CFP: HAVE YOU REALLY SEEN THEM ALL?: THE VIRGIN MARY IN THE VISUAL ARTS OF EARLY MODERN EUROPE AND ITS COLONIES
2014 Sixteenth Century Society and Conference (New Orleans, October 16-19, 2014). Those of us who study representations of the Virgin Mary in the Early Modern period are often met with a version of the adage “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all!” Yet, the cult of the Virgin Mary in this period was shaped, and reshaped, by profound religious, political, and social changes that resulted in the production of distinct Marian images. This session calls for studies of Madonna images that highlight this point. Possible lines of inquiry for prospective papers include analysis of Marian artworks in relation to contemporary doctrinal and artistic debates; patterns of daily devotion and liturgical functions; exegetical and poetic texts; issues of sacred female corporeality, exemplarity, and gendered spectatorship. Case studies from across Europe and its colonies are welcome. Ideally, the session will reflect diversity in approaches—e.g., archival, material, iconological, socio-historical, anthropological, semiotic. With an emphasis on varied regional and cultural geographies, it seeks to foster dialogue among scholars of the art and cult of the Virgin Mary in the Early Modern period. Please send abstracts of 250 words and a brief C.V. to Kim Butler Wingfield and Esperança Camara. Deadline 30 March.