Reliquie murate – allestimenti, segni e memoria / Immured Relics – Display, Signs and Memory

In order to capture the variety of the phenomenon the “standard case” of relics in direct relation to the Christian altar, mandatory since the 8th/9th century, as well as relics kept in sacristies or treasury chambers in which all the relics and reliquaries owned by a given church are kept, are generally excluded. Particular attention is given to the mise-en-scène of specific relics in a fixed and architectonically defined surrounding. Since no systematic overview documenting this phenomenon is available, the aim is to establish a taxonomy of immured relics, in order to ask, in a next step, why these and not other places in the sacred space were chosen to house a relic.

Another important aspect that will be investigated is the question of presence, visibility and signalization or indication of immured relics. The act of immuring can be considered both as a way of incorporating relics permanently into the architectural fabric as well as hiding and securing relics from theft. In which cases was such presence signaled? Is there a shift in the value of the visibility of relics over their mere presence (or some exclusive knowledge of their presence) that can be explained by changing customs with regard to relic veneration? Do some typologies of immured relics occur only at certain moments in time and at certain places or are the adopted solutions rather indifferent to chronology and geography? The conference includes examples ranging from Late Antiquity to the High Middle Ages (until 1300) on a global scale and although the main focus is on Christian relics, practices of other religious contexts are included in order to investigate the respective specificities of relic deposition in architecture. Also, phenomena of persistence of practices of immuring relics, both as a legacy of Antiquity and as a tenacity of the medieval tradition in the Modern Age, are considered.

PROGRAM

Wednesday, 27.11.2024

14:00
greetings (Tanja Michalsky)
introduction (Adrian Bremenkamp and Maddalena Vaccaro)

Chair: Norbert Zimmermann (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Rom)
14:30-15:15
Vladimir Ivanovici (Accademia di architettura di Mendrisio-Università della Svizzera italiana)
“Enclosing Divine Power: Living-Rock Relics in Late Antique Palestine and Beyond”

15:15-16:00
Muhamed Riyaz Chenganakkattil (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi)
“From Blackstone to Golden Waterspout: On Immuring the Objects of Veneration in the Sacred Architecture of Kaaba”

coffee break

16:30-17:15
Antonino Tranchina (Alma Mater Studiorum – Università degli studi di Bologna)
”Architettura analogica. Una rilettura di fonti per alcuni casi di reliquie murate nel Mediterraneo orientale”

17:15-18:00
Carlo Ebanista (Università del Molise)
“Il 'venerevol sepolcro marmoreo' di San Felice nel santuario di Cimitile: la risalita delle reliquie dalla tomba al deposito nella parete retrostante l’altare

18:00-18:45
Simone Piazza (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia)
“Reliquie in grotta: nuove riflessioni sullo sciamito purpureo dipinto nell’eremo farfense di monte Acuziano (VIII–IX secolo)”

Thursday, 28.11.2024

Chair: Tanja Michalsky (Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte)
9:00-9:45
Luigi Carlo Schiavi (Università degli Studi di Pavia)
“Del problematico rapporto dei Milanesi con le reliquie. I corpi santi nella tradizione ambrosiana tra liturgia e occultamento”

9:45-10:30
Manuela Gianandrea (Sapienza Università di Roma)
"Reliquie ('variamente') murate e “camere” per corpi santi nel Medioevo romano: riflessioni su un fenomeno polisemico"

coffee break

11:00-11:45
Giulia Bordi (Università Roma Tre)
“Il cuore di S. Saba. L’abside e le sue memorie della Terra Santa (VII–IX secolo)”

11:45-12:30
Antonio Iacobini (Sapienza Università di Roma) and Anna Maria D’Achille (Sapienza Università di Roma)
“Il cardinale Gerardo Caccianemici e la reliquia del Titulus Crucis: il rilancio di S. Croce in Gerusalemme nel XII secolo”

12:30-13:15
Adriano Amendola (Università degli Studi di Salerno)
“'Sono state trasportate ne le nicchie, dentro la cuppola'. La seconda vita delle reliquie vaticane e la loro metamorfosi per la devozione”

lunch break

Chair: Maddalena Vaccaro (Università degli Studi di Salerno)
14:15-15:00
Teresa Martínez Martínez (Università di Padova)
“A Wood Bone in a Body of Stone. The Wooden Column of San Millán de Suso and Pilgrims’ Sensorial Experiences in the Middle Ages”

15:00-15:45
Maja Zeman (Sveučilište u Zagrebu / University of Zagreb)
“Stored but Exposed, Hidden but Traceable – Modes of Display and Signaling Relics through the architecture on the Island of Lopud (Elaphites, Dubrovnik)”

coffee break

16:15-17:00
Xavier Barral i Altet (Institut national d'histoire de l'art, INHA, Paris)
“Reliquie murate nei chiostri medievali: topografia, contesto, religiosità”

17:00-17:45
Wilfried E. Keil (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg)
“The Presence and Efficacy of Relics Embedded in Capitals in Medieval Sacred Spaces”

17:45-18:30
Pierre Martin (Université Grenoble Alpes)
“Staging an Antique-Style Tomb: The Martyrium of Saint-Aignan d'Orléans”

Friday, 29.11.2024

Chair: Adrian Bremenkamp (Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte)
9:00-9:45
Christopher Sprecher (Universität Regensburg)
“Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Manuel I Komnēnos and the Double Translation of the Holy Stone”

9:45-10:30
Giulia Anna Bianca Bordi (independent scholar)
“Dalle reliquie murate al muro-reliquia: storia e venerazione del 'pilastro del miracolo' di San Marco a Venezia”

coffee break

11:00-11:45
Kateřina Kubínová (Akademie věd České republiky / Czech Academy of Sciences)
“Immured Relics at Karlštejn Castle”

11:45-12:30
Maria Carolina Campone (Scuola Militare "Nunziatella") and Saverio Carillo† (Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)
“Palladio/Palladi: il paesaggio culturale dei talismani urbici nel Medioevo”

12:30-13:15
Nicoletta Usai (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
"Un caso di persistenza del Medieovo in Età Moderna? Le reliquie murate nel Santuario dei Martiri della Cattedrale di Santa Maria a Cagliari"

conclusion

Scientific Organization: Adrian Bremenkamp and Maddalena Vaccaro

_{Image: Moissac, Cloister of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre, East Side. Capital with the Martyrdom of Peter and Paul. Beginning of 12th century (photo Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – MPI/Roberto Sigismondi)}