Books and Edited Volumes by Jessica N Richardson
The Aesthetics of Marble from Late Antiquity to the Present, 2021
Articles by Jessica N Richardson
Sacred Scripture / Sacred Space. The Interlacing of Real Places and Conceptual Spaces in Medieval Art and Architecture (Materiale Textkulturen 23), 2019
Art and Experience in Trecento Italy: Proceedings of the Andrew Ladis Memorial Trecento Conference (2016), 2018
Saints, Miracles and the Image, 2017
Remembering the Middle Ages in Early Modern Italy
This article discusses two little-studied reliefs on the north portal of San Leonardo at Siponto.... more This article discusses two little-studied reliefs on the north portal of San Leonardo at Siponto. Long noted as a site on the road to the important sanctuary of St. Michael on Monte Gargano, the north facade of the church contains some of the most celebrated sculpture of twelfth-century Apulia, which has traditionally been viewed in relation to pilgrimage. Through consideration of the cult of its titular saint, Leonard of Noblat—patron of prisoners, whose main shrine is located in the Limousin region of central France—I argue that the carved figures represent one of the saint’s principal miracles, first recorded at the beginning of the twelfth century. Additionally, they provide insight into a significant and overlooked aspect of Leonard’s cult and its gestation, explaining how a little-known saint purportedly born in sixth-century France became the focus of one of the most popular cults in twelfth-century Europe and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The interpretation proposed here participates in current scholarly discussions of sacred topography and the potentially “global” dimensions of medieval saints’ cults, offering an understanding of the dynamics of the cult-body-image relationship. It demonstrates how the study of individuals’ mobility can enrich our understanding of the devotion to saints beyond the geographically bound locations of the shrines that housed their bodies, and it shows the critical role images play in recording and revealing these processes. I investigate the ways in which facade imagery might simultaneously address varied audiences and carry multivalent meanings, potentially shaping practice and moderating social behavior. Finally, I show how sculpture could form part of a dynamic and complex relationship among miracles, performance, and votive offerings.
Co-author, “Historical Notes,” Carlo Cesare Malvasia, Felsina pittrice (1678): Translation and Critical Edition, volume 1: The Early Bolognese Painters, edited E. Cropper and L. Pericolo, New York: Harvey Miller for CASVA, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2012.
Art History, 2011
Page 1. Page 2. © Association of Art Historians 2011 2 The Brotherhood of Saint Leonard and Saint... more Page 1. Page 2. © Association of Art Historians 2011 2 The Brotherhood of Saint Leonard and Saint Francis: Banners, Sacred Topography and Confraternal Identity in Assisi Jessica N. Richardson In a 1936 publication, which ...
Images, Manuscripts and Hagiolatry: Edward B. Garrison and the Study of Late-Medieval Italian Ar... more Images, Manuscripts and Hagiolatry: Edward B. Garrison and the Study of Late-Medieval Italian Art
Jessica N. Richardson
In the foreword to his influential book Italian Romanesque Panel Painting: An Illustrated Index (1949) Edward B. Garrison (1900-81) wrote, ‘a correct history of painting in Italy will best be served through concentration upon the elementary problems of attribution and dating’. Yet both his writings and unpublished notes betray a deeper interest in the period as a whole, one that goes beyond these issues. This attitude is particularly apparent in the methodology he developed for the attribution of manuscripts to specific centres. Here he advocated an approach dependent on local hagiolatry and patterns of devotion. An assessment of Garrison’s scholarship and an examination of his Collection – housed, since 1962, in The Courtauld Institute of Art – reveal an underlying interdisciplinary approach to the field of late-medieval Italian art. This approach offers a way forward for integrating the study of images, manuscripts and hagiolatry.
