International Workshop: Nicholas of Verdun's Pulpit for Klosterneuburg

The workshop brings together scholars from various disciplines to explore the work of Nicholas of Verdun from new perspectives. The focus is on his enamel work (1181), preserved in Klosterneuburg, one of the most significant examples of High Medieval goldsmithing, which stands out for its complex visual language, theological themes, and inscription regarding its authorship.

Program

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Seminar Room 1
Department of Art History, University of Vienna
Universitätscampus Hof 9, Garnisongasse 13
1090 Vienna
& online (Zoom)

17:00–17:30
Welcome Address by Raphael Rosenberg, Head of the Department of Art History

17:30–19:00
Martina Pippal, Department of Art History, University of Vienna
Christine Ratkowitsch, Department of Classical Philology, Medieval and Neolatin Studies, University of Vienna
Naturalismen im typologischen Rahmen – interdisziplinäre Beobachtungen zur Ungleichzeitigkeit der Medien

Friday, May 8, 2026

Quartier 1114
Room: Sambucus
Klosterneuburg Abbey
Stiftsplatz 1
3400 Klosterneuburg
& online (Zoom)

9:00–9:30
Welcome Address by a representative of the Klosterneuburg Abbey & Wolfgang Huber, Collection Curator Klosterneuburg Abbey

Section 1: The pulpit cover from 1181 to the present day
Introduction and chair: Andreas Zajic

9:30–11:00
Sabine Miesgang, Institute for Medieval Research, Department of Text Edition and Source Studies/MIR, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
Nicholas’ Goldsmith Workshop and his Klosterneuburg “Places”: An Overview of the History and Reception of the Klosterneuburg Pulpit from the Late Middle Ages to the Present Day

Arwed Arnulf, Department for Art History, FU Berlin & Department of Art History, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Antiquarische Interpretation, repräsentative Inanspruchnahme, Umnutzung und Präsentation hochmittelalterlicher Goldschmidewerke nach 1500. Die nachmittelalterliche Geschichte des Klosterneuburger Goldschmiedewerks im Vergleich

11:00–11:30 Break

Section 2: Production and Appropriation
Chair: Martina Pippal

11:30–13:00
Jan Friedrich Richter, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum
Ein Schreinfragment im Berliner Kunstgewerbemuseum. Fragen zur Arbeitsorganisation in der hochmittelalterlichen Goldschmiedekunst

Bernát Rácz, Central European University, Vienna
The Artist of the Reliquary of Pétermonostora and Nicholas of Verdun

13:00–14:30 Lunch Break

Section 3: Image – Text – Titulus
Chair: Arwed Arnulf
14:30–17:00

Flora Prohaska, Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
Kurt Smolak, Department of Classical Philology, Medieval and Neolatin Studies, University of Vienna
OBSCVRA … FIGVRA? Eine latinistische Bestandsaufnahme der Inschriften des Klosterneuburger Goldschmiedewerks. Zugleich eine Nachlese zum Unverständnis der Forschung gegenüber den Texten des Objekts

Clemens M.M. Bayer, Service Histoire du moyen âge occidental, University of Liège
Die sogenannte Widmungsinschrift des Klosterneuburger Ambos von 1181: Zum philologischen Befund und zum sachlichen Gehalt

Andreas Zajic, Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
Bitte weitergehen – hier gibt es nichts zu sehen! Oder: Was ist „normal“ am Klosterneuburger Ambo? Beobachtungen zu bild-textlichen und schrift-bildlichen Konventionen des Objekts

17:00–17:30 Break

Evening Lecture
17:30–18:30
Heike Schlie, Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture (IMAREAL), University of Salzburg
Eine Summa in Kupfer und Email. Überlegungen zu Material- und Technikikonologie der Goldschmiedearbeit des Nikolaus von Verdun in Klosterneuburg

Saturday, May 9, 2026
Quartier 1114
Room: Sambucus
Klosterneuburg Abbey
Stiftsplatz 1
3400 Klosterneuburg
& online (Zoom)

Section 4: The dialogue of the three eras—typology and temporality
Chair: Martina Pippal

9:00–10:30
Henriette Hochgatterer, Vienna
Gestik, Dramatik und Narration am Klosterneuburger Ambo des Nikolaus von Verdun

Friedrich Dahm, Vienna
Bilderfindung im Hochmittelalter?

10:30–11:00 Break

11:00–12:30
Miroslav Varšo, Centre of social and psychological sciences SAS, Institute of Social Sciences, Košice
How did Samson reach out to Nicholas of Verdun‘s Pulpit?

Vratislav Zervan, Institute of Art History, Art Research Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava
Potenziale Künstlicher Intelligenz für die Analyse der Similitudo am sogenannten Verduner Altar

12:30–14:00 Lunch Break

14:00–15:30
Ivan Gerát, Institute of Art History, Art Research Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, & Department of History of Arts and Culture, University of Trnava
The Typology and Temporality of Baptismal Images in the 12th Century

Anna Boreczky, Fragmenta et Codices Research Group, National Széchényi Library, Budapest
Luxury Artefacts and Everyday Objects. Notes on the Multiplicity of Functions and the Changing Agency of Pictorial Exegesis Between the 12th and the 16th Centuries

15:30–17:00
Visit of the Verdun Altar

17:00–17:30 Break

Section 5: A historiographical analysis of the studies on the pulpit (and on Nicolas of Verdun) in the socio-political context of the last two centuries
Chair: Ivan Gerát

17:30–19:00
Vedran Sulovsky, Medieval History, School of History, LMU Munich
Nicholas of Verdun and the Court Chapel

Ivan Foletti, Masaryk University, Brno
Adrien Palladino, Musée du Louvre, Paris & Masaryk University, Brno
The Klosterneuburg Pulpit as Historiographical Myth During the Cold War

19:00–19:30
Summary of the Workshop

Contact:
nikolaus-verdun.2026univie.ac.at

Mandatory registration (on-site seating is subject to availability, online link will be provided after registration):
https://nikolaus-verdun.univie.ac.at/registration/