gothic and Renaissance Sacral Silver Objects in the Area of the Zagreb (Arch)diocese

Lucian LECHINTAN, Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome
The Tismana Censer: Argyrokastron or Heavenly Jerusalem? Function, Patrons and Strategic Views at the End of the 14th-century Walachia

Nona PETKOVA, Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Fabulous World of Filigree Enamel in the Southeast European Silversmithing: The Case of Sacral Silver Objects from Bachkovo Monastery

Saturday 5 November 2022
Faculty of Philosophy – University of Belgrade, Čikа Ljubinа 18-20, Belgrade (18-20 Čika Ljubina Street), Dragoslav Srejović Hall – 1st Floor

9:00 – 10:00 VISUAL COMMUNICATION AND SENSES

Tera Lee HEDRICK, Wichita Art Museum
Earthly and Heavenly Banquets: Sacred and Secular Dining Vessels and the Sensory in Late Byzantium

Milena ULČAR, University of Belgrade
Somatic Triggers of Holiness: Early Modern Reliquaries in the Venetian Bay of Kotor

10:00 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 11:30 SILVERSMITHING CENTERS AND THE CREATION OF VISUAL CULTURE

Darina BOYKINA, Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
In the Search for Silversmithing Centers: Contextualizing the Church Plate from the Region of Central Southern Bulgaria in the Early Modern Period

Vuk DAUTOVIĆ, University of Belgrade
The Belgrade Goldsmith’s Guild and the Shaping of Visual Culture Through Sacral Silver Objects in the Principality of Serbia in the 19th century

11:30 – 12:00 Snacks & Coffee break

12:00 CONFERENCE RESUME
Dimitrije TADIĆ, Head of Creative Europe Desk Serbia, Ministry of Culture and Information of Republic of Serbia
Southeast European Silversmithing: Building a Cultural, Professional, and Institutional Network Now or Possibilities for Cooperation Within EU Programs and Funds?

12:30 Common Discussion and Closure