Art and Social Identities in Late Antiquity

Patrons and Viewers in Late Antiquity, the proceedings of the conference of the same name held in Aarhus in October 2008, have now been published. Here’s the blurb:

The monumentality and the often rich embellishment of late antique buildings and monuments emphasises their importance to the patrons that commissioned them. However, the understanding and interpretation of the message conveyed may often be obtained through the study of the other important agent, namely the viewer. This book contains a collection of papers that focuses on the way patrons, pagan as well as Christian, conveyed messages through material and visual culture and on the reception by the viewers. The contributions investigate how patrons of luxurious buildings, elaborate grave monuments, and churches used architecture, images, and inscriptions to demonstrate political, social, and religious power. The visual arts were a strong factor in communicating identity and attitudes both in the public and private spheres also in Late Antiquity.

More information from Aarhus University Press here.

Mapping Movement and Sacred Topography
Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Perspectives on Ancient Pilgrimage

This seminar aims to discuss possible ways of applying interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives on the phenomenon of sacred travel or pilgrimage from the Greek period to Late Antiquity. How can such perspectives shed light on movement to sacred places in the ancient world? Do they provide methods to better understand the construction of sacred topography within the wider landscape? And how, in turn, can movement within sacred topography be mapped? We are especially interested in furthering the use of material culture to explore these aspects of pilgrimage and sacred travel. The Workshop will take place on Saturday, 15 December 2012 at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Hamburg, Rm. 122. The poster is available here.

Organisers: Wiebke Friese (UH) and Troels Myrup Kristensen (AU)

10:00 Introduction

10:15 Troels Myrup Kristensen, Aarhus: Mapping Movement and Sacred Topography from Classical Greece to Late Antiquity (discussant: Inge Nielsen, Hamburg)

11:00 Ruth Günther, Hamburg: Early Greek Sanctuaries: Places of Pilgrimage? (discussant: Søren Handberg, Aarhus)

11:45 Coffee break

12:00 Wiebke Friese, Hamburg: Pilgrims and Prophecy. The Graeco-Roman Oracle Sanctuary as a Panhellenic Festival Venue (discussant: Kathrin Kleibl, Insbruck)

12:45 Lunch

13:45 Hedvig von Ehrenheim, Stockholm: Greek Incubation Rituals and Healing Sanctuaries (discussant: Kasper Bro Larsen, AU)

14:30 Kathrin Kleibl, Innsbruck: Evidence for Personal Pilgrimage in the Cult of Isis (discussant: Søren Handberg, AU)

15:15 Coffee break

15:30 Anna Ziel, Mainz: Hostels in Roman Sanctuaries (discussant: Troels Myrup Kristensen, Aarhus)

16:15 Kasper Bro Larsen, Aarhus: Locative and Utopian Religion in Early Christianity (discussant: Wiebke Friese, Hamburg)

17:00 Final discussion and summary

The Workshop is organised within the framework of the strategic research partnership between the universities of Aarhus (AU), Hamburg (UH), Kiel and Southern Denmark (SDU) – and with further financial support from the AU research programme „The Ancient World“.

Assistant Professor Troels Myrup Kristensen, a core member of the late antique art and archaeology research programme at Aarhus, has received DKK 7m from the Danish Council for Independent Research’s Sapere Aude career programme to support his research on the cultural history and social significance of pilgrimage in the period from classical Greek antiquity to Late Antiquity (approximately 500 BCE to approximately 700 CE). It will include a significant late antique component. Read more here.