Call for Papers IMC Leeds: Illuminating the Laity

Call for Papers:
International Medieval Congress
Leeds, 7-10 July 2014

Session Title:
ILLUMINATING THE LAITY: ILLUSTRATED VERNACULAR MANUSCRIPTS IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

Vernacular texts and visual imagery played fundamental roles in the education of the laity in the late Middle Ages. Vernacular manuscripts of didactic texts were often illustrated with allegories and narrative scenes. Translations of the classics, moral treatises, fables, and lives of saints were enlivened by ingenious visual programmes. Illustrations could range from depictions of moments in everyday life as visual paradigms of moral precepts, to familiar interactions that gave immediacy to religious narratives. Illustrative cycles acted as visual glosses and helped readers to grasp and memorise moral content.

How did illustrations in vernacular manuscripts reflect educational programmes for lay readers, notably those for women and children? Can we discern in them the respective contributions of authors, patrons and artists? Were there regional habits and styles of such pedagogic visuality in different parts of Europe? These are some of the questions which this session, organised by Dr Federico Botana, seeks to explore.

Please send proposals (maximum 300 words) by 27 September to Federico Botana (f.botana@qmul.ac.uk)