16th Congress of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
"Antiquity and the Shaping of the Future in the Age of Enlightenment".

SESSION 08:
"Syncretic Scientific Approach in Sacred Architecture during the 18th century"

PANEL CONVENORS:
Angela LOMBARDI, Associate Professor, Historic Preservation Graduate Program Leader (University of Texas at San Antonio)
Iacopo BENINCAMPI, Research Fellow in History of Architecture (Sapienza University of Rome)

ABSTRACT:
This panel aims to welcome proposals that provide original contributions on the adoption of Archeoastronomy in the development of sacred architecture and settlements, reflecting a syncretic approach towards Antiquity and other diverse cultures. Astronomical knowledge was a relevant design tool in Classical times: Vitruvius developed the book IX on astronomy, both for practical and symbolic reasons. It was utilized to identity wind, equinoctial and solstitial directions as well as the quality of lights in interior spaces. Sun was also associated to sacred power. We welcome papers with an interdisciplinary approach on the application of archeoastronomical practices in relation to the new evangelization requirements promoted by the Catholic Church during 18th century. Of particular interest will be cases in which a scientific syncretic approach informs the architecture, shaped intentionally by the overlapping of local cultures, earlier traditions, and eventually other diverse influences
Examples of syncretism are identifiable both in Europe and in the new world, thanks to the commitment of religious orders. Similar phenomena are visible in Rome as well as in California and Texan Franciscan missions: the churches and their placement on the site were designed applying updated astronomical mathematics. The sunlight spotlights specific areas on predetermined days and times, synchronizing diurnal rhythms to the principal feast days of the liturgical year and following seasonal changes. In this way, the European catholic believer and the indigenous catechumen could experience a divinized world, coinciding both with a classical inheritance and the aboriginal calendrical systems.

Please submit your paper proposal using the downloading form you can find
in the official page of the CALL of ISECS conference:
https://www.isecs-roma2023.net/en/calls
Send it to callisecs-rome2023.net

Please fill out the form according to the following. instructions:
- Provide your Name, institutional affiliation, academic status, email, and
a short biographical
description of yourself in the third person (max 100 words).
- Indicate the title of the individual paper.
- Provide a short overview of the paper (max 250 words) and a short list of
bibliographical
references.