MEDIEVARS is an interdisciplinary research program that focuses on the different forms of expression and representation of the self, which were in a state of constant flux between the 13th and 15th centuries. We explore the presence of these themes in literature (autobiographical texts, literary descriptions of portraits), in historiography and graphic arts (paintings, miniatures, drawing and engravings), in sculpture, statuary art and funeral carvings (effigies, cadaver tombs and funeral masks), in jewellery, coins, seals and medallions, as well as in stain-glass windows. We also study the symbolic marks of individuation – including signatures, heraldry, emblems and mottos, – onomastics and, when they operate as a mark of identity, adornments and clothing. All these forms of self-representation are analysed from a functional perspective: through them, the individual used them to communicate their own personal image, which stems from their self-reflective gaze within the social and cultural norms to which they adhere. This image may or may not be mediated by the craftsmanship of an artist. MEDIEVARS is founded on the merger of interdisciplinary skills; our aim is to establish a dialogue between the theories and practices of self-expression, thus allowing a better understanding of the growing awareness of individual identity, in all its many aspects, before the 16th century. The program also has the syncretic aim of re-contextualising literary works within a European perspective, by taking into account the importance of imported models and cultural transfers, particularly under the influence of Humanism (in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands).
More information at: http://medievars.hypotheses.org/
