"Beyond the Alps. Artistic Exchanges between the Low Countries and Italy in Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture" – 10th ARDS Annual Conference on Current Research in Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture, Rome, Academia Belgica and the Royal Netherlands Institute Rome (KNIR), November 7th-9th, 2023.

A call for papers is now being launched to allow researchers working on the artistic and economic relations between Italy and the Low Countries, in the domain of medieval and Renaissance sculpture, to present their research.

In 2026 M. Leuven will organise an exhibition on the cultural exchange between the Low Countries and Italy in the field of sculpture. The Low Countries have always been a place where painting flourished. That this region, especially in the 16th century, also had a significant school of sculptors is often forgotten. Influenced by humanist ideas and the political, economic, and religious upheavals of the time, Netherlandish sculptors abandoned the Gothic style: a new sculpture influenced by the Italian artists was born. With their oeuvres, technical mastery and creativity, the scultori fiamminghi left their mark all across Europe, from the
Scandinavian countries to the Spanish court, creating their own Italianate style.

The project aims to highlight the importance of the artistic links between Italy and the Low Countries during the Renaissance, and more specifically in the field of Netherlandish sculpture in Italy. Based on a selection of emblematic works – including wooden, alabaster, marble, and bronze sculptures, as well as drawings and engravings, often produced in Italy itself, the exhibition aims to provide, for the first time, the most comprehensive overview possible of the history of 16th-century sculpture from the Low Countries and its connection with the Italian Renaissance.

In the wake of this exhibition the 10th ARDS Annual Conference will focus on the interaction and interplay between these two regions in medieval and Renaissance sculpture. The conference will take place in Rome, at the Academia Belgica and the Royal Netherlands Institute Rome (KNIR), between Tuesday November 7th and Thursday November 9th, 2023. The conference program will include two days of lectures followed by a day of visits and excursions (Thursday 9 November).

Already in the fifteenth century, Netherlandish sculpture was exported to Italy, such as is testified by the famous Rimini-altarpiece (c. 1430) now in the Liebieghaus but originally placed in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Rimini; or the altar with the Adoration of the Magi in San Nazaro (Milan), which was probably ordered in Brussels by a Milanese agent. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Netherlandish sculptors among other artists, began to adopt the new Italian Renaissance style. Helped by their outstanding technical skills they could develop a ‘new’, northern Renaissance style, which was to spread from the Scandinavian
countries to Spain. Among them were sculptors such as Jacques Dubroeucq (c.1500/10-1584), Jean Mone (c. 1485-c. 1554), Conrad Meit (1485-1550/51) or the influential Cornelis Floris (1514-1575) and his followers all over North-Western Europe. Many of them had travelled to Italy themselves and acquired first-hand knowledge of the remains of Antiquity and the latest artistic developments in their field.

During the second half of the sixteenth century we find Jacques Jonghelinck (1530-1606) working in the Milan-workshop of Leone Leoni (1509-1590); the Antwerp-born Albert van den Brulle (b. c. 1575) carving the choir stalls for the San Giorgi Maggiore in Venice; Jean de Wespin (1568/69-1615) employed in Mantua, Varallo, and Serralunga di Crea. Johan Gregor van der Schardt (c. 1530-c.1581) from Nijmegen worked in Florence, Mantua, Venice, and Bologna before entering the service of Emperor Maximilian II in Nuremberg. Willem Danielsz van Tetrode (1505/10-1580/88) from Delft assisted Cellini in Florence, but it was the Douai born pupil of Jacques Dubroeucq, Jean de Boulogne or Giambologna (1529-1608) who dominated the ‘Florentine school of sculpture’ until the end of the century. His enormous success attracted other northerners who entered his studio as assistants. Among them were Adriaen de Vries (1556-1626) from The Hague and Hubert Gerhardt (c. 1540/50–1620) from 's-Hertogenbosch, who would spread their master's style above the Alps. In Rome, Nicolas Piper (d. 1599) and the Mechelen Gillis van den Vliete (d. 1602) should be mentioned, the latter underscoring the significant position Mechelen held in the cultural exchange between the Low Countries and Italy. It is not surprising that many of the sculptors who stayed and worked in Italy originally came from this town, such as Willem van den Broecke (1530-1579), Alexander Colyn (1526-1612), and Gillis van den Vliete.

This call for papers welcomes specific case studies as well as papers providing a broader view on the subject of this conference. They may address, but are not limited to, the topics mentioned above. Your proposal can be (art-)historical as well as anthropological, historiographical, or technical in nature. Multidisciplinary approaches are encouraged.

How to submit your proposal?
- Write an abstract in word or pdf; max. 500 words (excl. authors name(s) and contact
details)
- Include a short bio of 150 words max.
- Include a short CV
- E-mail abstract, short bio, and short CV to infoards.be

Practical information:
- The call for papers deadline is June 15th, 2023
- In the selection of papers, priority will be given to speakers presenting new research and new contributions relevant to the specific conference theme
- Successful applicants will receive a notification by July 7th, 2023
- The lectures, illustrated by a PowerPoint slideshow, should be no longer than 20
minutes
- Each conference session will be followed by a Q&A with the speakers
- Conference papers will be published in the ARDS acta colloquia post print series in
collaboration with Brepols Publishers
- Your proposal (abstract, short bio, short cv) and lecture should be in English. The conference communication and the post prints publication will also be in English
- The organizers cannot contribute towards transport and/or accommodation costs of
speakers or attendees

Program – All roads lead to Rome:
To mark the 10th anniversary of the ARDS Annual Conference on Current Research in Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture a celebratory edition will take place at the Academia Belgica and the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome.
The conference will combine selected paper presentations with keynote speakers (Tuesday 7 November and Wednesday 8 November) and visits or excursions (Thursday 9 November).
The final program will be communicated in September 2023.

Disclaimer: Should new travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic arise, the 2023 ARDS Annual Conference will be held online via webinar presentations.

Partners:
M Leuven
ARDS – the platform for medieval sculpture
Academia Belgica, Rome
The Royal Netherlands Institute Rome (KNIR)