Call for Papers

Locating Antiquity: Site, Nature and Memory in the Early Modern Landscape

Graduate Symposium, University of Lausanne

Organisation: Raphaëlle Merle, University of Paris 10 – Nanterre ; Desmond Kraege, AHO Oslo School of Architecture and Design / University of Lausanne

The period 1600-1850 witnessed the creation of numerous images of the Mediterranean world, articulating the representation of natural sites and of ancient architecture. While these pictures often referred to real, identifiable locations, these were sometimes transformed, or the scene was reconstructed according to a textual description, when it was not purely imaginary. Artists’ selective appropriation of these sites led them to favour specific spatial typologies and architectural forms, determined by a partly fictional conception of ancient landscapes. This symposium will focus on the analysis of these phenomena, of their evolution, and of the importance granted to their different components throughout different periods, artistic environments and individual oeuvres.

The idea of Antiquity is often conveyed by representing buildings or their ruins, which constitute historical and geographical markers within a landscape, or by references to famous figures from ancient history and literature. Many images thus interact with the viewer’s knowledge and perception of the topography – whether historical or mythical – of the ancient world. Even when the represented environment is fictive, it will sometimes recall an existing typology based on a famous site: for instance, many imaginary views imitate Tivoli’s distinctive relation between architecture and terrain morphology. The destination and function of a picture must however also be taken into account: draughtsmen working towards the illustration of travel publications or print series had different aims to those of painters, yet cross-fertilisation between these professional specialisations precisely provides a rich field of study to the historian. Besides these opportunities for an intermedial analysis, which enlarge the field under consideration to include stage sets and garden design, the multiplicity of motivations and constraints acting upon artists must be underscored. Attempts at an accurate representation of a real site, memories and interpretations of ancient texts, the pursuit of aesthetic ideals, and fantasies of the architectural imagination are amongst the numerous forces that interact in the conception of a landscape image. The symposium will thus discuss issues of staging, reconstruction, and transformation of landscape around architecture, and of architecture within the landscape, in order to investigate the encounter of imaginaries that is reflected in drawings, paintings and prints.

The symposium will take place on 21 May 2021 in Lausanne, Covid-19 restrictions permitting, otherwise online. Participants’ travel expenses within Europe will be at least partly covered. Key speakers will be Professors Alain Schnapp (Professor emeritus of archaeology, University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne), Jean-Marc Besse (Directeur de recherche, CNRS, U.M.R. Géographie-Cités), Marianne Cojannot-Le Blanc (Professor of Early Modern Art History, University of Paris Nanterre) and Christian Michel (Professor of Early Modern Art History, University of Lausanne).

This call for papers is open to all graduate students, as well as early career scholars who have recently defended a doctoral thesis. Talks may be in French or English, but a passive understanding of French is required. Topics are not necessarily limited to landscape or architectural painting or etchings nor to travel publications, but may include representations of ancient sites in history paintings, as well as stage sets or gardens revealing a clear connexion to a pictorial tradition. Abstracts (max. one page, in French or English) should be sent to antiquitepaysage@gmail.com until 28 February 2021. Selected participants will be informed before 20 March.