Archiater Research Seminar:
“Heritage of Disease”.
Mapping hospital art and architecture in European cities: Munich, Rome, Augsburg, Florence

3 June 2025, 9:00-16:00, Sala della Botte
IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Piazza San Francesco 19, 55100 Lucca, Italy
To participate from remote please register the link below.

Organized by ERC AdG ARCHIATER, LMU Munich/IMT Lucca, for more info on the project: https://archiater.hypotheses.org/

9:00
Welcome and Introduction: Heritage of Disease, Prof. Chiara Franceschini, IMT/LMU, PI Archiater
Discussants: Prof. Andrea De Marchi, Università di Firenze; Prof. Marco Paggi, IMT School

9:30
Associate Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Frieder Leipold (LMU):
“Ut videant vestra bona opera” – The Hospital System in Munich as a Reflection of Urban Society
The hospital system of a city has always mirrored its societal structure. However, it raises the question of whether these institutions were also intended by their founders as instruments to visibly demonstrate their benevolence. Using Munich as a case study, this talk explores the extent to which the architecture employed in its hospitals can be considered representative—or not.

10:00
Phd Researcher Elisabetta Bartoli (IMT School):
The Roman hospital and the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione between the 16th and 18th centuries: a case study for patronage of Roman hospitals in the Modern Age
The Consolation Hospital represents one of the longest-lived welfare institutions in Rome but its historical memory was lost following its closure in the 1930s. This talk will explore the progress of ongoing research, which aims to reconstruct the social history and visual culture of the Hospital and the Church of Consolation. Particular attention will be given to issues of patronage, the preserved and lost decorative programs and the significance of the various types of images created for these institutions.

10:30 Coffee Break

11:00
Lily Baumeister (LMU)
Arcades, Portico, Colonnade - Tackling a problem of definitions
While working on mapping hospitals on WikiData we encountered problems of definitions and differentiation of the architectural elements arcade, portico, and colonnade. Lily therefore presents the issues and introduces possible definitions for the project.

11:30
Phd Researcher Miriam Siebert (LMU):
Georg Petel’s crucifixes in the Heilig-Geist-Spital Augsburg: works of art beyond manorial collections
This paper will discuss the example of the Heilig-Geist-Spital in Augsburg, focusing in particular on the agency and iconography of Georg Petel’s crucifix within the context of a hospital patronage in a bi-confessional imperial city in Southern Germany.

12:00-12:30 Discussion

LUNCH

14:00
Isabella Limmer (LMU)
Mary Magdalene for the Sick - Penitent Sinner or Chaste Apostle?
With her many contrasting iconographies, Mary Magdalene harbours various messages for the believing viewer. In a brief comparison, the effect these could have had on the people in the hospital - the sick, the carers and the visitors - will be reflected upon.

14:30
Phd Researcher Alessandra Leggieri (IMT School):
The artistic heritage of ‘Santa Maria Nuova’ in Florence. Contexts, movements and meanings of a hospital collection
The Florentine state museums hold many works of art coming from the most important art collection in Florence after the one belonging to the Medici: the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital Art Collection. My contribution explores the remarkable art collection of the hospital, which was alienated to the Italian state in 1900. It investigates the political, legislative and cultural meanings related to the alienation of those works of art, especially focusing on their previous contexts, their movements and on the value of owning an art collection for an institution such as a hospital.

15:00
Lily Baumeister (LMU) and Isabella Limmer (LMU):
How to Engage the Public - Communicating ARCHIATER’s Output
Lily and Isabella will present various channels through which the results of the project are communicated - digitally via websites (hypotheses and department blog) and apps, analogue advertising or through cooperation with museums and research institutes.

General Discussion

To follow remotely, please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1P95wtjPu4_3-DX5e2dI-W30qn9yrR6g3AJToZiRafQ8/viewform?ts=682f07e5&edit_requested=true
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ERC Advanced Grant ARCHIATER - Heritage of Disease: The Art and Architectures of Early Modern Hospitals in European Cities (HI: LMU Munich; PI: Chiara Franceschini). This project is supported by the European Research Council under the Grant agreement ID: 101097906.
https://archiater.hypotheses.org/
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101097906