Call for applications:
“Docere, Delectare, Movere”
the Summer University “Research on Seventeenth-Century Art,” Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

The second edition of the Summer University aims to provide a special place and time for professionals and young researchers (doctoral students and Master's students working on images in art history, history, literature, and philosophy) to meet and engage in the most stimulating interdisciplinary research on European and non-European art of the 17th century (broadly defined as from the 1580s to the 1720s).

Supervised by teacher-researchers from several disciplines (art history, history, literature, philosophy), various workshops will provide an opportunity to present and discuss the research carried out by the new generation of researchers.

The theme chosen for the 2026 edition is "Docere, Delectare, Movere " (To teach, to please, to move).

The call for applications [including a french version], which is sure to be of interest to some of your students, is online on the project's blog: https://universite17.hypotheses.org/

Proposals for participation must be submitted before March 1, 2026.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Research on Seventeenth-Century Art
SUMMER UNIVERSITY 2026
“Docere, Delectare, Movere”
Paris/Bibliothèque nationale de France/Salle de conférences/July 8-9, 2026

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
The second edition of the Summer School will be hosted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Richelieu site - Conference Room) and the Institut national d'histoire de l'art (Inha). The event will provide a unique opportunity for professionals and young researchers to meet and discuss the most stimulating interdisciplinary research on European and non-European art of the 17th century (broadly defined as the period from 1580 to 1720).
Supervised by teacher-researchers from several disciplines (art history, history, literature,
philosophy), various workshops will provide an opportunity to present and discuss the research
carried out by the new generation of researchers.
Institutional support from the project partners will enable individual grants to be offered to cover part of the costs incurred by external participants (from other regions and countries).
The event, separate from the academic calendar and obligations, aims to be inclusive, diverse, and participatory; it will include at least one group visit.

“Docere, Delectare, Movere”
To instruct, to delight, to move: in the seventeenth century, the harmonious combination of
these three verbs described the art of the rhetorician. Is the same true for painters, musicians, and architects? Fifty years ago, after a long period of contempt, the Baroque was reevaluated in
response to this question, which implies attention to the educational, sensory, and emotional
effectiveness of works of art. At the time, studies turned to the instrumentalization of image,
music, and architecture in Catholic pastoral care, both in Europe and beyond through colonial
missionary enterprises (to instruct). We also examined the theatrical, and sometimes multimedia, dimension of art production and the question of affetti (to move). The link between these two functions and delight (to delight) was revealed by studies of the history of taste and collecting, but there was also renewed interest in the erotic dimension of the effectiveness of art in connection with the more general question of the power of images.
Even at that time, objections to this prospect were raised, opposing, for example, the indeterminacy of certain representations of affects to their supposed legibility. Resistance to the reduction of art to propaganda also manifested itself, examining the degree to which social actors themselves adhered to prescriptive discourses in their use of images, or leading to more subtle models, particularly in the political sphere. The importance accorded to sensitivity in seventeenthcentury artistic experimentation has undergone considerable development both in studies of art theory and in the analysis of works, often in connection with a renewed focus on the material dimension of objects. In addition to painting, sculpture, and architecture, numerous works have focused on the role of illustration in scientific and literary publishing. Finally, it should be noted that beyond the Catholic world of Europe, images produced and used in Protestant and even multi-denominational spaces have been analyzed through the prism of one or other of these issues, and that the issues addressed during these sessions are not limited to Europe or to religious questions.

By proposing “Docere, Delectare, Movere” as the theme for the 2026 summer school, we wish to
solicit contributions on a very wide range of subjects and questions. It will be possible to focus
on just one of the three terms in the title, or on the connection between two of them, or even to
reject them in part or in their entirety.
Case studies that are only partially and specifically related to the theme are welcome.

Apply
Applicants, whether art historians or non-art historians working on the image, must be enrolled
in a doctoral program or in a master's program and wish to pursue doctoral research, or be
heritage curators in training or recently appointed.
They will submit an application as a “speaker” (a 20-minute oral presentation on the proposed
theme) or as a “discussant” (moderation of sessions, summary, comments, and questions).
The application for presenters will include: a CV (one page), the current research project (3,500
characters max.), a presentation proposal demonstrating an interdisciplinary approach and
significant theoretical investment (1,500 characters).
The application for discussants will include: a CV, the research project, and a brief cover letter.
Language of communication: French preferred (passive proficiency essential), English, Spanish,
Italian.
Presentations will be published in digital form on the Summer University's Hypothèses blog.