Conferences by Jessica N Richardson
Schriften in mittelalterlichen Kirchen und Klöstern sind nicht zufällig im Raum verteilt, sondern... more Schriften in mittelalterlichen Kirchen und Klöstern sind nicht zufällig im Raum verteilt, sondern oftmals mit großem Kalkül entworfen und platziert. Schriftbildlich hervorgehoben oder – im Gegenteil – kaum sicht- und lesbar bezeichnen sie Schwellen und Raumgrenzen (Portale, Wände und Pfeiler, Abschrankungen, Glasfenster), heben kultische und liturgische Zentren hervor (Heiligengräber, Altarräume, Chorbereiche, Taufsteine) und zeichnen Altäre aus. Darüber hinaus prägt Schrift den Sakralraum auch in nicht-materialer Form, als theologisches Konzept, kulturelles Wissen, gesprochenes Wort und gesungener Vers. Die mit Inschriften versehenen Orte, Ausstattungsstücke und Bildwerke sind dabei nicht voneinander isoliert zu sehen: Statt dessen markieren sie, so die Vermutung, Knotenpunkte in einem komplexen Netzwerk kultischer wie soziokultureller Handlungen im Sakralraum und an seiner Peripherie, das stetem Wandel unterworfen ist (Festtage, Umbauten, neue Stiftungen). In diesem Sinne dienen Inschriften auch der Binnendifferenzierung des architektonischen Raums, der Ausbildung von Verkehrswegen und der Akzentuierung theologischer Bedeutungen.
Im Rahmen der Tagung sollen u.a. baugebundene Skulpturen mit Inschriften, schrifttragende Stiftungen zur Kirchenausstattung und – nicht zuletzt – der Codex als Schriftraum mit seinen Bezügen zum sozialen, liturgischen und architektonischen Raum Beachtung finden.
Reviews by Jessica N Richardson
Call for Papers by Jessica N Richardson
Fashioned from Holy Matter. A cross-cultural workshop on the semantics of image-making
Workshop ... more Fashioned from Holy Matter. A cross-cultural workshop on the semantics of image-making
Workshop at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Florence, 6–7 July 2017
November 30, 2016
This workshop draws attention to a particular type of image, which has not been studied yet as a group: images that were made of or shaped from holy matter, such as earth, stone, blood, sweat or wood. These materials might have been used as a support for painting, colour itself, as a modelling substance or as building material. The image-relic relationship—in particular, the insertion of relics into images/icons or reliquaries—and the miraculous properties of images in general have been the subject of sustained scholarly interest. In addition, the material properties of images and materiality, more broadly, are now major areas of study in both art history and a number of related disciplines. Yet little work has been devoted to the creative use of matter already perceived as holy or, vice versa, the later attribution of holiness to the substance of images.
The workshop seeks to explore from a cross-cultural and interreligious perspective how holy material becomes semantically charged and/or redefined through the process of artistic creation. How is meaning attained through the interaction between holy substance and image and how is the value of the holy matter communicated to various audiences (through inscriptions or legends for instance)? Does the image authenticate its holiness and, if so, what visual strategies were used? How might written descriptions or representations of images also make this holy presence known? A related objective of the workshop will be to analyse the implications of meaning: how does it contribute to the function, use and activation of such images—in both sanctioned and unofficial devotional and ritual practices—, which might be informed by possible transcultural and transhistorical dynamics. Further, how might the meanings ascribed to fashioned matter express apotropaic, pharmacological or other concerns?
Papers from all fields, from earliest to contemporary times, are welcome.
Please send proposals of max. 500 words and a short Curriculum vitae by 30 November 2016 to the organisers:
hoffmann@khi.fi.it and jessica.richardson@khi.fi.it
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Books and Edited Volumes by Jessica N Richardson
Articles by Jessica N Richardson
Jessica N. Richardson
In the foreword to his influential book Italian Romanesque Panel Painting: An Illustrated Index (1949) Edward B. Garrison (1900-81) wrote, ‘a correct history of painting in Italy will best be served through concentration upon the elementary problems of attribution and dating’. Yet both his writings and unpublished notes betray a deeper interest in the period as a whole, one that goes beyond these issues. This attitude is particularly apparent in the methodology he developed for the attribution of manuscripts to specific centres. Here he advocated an approach dependent on local hagiolatry and patterns of devotion. An assessment of Garrison’s scholarship and an examination of his Collection – housed, since 1962, in The Courtauld Institute of Art – reveal an underlying interdisciplinary approach to the field of late-medieval Italian art. This approach offers a way forward for integrating the study of images, manuscripts and hagiolatry.
Conferences by Jessica N Richardson
Im Rahmen der Tagung sollen u.a. baugebundene Skulpturen mit Inschriften, schrifttragende Stiftungen zur Kirchenausstattung und – nicht zuletzt – der Codex als Schriftraum mit seinen Bezügen zum sozialen, liturgischen und architektonischen Raum Beachtung finden.
