Seminar : Materials and their mimesis (This course will be in English)
Dozentin: Dr. Federica Carta
BA Kuwi 6
The idea of mimesis is crucial for European Early Modern Art. Instead of focusing on figurative representation, this seminar will explore the techniques and practices developed to imitate precious, prestigious, or exotic materials, such as luxury textiles (e.g., silk brocades or Oriental carpets), precious and semi-precious stones, or colored marbles.
Looking mainly at Italian and Low Countries contexts, this seminar will explore some techniques developed or perfected during the 15th century that were instrumental in achieving deceptive imitation. The representation of materials in painting and sculpture will be explored, but the course will also focus on “material mimesis”, particularly in the art of fire: glass, ceramics, and glazed terracotta. The study of materials and techniques will be tied to the intellectual and social contexts of production, as well as the dynamics of patronage, circulation, and reception of the objects.
Some classes will take place in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Gemäldegalerie, Kunstgewerbe Museum, and Bode Museum).
General bibliography
Christy Anderson, Anne Dunlop and Pamela H. Smith (eds.), The matter of art: materials, practices, cultural logics, c. 1250 – 1750, Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 2015
Marjolijn Bol and Emma C. Spary (eds.), The Matter of Mimesis: Studies on Mimesis and Materials in Nature, Art and Science, Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2023
Magdalena Bushart, Andreas Huth (eds.), Superficies. Oberflächengestaltungen von Bildwerken in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit, Köln/Weimar/Wien: Böhlau, 2021
Magdalena Bushart, Henrike Haug (eds.), Technische Innovationen und künstlerisches Wissen in der Frühen Neuzeit, Köln/Weimar/Wien: Böhlau, 2015
Ann-Sophie Lehmann, « How materials make meaning », Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek,, 2012, Vol. 62, pp. 6-27
