External News and Events
Call for Papers: Looking Like: Mimesis/Imitatio in the Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages
Looking Like: Mimesis/Imitatio in the Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages
A workshop to be held at The Courtauld Institute of Art
1 March 2010, 2.00 - 6.00pm.
The imitation (imitatio in Latin) of the natural world has long been considered an ideal quality of works of art. But what do we mean when we say an artwork resembles something, and what does it resemble?
Mimesis as a fundamental characteristic of art was discussed by Plato and Aristotle. The debate was revived in association with classical art by writers of the Renaissance including Vasari, who himself imitated Pliny in praising the deceptive qualities of works of art. Recent scholarship by authors including Erich Auerbach, Svetlana Alpers and Ernst Gombrich has established a discourse about the nature and purpose of mimesis in art. At the same time, such concepts as resemblance and reality have been reconsidered and undermined. This workshop will consider works of art and architecture made between 400 and 1400 AD in Western Europe and beyond in the light of both medieval and modern debates about mimesis.
Proposals of 250 words for papers of 15 minutes are invited on subjects that may include, but are not limited to:
- Imitatio/mimesis as an artistic practice
- Mimesis as a subject of scholarly enquiry then and now
- The limits of mimesis
- The role of the viewer in the creation of mimetic effects
- The aims, scope and purposes of mimesis in the Middle Ages
- Notions of iconicity
- The imitation of materials
This workshop is part of the Medieval Art in Theory project. For further information please see http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/projects/medievalarttheory/index.shtml.
Proposals together with a short statement about the author’s research interests should be sent to Laura Cleaver at laura.cleaver@courtauld.ac.uk by 8 January 2010.
Event details
- Looking Like: Mimesis/Imitatio in the Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages
- Location: Courtauld Institute
- Date: Monday, 1st March 2010
A workshop to be held at The Courtauld Institute of Art
1 March 2010, 2.00 - 6.00pm.The imitation (imitatio in Latin) of the natural world has long been considered an ideal quality of works of art. But what do we mean when we say an artwork resembles something, and what does it resemble?