
Type : appel à communication
Date limite de l’appel : 30 avril 2017
Date de la manifestation : 1 – 2 décembre 2017
Lieu : Munich / München, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Conference Concept (short version)
What meanings do head and body convey in the medieval and early modern ruler portrait? How do its mimetic schemes and visual projections of power relate to each other? How are conceptually abstract norms and values of rulership transposed to categories of looking, how do images of bodies concretize these norms and values, and what modes of representation do they cultivate? Research on the history of portraits has relegated these questions to the margins; we presently lack a systematic analysis. Nevertheless, head and body forged central attributes and categories for physical manifestations of rulership in the Middle Ages and early modern period. The specific conditions of their visual portrayal is therefore of particular interest. Unlike in republican or democratic political systems, where the presence and legitimation of ruling power is supported by an elected government or a constitution, in principalities and monarchies the prince or king himself guaranteed the legitimacy of his own rule. He did this above all else through his physical body, whose visually and haptically experienced presence first lent the necessary evidence for his sovereignty. Continuer la lecture de Appel à communication : Evidence of Power in the Ruler Portrait, 14th – 18th Cent.