"‘Image of Devotion’, a Concept to be deconstructed? Historiographical approaches to devotional images in Europe (14th-18th Centuries)".
Study days of the research group "Essais de terminologie(s). Images, littérature, spiritualité" of the GEMCA.

Bringing together researchers from various disciplines, the research group initiated at GEMCA in 2022, aims to collectively question our understadings of terms relating to the use of images and literature in the field of spirituality between the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.We are collectively examining our uses of this vocabulary in order to define our research topics more precisely and propose more informed terminology. This exploration is based on two main types of corpus, which we are careful to cross-reference: secondary literature and primary sources.

During these study days, we hope to broaden our collaborative work and our network by focusing on the notion of the “devotional image” (Andachstbild) and related practices (devotion, piety, prayer, meditation,
etc.). Drawing on a variety of approaches and corpora (both geographical and chronological), the study days aim to collectively examine the generic concept of devotional images from a historiographical, epistemological, and terminological perspective.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Marta Battisti; Sarah Borges; Ralph Dekoninck; Gwendoline de Muelenaere; Elizaveta Falkova; Ingrid Falque; Julie Glodt; Solène Lecuivre; Clara Lieutaghi; Mathilde Marès; Elise Philippe; Thor-Oona Pignarre-Altermatt; Clara Zajdela

ORGANISATION
Ingrid Falque
Solène Lecuivre
Elise Philippe

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PROGRAMME:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2025

13.30 – Welcome

14.00 – Introduction by the research group “Essais de terminologie(s)”

14.45 – Marcello Angheben (Université de Poitiers)
Les relations entre les dévots et l’objet de leur contemplation: problèmes de détermination et de vocabulaire

Respondents: Philip Muijtjens & Sarah Borges

15.35 – Coffee break

15.55 – Viktor Nedeski (Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Skopje)
Hesychasm and Byzantine Iconography: Mystical Experience and the Role of Images

Respondents: Julie Glodt & Ralph Dekoninck

16.45 – Carolin Gluchowski (Universität Hamburg)
Exchanging Devotion: The Role of Devotional Images in the Lüne Letters

Respondents: Elise Philippe & Julie Glodt

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2025

9.40 – Tom Gaens (UAntwerpen)
Carthusian Discourses on Images and Devotion in the Later Middle Ages

Respondents: Thor -Oona Pignarre-Altermatt & Ingrid Falque

10.30 – Arnold Witte (University of Amsterdam)
Conventual or Private Practice, Flanders or Italy? Devotio Moderna, Historiography and Devotional Art on Both Sides of the Alps

Respondents: Elizaveta Falkova & Thor-Oona Pignarre-Altermatt

11.20 – Coffee break

11.40 – Herman Roodenburg (independent scholar)
Imaginative Devotions and Enactive Imagination

Respondents: Marta Battisti & Sarah Borges

12.30 – Lunch

13.45 – Mitchell Merback (John Hopkins University)
Virtuous Versos: Old and New Approaches to the Devotional Doppelbild

Respondents: Mathilde Marès & Clara Lieutaghi

14.35 – Gwladys Le Cuff (EHESS)
Curiosités marginales, scrutations prospectives ? Détails prophétiques engagés dans les «panneaux dévotionnels» (Florence/Milan, c. 1490-1530)

Respondents: Ingrid Falque & Clara Zajdela

15.25 – Discussion

16.30 – Visit of the Musée L, around the collection of ‘devotional’ prints and objects

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2025

9.30 – Fannie Caron-Roy (Queen’s University)
Le geste avant l’image. Repenser l’image de dévotion à l’aune des dessins de Michel-Ange

Respondents: Solène Lecuivre & Elizaveta Falkova

10.20 – Sophie Albert (Sorbonne Université)
La «dévotion» pour la Vierge d'Elche : promotion et illustration d'une image et de sa fête (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles)

Respondents: Thor-Oona Pignarre-Altermatt & Marta Battisti

11.10 – Coffee break

11.30 – Evelyne Verheggen (Universiteit Antwerpen)
Meaning, Designation and Significance of Devotional Prints in the Northern Dutch Republic in the Early Modern Period

Respondents: Gwendoline de Muelenaere & Elise Philippe

12.20 – Lunch

13.30 Reindert Falkenburg (NYU Abu Dhabi)
Johannes Vermeer and the Andachtsbild tradition (provisional title)

Respondents: Ralph Dekoninck & Clara Lieutaghi

14.20 – Closing discussion

15.00 – Farewell

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Information et registration (the event is free of charge): elise.philippeuclouvain.be, ingrid.falqueuclouvain.be, solene.lecuivreuclouvain.be

Location :
Salle polyvalente du Learning
Center Christine de Pizan
31 place Cardinal Mercier
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve