Meetings & Events: Romanesque Conference

Romanesque and the Eastern Mediterranean

Date(s)
16 – 18 Apr 2012
Venue
Palermo, Italy

The British Archaeological Association held the second of the biennial series of International Romanesque conferences in Palermo on 16-18 April, 2012. The theme was Romanesque and the Mediterranean, and the aim was to examine points of contact between the Latin West and the Byzantine and Islamic worlds in the 11th and 12th centuries. This took many forms, from the widespread importation of artefacts – textiles, ceramics, ivories and metalwork for the most part – to a specific desire to recruit eastern artists or emulate eastern Mediterranean forms and buildings, particularly those in Jerusalem.

The Conference was held in the historic centre of Palermo from 16-18 April, with the opportunity to stay on for two days of visits to medieval buildings in and around Palermo from 19-20 April.

Conference Programme

Monday
16 April

Chair: Lindy Grant (President, BAA)

  • 10.00 Registration – General Introduction
  • 10.30 Bruzelius & Tronzo The Kingdom of Sicily: The Norman Contribution
  • 12.00 Eric Fernie The cathedral of Canosa and the relationship between Byzantine and Romanesque styles in Architecture
  • 12.30 Mark Joseph Johnson The Tomb of Bohemond in Canosa and its relation to Byzantium

Chair: John McNeill (Hon. Sec, BAA)

  • 14.30 Béla Zsolt Szakács Hungary, Byzantium, Italy: Architectural Connections in the Eleventh Century
  • 15.00 Claude Andrault-Schmitt A Western Interpretation of an Oriental Scheme: The Domed Churches of Romanesque Aquitaine
  • 16.15 Rose Walker Carving and Construction from Medieval Spain after the Fall of the Caliphate
  • 16.45 Tom Nickson Inventing Romanesque in Conquest Spain

Tuesday
17 April

Chair: Jeremy Johns (Khalili Research Centre, Oxford University)

  • 10.00 Mariam Rosser-Owen The Oliphant: A Symbol of Mediterranean Hybridity?
  • 10.30 Eva Hoffman The Space of Exchange: Shaping Visual Culture and Identity in the Medieval Mediterranean
  • 11.45 Gerardo Boto Sparkles of Damascus in the Mirrors of the Reconquest: Oriental Monstrous Creatures in 10th and 11th-Century Spanish Monastic Scriptoria
  • 12.15 Francesca Anzelmo The nave ceiling of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, and painted muqarnas decoration across the Mediterranean in the 11th and 12th centuries

Chair: Mariam Rosser-Owen (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

  • 14.15 Ittai Weinryb Mediterranean Thresholds: Barisanus of Trani, Bonanus of Pisa and the Making of the Mediterranean Bronze Industry
  • 14.45 Rosa Bacile The Porphyry and Rock Crystal Workshop in Palermo and the Origins of its Sculptors, 1140-1176
  • 16.00 Anna Contadini The Pisa Griffin, Lucca Falcon and Mari-Cha Lion
  • 16.30 Jeremy Johns The Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina
  • 19.00 Palazzo dei Normanni for visit to Royal Palace and Cappella Palatina

Wednesday
18 April

Chair: Manuel Castiñeiras (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • 10.00 Martin Biddle The Tomb of Christ Rebuilt: Recovery from the Destruction of 1009
  • 10.30 John McNeill Building Jerusalem in Western France: The Case of St-Sauveur at Charroux
  • 11.45 Hugh Kennedy Crusader Castles
  • 12.15 Jaroslav Folda Twelfth-Century Jerusalem and Bethlehem: Points of Contact between Europe and the Near East

Chair: Jeremy Ashbee (English Heritage)

  • 14.30 Ludovico Geymonat Byzantine and Romanesque in the Baptistery at Parma
  • 15.00 Manuel Castiñeiras Catalan Panel Painting around 1200 and the Art of the Eastern Mediterranean

Chair: Richard Plant (Christie’s Education, London)

  • 16.15 Dulce Ocón The Paintings of the Chapter-House at Sigena and the Art of the Crusader Kingdoms
  • 16.45 Jordi Camps Catalonia, Provence and the Holy Land: Late 12th- Century Sculpture in Barcelona