Participation is free of charge. For organizational reasons, we request an informal registration by email to michaela.schuller@univie.ac.at.

The Sixth Vienna Colloquium on Book Painting is dedicated to the thirteenth century, the beginning of which saw the establishment of the first universities and a transfer of Byzantine art following the conquest of Constantinople – factors that, each with an impetus of its own, were to transform European image- and book-culture in subsequent decades. Alongside the various artistic genres, these factors have generally formed separate fields of investigation, which has inhibited an understanding of the complex processes inherent to this decisive phase of artistic development.

With this colloquium, the Research Centre for Book Painting at the Institute of Art History of Vienna University (Pächt Archive) seeks to address the main lines of development in thirteenth-century art in a discussion that transcends traditional boundaries within the subject. In correspondance with the agenda of the Research Centre, book painting should form a starting point, the dynamics of which will be explored with a view to other artistic genres. Aspects of form, content, and image strategy will be approached from a trans-media perspective, grouped around four focal points: (1) The network of European connections / transfer, (2) Imagery and emotion, (3) Aspects of production (material, models, reworkings), (4) Script, ornament, illustration.