Reviews by Jessica N Richardson
Call for Papers by Jessica N Richardson
Workshop at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Florence, 6–7 July 2017
November 30, 2016
This workshop draws attention to a particular type of image, which has not been studied yet as a group: images that were made of or shaped from holy matter, such as earth, stone, blood, sweat or wood. These materials might have been used as a support for painting, colour itself, as a modelling substance or as building material. The image-relic relationship—in particular, the insertion of relics into images/icons or reliquaries—and the miraculous properties of images in general have been the subject of sustained scholarly interest. In addition, the material properties of images and materiality, more broadly, are now major areas of study in both art history and a number of related disciplines. Yet little work has been devoted to the creative use of matter already perceived as holy or, vice versa, the later attribution of holiness to the substance of images.
The workshop seeks to explore from a cross-cultural and interreligious perspective how holy material becomes semantically charged and/or redefined through the process of artistic creation. How is meaning attained through the interaction between holy substance and image and how is the value of the holy matter communicated to various audiences (through inscriptions or legends for instance)? Does the image authenticate its holiness and, if so, what visual strategies were used? How might written descriptions or representations of images also make this holy presence known? A related objective of the workshop will be to analyse the implications of meaning: how does it contribute to the function, use and activation of such images—in both sanctioned and unofficial devotional and ritual practices—, which might be informed by possible transcultural and transhistorical dynamics. Further, how might the meanings ascribed to fashioned matter express apotropaic, pharmacological or other concerns?
Papers from all fields, from earliest to contemporary times, are welcome.
Please send proposals of max. 500 words and a short Curriculum vitae by 30 November 2016 to the organisers:
hoffmann@khi.fi.it and jessica.richardson@khi.fi.it
Jessica N. Richardson
In the foreword to his influential book Italian Romanesque Panel Painting: An Illustrated Index (1949) Edward B. Garrison (1900-81) wrote, ‘a correct history of painting in Italy will best be served through concentration upon the elementary problems of attribution and dating’. Yet both his writings and unpublished notes betray a deeper interest in the period as a whole, one that goes beyond these issues. This attitude is particularly apparent in the methodology he developed for the attribution of manuscripts to specific centres. Here he advocated an approach dependent on local hagiolatry and patterns of devotion. An assessment of Garrison’s scholarship and an examination of his Collection – housed, since 1962, in The Courtauld Institute of Art – reveal an underlying interdisciplinary approach to the field of late-medieval Italian art. This approach offers a way forward for integrating the study of images, manuscripts and hagiolatry.
Im Rahmen der Tagung sollen u.a. baugebundene Skulpturen mit Inschriften, schrifttragende Stiftungen zur Kirchenausstattung und – nicht zuletzt – der Codex als Schriftraum mit seinen Bezügen zum sozialen, liturgischen und architektonischen Raum Beachtung finden.
Workshop at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Florence, 6–7 July 2017
November 30, 2016
This workshop draws attention to a particular type of image, which has not been studied yet as a group: images that were made of or shaped from holy matter, such as earth, stone, blood, sweat or wood. These materials might have been used as a support for painting, colour itself, as a modelling substance or as building material. The image-relic relationship—in particular, the insertion of relics into images/icons or reliquaries—and the miraculous properties of images in general have been the subject of sustained scholarly interest. In addition, the material properties of images and materiality, more broadly, are now major areas of study in both art history and a number of related disciplines. Yet little work has been devoted to the creative use of matter already perceived as holy or, vice versa, the later attribution of holiness to the substance of images.
The workshop seeks to explore from a cross-cultural and interreligious perspective how holy material becomes semantically charged and/or redefined through the process of artistic creation. How is meaning attained through the interaction between holy substance and image and how is the value of the holy matter communicated to various audiences (through inscriptions or legends for instance)? Does the image authenticate its holiness and, if so, what visual strategies were used? How might written descriptions or representations of images also make this holy presence known? A related objective of the workshop will be to analyse the implications of meaning: how does it contribute to the function, use and activation of such images—in both sanctioned and unofficial devotional and ritual practices—, which might be informed by possible transcultural and transhistorical dynamics. Further, how might the meanings ascribed to fashioned matter express apotropaic, pharmacological or other concerns?
Papers from all fields, from earliest to contemporary times, are welcome.
Please send proposals of max. 500 words and a short Curriculum vitae by 30 November 2016 to the organisers:
hoffmann@khi.fi.it and jessica.richardson@khi.fi.it