Schedule/Selection
Applications (in PDF format) must be sent before March 1, 2026 to the following address:
universite17inha.fr. The selection committee will notify successful candidates in early April
2026.

Financial support
The BNF and INHA will welcome participants and provide lunch. Applicants who do not live in
Paris or the Paris region may apply for financial support for transportation and accommodation,
with a maximum lump sum of €100 (regions) to €150 (abroad). Payment will be made upon
presentation of invoices for expenses incurred (travel, accommodation) at the end of the Summer
University and after signing off.
Students are strongly advised to also contact their university's research laboratory for additional
assistance.
---------------------------------------------
Organizing committee
Olivier Bonfait (Université Bourgogne Europe) ; Giovanni Careri (Ehess) ; Frédéric Cousinié
(Université de Rouen Normandie) ; Matthieu Fantoni (Musée Fabre, Montpellier) ; Laura Pichard
(Musée du Grand-Siècle) ; Itay Sapir (Université du Québec, Montréal, UQAM) ; Olivia Savatier
(Musée du Louvre) ; Vanessa Selbach (Paris, Bnf) ; Romain Thomas (Paris, Inha) ;
Bernard Teyssandier (Université de Reims et revue XVIIe siècle) ; Cécile Vincent-Cassy (CY
Cergy Paris Université).

Scholarly committee
The scientific committee brings together researchers from disciplines other than art history
(literature, history, philosophy, musicology) who are working on images in the 17th century:
Florence Dumora (Université Paris Cité) ; Tony Gheeraert (Université de Rouen Normandie) ;
Laurence Giavarini (Université Bourgogne Europe) ; Stéphane Haffemayer (Université de Rouen
Normandie) ; Philippe Hamou (Sorbonne Université), Hélène Leblanc (Université de Genève),
Stanis Perez (Maison des Sciences de l’Homme-Paris Nord) ; Stéphane van Damme (Paris, École
normale supérieure).

Scholarly Advisory Board
The Scholarly Advisory Board (which may include new members interested in the project) brings
together professors, researchers, curators, art historians, and specialists in the 17th century.
-International partners: Susanna Berger (University of Southern California) ; Jan Blanc
(Université de Lausanne) ; Chiara Franceschini (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Munchën) ;
Hanneke Grootenboer (University of Amsterdam) ; Aaron M. Hyman (Universität Basel) ;
Marika Knowles (University of Saint Andrews) ; Tod Olson (UC Berkeley) ; Felipe Pereda
(Harvard University) ; Lorenzo Pericolo (Florida State University) ; Javier Portús (Museo del
Prado).

-Partners in France: Lionel Arsac (Château de Versailles) ; Sandra Bazin-Henry (Université de
Franche-Comté, Besançon) ; Marion Boudon-Machuel (Université de Tours ; Inha) ; Marianne
Cojannot-Le blanc (Université Paris Nanterre) ; Pascale Cugy (Université Rennes 2) ; Rosa De
Marco (Université Rennes 2) ; Sabine Du Crest (Université de Bordeaux Montaigne) ; Corentin
Dury (Musée des beaux-arts d’Orléans) ; Alexandre Gady (Sorbonne Université ; Musée du
Grand Siècle) ; Christine Gouzi (Sorbonne Université) ; Guillaume Kazerouni (Musée des beauxarts de Rennes) ; Estelle Leutrat (Université de Poitiers) ; Anne Perrin-Khelissa (Université
Toulouse Jean Jaurès) ; Philippe Luez (Musée national des Granges de Port-Royal) ; Julien
Lugand (Université de Perpignan Via Domitia) ; Philippe Malgouyres (Musée du Louvre);
Vincenzo Mancuso (Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier 3) ; Léonie Marquaille (Université
Bordeaux Montaigne) ; Nicolas Milovanovic (Musée du Louvre) ; Anne Ritz-Guilbert (École du
Louvre, Paris) ; Hélène Rousteau-Chambon (Université de Nantes) ; Adriana Senard-Kiernan
(Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès) ; Magali Théron (Université d’Aix-Marseille).

Contact/Information: f.cousinieorange.fr; romain.thomasinha.fr
Carnet-hypothèses : https://universite17.hypotheses.org/