Talking Stones: Object and Materiality in Early Modern Central and Eastern Europe.

The conference explores the role of objects, materials, and especially precious stones in the artistic, cultural, and diplomatic networks of early modern Central and Eastern Europe. The programme brings together international scholars addressing topics such as the circulation of gemstones and luxury materials, collecting practices, materiality in art, and the significance of objects within the court culture of Emperor Rudolf II.

Across two days, the conference features thematic panels on networks and exchange, materiality and collecting, and Rudolf II’s collections, alongside case studies ranging from engraved glass and jewellery to lapis lazuli paintings and alchemical interpretations of stone.

Venue: Academic Conference Center, Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Husova 4, Prague 1
Organisers: Studia Rudolphina Center (IAH CAS), Collecting Central Europe, The Medici Archive Project
Terms and conditions of participation: Participation is free of charge. Advance registration is recommended via contact email.
Contact: collectingcentraleuropegmail.com

PROGRAMME

FRIDAY, 17 APRIL 2026
10.45 Welcome

NETWORKING AND COMMUNICATION

11.00-12.30
Chair: Andrea Gáldy (CCE Platform)
Alice Fornasiero, UFR Arts, Lettres, Communication, Université Rennes 2, Rennes:
Gemstone Trade between Bohemia and Italy through Diplomatic Routes and Networks
Belinda Granata, Accademia die Belle Arti, Napoli:
Hardstone Paintings in Motion. Materiality, Mobility, and Diplomatic Exchange: Daniele da Volterra’s David and Goliath
Orsolya Bubryák, Institute of Art History, Elte Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest:
Gems on the Move. Baron Edelstein and an Imperial Cameo in the Networks of Early Modern Diplomacy

Lunch for Speakers 12.30-13.30

13.30-15.30
Chair: Alessio Assonitis (The Medici Archive Project, Florence)
Anja Katharina Frisch, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg:
The circulation of medieval English alabaster sculpture in Central and Eastern Europe
Đurđina Lakošeljac, Department of History of Art, University of Zadar:
Lost Splendour: Archival Records of Precious Jewellery in Fifteenth- and Early Sixteenth-Century Šibenik
Laura Martínez Cayado, University of Murcia:
Luxury, Gold, and Gemstones: Catherine de’ Medici’s Gifts in the Context of Marriage Negotiations with Vienna
Matteo Proto Ghiringhelli, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Roma:
Collecting between Moravia and Siena: materiality in exchanges between Ippolito Agostini, Karel of Žerotín and Jan Šembera

Coffee / Tea [15.30-16.00]

MATERIALITY AND COLLECTING

16.00-18.00
Chair: Sylva Dobalová (IAH CAS)
AdéLa Minaříková, Kettle’s Yard Art Gallery in Cambridge:
Engraved Glass - from a Novelty in European Courts to a Flourishing Industry
Michał Mencfel, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań:
The Jagiellonian Jewels, or Paradoxes of Polish Collecting Culture
Ella Campbell, Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome:
Ovid on Stone: Searching for New Meaning on Antonio Tempesta’s Painted Mythologies on Lapis Lazuli
Martin Mádl, Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague:
“AETITES lapis est veluti prægnans...” Eagle-Stones between Magic and Practice

Drinks and Dinner for Speakers

SATURDAY, 18 APRIL 2026

MATERIALITY CONTINUED

9.00-10.30
Chair: Suzanna Ivanič (School Of History, University Of Kent)
Ágnes Szabó, Institute of Art History, Elte Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest:
Diplomacy of Precious Textiles decorated with gemstones in Late Medieval and Early Modern Hungary
Mirjam Wien, University of Erfurt:
A Crucifixion Group’s Many Lives. Materiality in Context in Early Modern Sibiu
Jana Zapletalová, Department of Art History, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc:
The Amethyst Grottoes of the Archbishop’s Château in Kroměříž: Precious Stones and the Self-Representation of a Late Seventeenth-Century Ecclesiastical Aristocrat

Coffee / Tea [10.30-11.00]

RUDOLF II’S COLLECTIONS

11.00-12.30
Chair: Paulus Rainer (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)
Corinna Gannon, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main:
Painting on Alabaster – Painting with Light. Hans von Aachen’s Allegory and Portrait of Rudolf II
Ivo Purš, Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague:
The Dead Christ Lamented by Angels by Hans von Aachen (1552–1612) and the Alchemical Christ-Lapis Parallel
Borbála Gulyás, Research Institute of Art History, Elte Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest:
A Heliotrope Deluxe Bookbinding of the Prague Kunstkammer

Lunch [12.30-14.00]

14.00-16.00
Chair: Markéta Ježková (IAH CAS)
Edgar Lein, Independent Scholar, Graz:
A Sapphire for Emperor Rudolf II
Dirk Weber – Ulf Kempe, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Grünes Gewölbe – TU Bergakademie Freiberg:
A precious, hitherto unrecognised lidded bowl by D. Miseroni and H.R. Taravell in Dresden
Helen Buddensieg, Princely Collections Liechtenstein, Vaduz-Vienna:
The Pietre Dure Works for Prince Karl I of Liechtenstein
Suzanna Ivanič, School of History, University of Kent:
God's Instrument: Bohemian gems, efficacy and medicine

Break [16.00-16.15]

16.15
Paulus Rainer, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna:
Do Stones Matter? And if so, why?
Discussion Andrea Gáldy and Committee Members

Academic Conference Center
Institute of Art History Czech Academy of Sciences
Husova 4, Prague 1