May 2004

Islam and the West: Artistic Contact and Influence during the European Middle Ages and Renaissance
Islamic Conference
Thu 6, 10.00-19.00
Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre; Seminar Room 1; Seminar Room 2, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Speakers: Dr Stefano Carboni (Metropolitan Museum, Dr Anna Contadini (SOAS), New York), Professor Robert Hillenbrand (Edinburgh), Professor Deborah Howard (Oxford), Dr Jeremy Johns (Oxford), and chaired by Professor James Cuno
Further information: This conference has been timed to correspond with, Heaven on Earth: Art from Islamic Lands, an exhibition of Islamic art at the Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum and David Khalili.

Naming the Virgin
Naming Names
Mon 10, 17.00
Seminar Room 1, The Courtauld Institute of Art
 Speaker: Dr Robert Maniura (Birkbeck College)
Further information: A series of lectures, seminars, symposia and visits, organised by the Courtauld Institute Renaissance Section, to investigate the phenomenon of naming within the Renaissance and its art history

Dante and the emergence of artistic self-consciousness
Research seminar: Renaissance
Fri 14, 16.30
Seminar Room 1, The Courtauld Institute of Art
 Speaker: Paul Barolsky (University of Virginia)

Between Ideal and Reality. Reassessing Cistercian art and architecture
Cistercian Art Conference
Fri 14 & Sat 15, 13.00-18.00 (14th) & 10.00-18.00 (15th)
Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art
 Speakers: Thomas Coomans, Glyn Coppack, Kathleen Doyle, Alexandra Gajewski, Lindy Grant, Jackie Hall, Stuart Harrison, Terryl Kinder, Christopher Norton, David Park, David Robinson, Crysogonus Waddell, Rose Walker, Christopher Wilson
Further information: This conference to celebrate Peter Fergusson’s contribution to the study of Cistercian art and architecture on the occasion of his retirement from Wellesley College next year is hosted by Paul Crossley and Caroline Bruzelius. The conference programme will include papers on various aspects of Cistercian art and architecture, such as Cistercian architecture in Normandy, England and Wales, the planning of Cistercian abbeys, Cistercian manuscript illumination as well as post-monastic topography.

Temporary Sculpture: A Durable Art Form?
 Sculpture Symposium
Mon 17 & Tue 18, 13.00-18.00 (17th) & 09.30-17.30 (18th)
Seminar Room 1, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Speakers include: Dr Alison Bracker, Dr Iain Fenlon, Dr Tony Godfrey, Dr Uta Kornmeier, Charles Miller, Dr Helen Mills, Dr Jennifer Montagu, Dr Alexandra Parigoris, Dr Christine Stevenson, Dr Johannes Tripps
Further information: Organised by Alexandra Gerstein, this symposium seeks to examine the nature, function and meaning of the temporary in sculpture from the Middle Ages to the present. Following the format of last year's successful Sculpture and the Pedestal symposium, this year's project will comprise a number of specially-commissioned papers each lasting between 25 and 30 minutes. Ephemeral sculpture, installation and performance art are familiar to us all today, but the production of temporary displays of sculpture, made of perishable materials, time-bound to special occasions, and designed to be part of highly ritualised and lavish royal, religious or state performances, or else as a result of spontaneous commemoration, whether elite or popular - have always existed. It is hoped this symposium will set today's installation in context, providing a robust historical background for it, while also marking the differences in meaning and purpose of such work.

Intellectual Formation Seminar Series
Wed 19, 17.00-19.00
Seminar Room 1, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Speaker: TJ Clark, University of California, Berkeley
Further information: Distinguished senior scholars representing a diversity of training and specialist interests lead discussions about the texts, individuals, and experiences that informed their work over the decades of their careers

From Ashburnham to Berenson: Bibliomania, Connoisseurship and Henry Yates Thompson's Illuminated Manuscripts
 Naming Names
Mon 24, 17.00
Seminar Room 1, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Speaker: Dr Alixe Bovey (British Library)
Further information: A series of lectures, seminars, symposia and visits, organised by the Courtauld Institute Renaissance Section, to investigate the phenomenon of naming within the Renaissance and its art history