Interdisciplinary Conference: new research on mural paintings in the Middle Ages

Murals are among the most meaningful, but also the most fragile and enigmatic artistic legacies of the Middle Ages. Thus, recording, documentation, interpretation and contextualization are considered particularly challenging. Where the art of the Middle Ages is discussed – be it in academic and political forums or as part of a university curriculum or in the wider community of museums and exhibitions – the murals are often sidelined or treated as singular cases. They are simply difficult to access, visualize and interpret.

Next month an academic conference in Paderborn will focus upon recent research of murals from the high and later Middle Ages. At the meeting a series of significant casestudies will be presented. Special attention will be paid to diversity in terms of both mixed traditions and the adoption of techniques and materials. Both restoration and art historical perspectives will be presented. Next the tasks of studying and conserving wall paintings and architectural surfaces as well as building inventories will be explored as part of an inter-institutional cooperative network. The generic history of the murals will also be explored through the evolving synergy between the contributions. Creating a  comparative framework, geographically ranging from Central and Western Europe via Italy to the Balkans and the Caucasus will be at the center.

The location of the meeting in Paderborn is a reflection of a handful of significant and sometimes unique examples of mural paintings from the Carolingian period and later, which may be found in the vicinity. During the meeting this important regional heritage will be explored as part of the conference.

Finally, the meeting aims to establish an international and interdisciplinary discussion forum which may also provide a forum for younger art historians, scholars and scientists working in restoration.

Interdisziplinäre Tagung: Neue Forschungen zur Wandmalerei des Mittelalters
Paderborn Universität, Warburg Str. 100, auditorium O2
10.06.2015 – 12.06.2015

The language of the conference is in German. 

PROGRAMME (translated):

• Welcome by Prof. Dr. Ulrike Heinrich (University of Paderborn)
• Dr. Dörthe Jacob, Dipl.-restorer (State Conservation Office at Stuttgart Regional Council): Painting techniques of medieval murals
• Dr. Matthias Exner (Bavarian State Conservation Office, Munich): The Ottonian murals in the cathedral in Augsburg
• Dr. Dirk Strohmann (Monuments, landscape and building culture in Westphalia, Münster): ” Worlds of images – Imaginary worlds”. Research project on Romanesque wallpaintings in Westphalia.
• Prof. Dr. Ulrike Heinrich (University of Paderborn): The image program and performativity of the cycle of paintings of the miracles of Christ in St. George’s Oberzell on Reichenau, where the believers seeking comfort or help are enlisted as active participants.
• Caroline Schärli, M.A. (University of Basel): One building, two Saints, three founders. New studies of the Carolingian and Ottonian murals in the Sylvester Chapel in Goldbach and their mutual relations
• Mechthild Noll-Minor, Dipl.-restorer (Brandenburg State Conservation Office, Zossen): Viewing, exploring and restoring – medieval murals in Northeastern Brandenburg
• Katharina Pick, M. A. (University of Paderborn): The murals in the “liberaria” (Hartmann Schedel) in the upper cloister of the Cathedral in Brandenburg
• Steffen Kremer, M. A. (University of Bonn): The meaning and function of heraldic motifs in the profane murals of the late Middle Ages – The example of the paintings in the Sala Baronale in Castello della Manta in Saluzzo
• Prof. Dr. Barbara Schellewald (University of Basel): Blue – materiality and light. On the relationship between mural paintings and mosaics
• Brigitta Schrade, M.A. (Freie Universität Berlin): The “Painter of the King”: Tevdore in Upper Svaneti. An example of an iconographic program of Georgian mural paintings from the 11th -12th centuries
• Krisztina Zsuszanna Ilko, M.A. (Central European University Budapest): 14^th century frescoes in Slovakia: the last prayer of the Virgin in the Cathedral of Neutra
• Evening lecture in the LWL-Museum in the Imperial Palace in Paderborn: Prof. Dr. Harald Wolter von dem Knesebeck (University of Bonn): An art-historical classification of profane murals on the Gamburg in Taubertal
• Excursion to Soest and Hoxter-Corvey:
• Eva-Maria Bongardt, M.A. (University of Paderborn): Visit to the Church of “St. Maria zur Höhe” in Soest
• Dr. Sveva Gai, (Westphalian Museum of Archaeology in Paderborn): Visit to the west wing of the former Klosterkirche Corvey

The conference is open. Excursion €25

Contact: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Heinrichs, Ulrike.Heinrichs@upb.de, Katharina Pick M.A., Katharina.Pick@upb.de

FEATURED PHOTO:

Wallpaintings in St Marie zur Höhe in Soest near Paderborn. Source: Wikipedia