Dear Colleagues, Iara Dundas and I are organizing two sessions for the 2016 meeting of the Renaissance Society of America to be held in Boston. Please find both CFP's below. If interested, please send a 150-word abstract, paper title, keywords, and a brief (300-word max) c.v. to session organizers Iara Dundas (iara.dundas@duke.edu) and myself (elisabeth.narkin@duke.edu) by June 8, 2015. Thank you, Elisabeth Narkin Duke University ------------------------------------- 1.) Beyond National Traditions: European Renaissance Architecture, 1500-1700 Until recently, scholarship on Renaissance architecture has focused heavily on national styles. From art history surveys like Janson and Gardner, to nineteenth century works, and, indeed, into the twentieth century with works by authors like Anthony Blunt, the defining concern of Renaissance architectural history has been the extent to which architects of various “nations” created distinct styles. Yet, since the 1980’s, scholars have begun to move past national styles. Two dominant strains of research involve 1.) investigations, such as those by Christy Anderson, Ethan Matt Kavaler, Frédérique Lemerle, and Yves Pauwels into the intersection of so-called “Gothic” aesthetics and those of Roman antiquity and, 2.) analyses of architecture’s “social life,” that is, its domestic and religious uses, as advanced by scholars such as Hilary Ballon, Monique Chatenet, and Patricia Fortini Brown. This session invites papers which examine European buildings created between 1500 and 1700, their creators, patrons, and/or their users. Of particular interest are papers which also focus on the author's’ methodological approaches. In addressing current themes and methodologies, we hope to engage in a discussion of the recent developments in scholarship on Renaissance architecture and how it maps against the historiography which has led us to this point. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.) Ceremony and Ritual Before the Death of Louis XIV Three hundred years ago, Louis XIV’s death marked a distinct shift in European court society. With his death the period that was, arguably, the most ceremonially sophisticated in history came to an end. The entrenchment of daily ritual into the theatrical architecture of Versailles or its seventeenth-century counterparts in Madrid and London, however, was reserved almost exclusively for courtiers and was only the culmination of a long history of ceremonial traditions. From royal entries to funerals, religious processions to public festivals and street theater, life in Renaissance Europe was profuse with ceremonial spectacle. Whether political, devotional, or both, these ceremonies frequently used ephemeral architecture and theatrical machinery, adding an expensive but visually tantalizing element to these festivities. This session seeks papers which examine European ceremonies and rituals from 1500-1700. Of particular interest are papers which merge the study of the visual, art historical aspects of these spectacles and the event’s broader social, political, or religious implications. Papers from scholars in the disciplines of theater, history, art & architectural history, and religious studies are especially welcome.
The Francis Assaf Graduate Student Fund
