Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte
Perceptions of Aging and Old Age: Thresholds and Life-Cycles
Conference
Event open to the public without registration
Beginn:
28.03.2023 09:15
Ende:
29.03.2023 17:30
Vortragende(r):
Conference
Ort:
March 28th: Villino Stroganoff, Via Gregoriana 22, 00187 Rome and online (Vimeo https://vimeo.com/event/2092675) and March 29th: The Norwegian Institute in Rome, Viale Trenta Aprile 33, 00153 Roma (Online via ZOOM)
Image: Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Hans Baldung, Die sieben Lebensalter des Weibes
Images of old age and aging determine how we handle demographic change. This conference will explore how the stages of the life cycle have been construed throughout history in order to consciously recognize the stereotypes that emanate from these age categories.
Reflections on aging in the arts, medical texts, historical sources and literature reveal concepts of age, societal expectations, andstereotypical notions which determine how individuals approach late life, but also how these cultural assumptions of age-appropriate behavior can be subverted, changed, and expanded. By looking at socio-biological thresholds and analyzing how fluctuating models of the stages of human life have circulated in different time periods, our goal is to assess recurring patterns and continuities, new forms of expression and changes as well as complexities that provide a framework through which cultural constructions of age(ing) may be analyzed and understood. Thus the conference seeks to enrich the ongoing discussion on age and aging with new perspectives.
Welcome and Introduction Welcome: Tanja Michalsky, Director of the Bibliotheca Hertziana Andrea von Hülsen-Esch, University of Duesseldorf Laura Cayrol-Bernardo, University of Bergen
Section 1: Moderator: Andrea von Hülsen-Esch, University of Duesseldorf
Interventions Kristin B. Aavitsland, The Norwegian Institute in Rome Life Turning on Death: The Life Cycle in Late Medieval and Early Modern Visual Rhetoric
Camille Brouzes, University of Rouen The Ages of Man in Late Medieval French Poetry: a Self-Portrait Technique?
11.00
Pause
11.30
Section 2: Moderator: Giovanna Pinna, University of Molise Interventions Svetlana Luchitskaia, Academy of Science, Moscow ‘Li darriens tens et la fin de l’aage’. Philippe of Novara’s Views on Age and Aging Christian Alexander Neumann, German Historical Institute in Rome Old Age and the English Kings: Thresholds, Transitions, and Turning Points (12–14th Centuries)
13.00
Lunch
14.00
Section 3 Moderator: Ulla Kriebernegg, University of Graz Interventions Laura Cayrol-Bernardo, University of Bergen Understanding Sex Difference in Later Life: « Menopause » as a Threshold in Medieval Thought (12th-15th c.) Daniel Schäfer, University of Cologne Medical Invention of the Infertile Old Man?Reflections on the Early Modern Discussion of Male Old-Age Sterility and Impotence
15.30
Pause
16.00
Moderator: Anita Wohlmann, University of Southern Denmark Intervention Andrea von Hülsen-Esch, University of Duesseldorf Diagrammatic Thinking and the Division of Life into Ages
Wednesday, 2023, March 29 – The Norwegian Institute in Rome
Welcome Kristin B. Aavitsland, Director of The Norwegian Institute in Rome
Section 4: Moderator: Daniel Schäfer, University of Cologne Interventions Jaco Zuijderduijn, University of Lund The Three Myths of Old Age – and Why Historians Should Care Giovanna Pinna, University of Molise On Ageing and Agency. Nussbaum vs. de Beauvoir
11.00
Pause
11.30
Section 5: Moderator: Laura Cayrol-Bernardo, University of Bergen Interventions Margery Vibe Skagen, University of Bergen Outsiders on the Threshold to Eternity: Representations of Old Age in 19th century French Poetry Maria Soledad Marambio Castro, University of Bergen The Hero’s Bloody Journey: Female Characters in Menopause Narratives
13.00
Lunch
14.30
Section 6: Moderator: Maria Soledad Marambio Castro, University of Bergen Interventions Anita Wohlmann, University of Southern Denmark Studying Old Age in Literary Texts: Critique and Postcritique Ulla Kriebernegg, University of Graz “I fear I am not in my perfect mind”: Perceptions of Aging and Vulnerability in 21st Century Productions of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”
16.00
Pause
16.30
Closure Andrea von Hülsen-Esch, University of Duesseldorf Laura Cayrol-Bernardo, University of Bergen
Scientific Organization: Prof. Dr. Andrea von Hülsen-Esch (Krautheimer-fellow, University of Duesseldorf, Germany) and Dr. Laura Cayrol-Bernardo (University of Bergen, Norway)
