CALL FOR PAPERS: 5th International Conference Magistri Cataloniae & Mediterranei: “The rediscovery and reception of medieval art: a look up to contemporaneity”

5th International Conference Magistri Cataloniae & Mediterranei, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Friday 26th of May 2023.

Coords. Laia Cutrina Gallart (UAB), Jessica Celata (Università degli Studi “G. d’Annunzio), Elena Ramazza (UAB)

The path crossed by the artistic and cultural heritage of the Middle Ages winds through the centuries between the accusations of obscurantism and episodes of mythologization; starting from modern collecting, passing through the nineteenth-century revival and crossing the revolutionary avant-gardes of the twentieth century, the culture of media aetas comes, sometimes with stereotypical forms, in the era of digital where its fortune is entrusted to the small and large screen, video games and augmented reality.

This conference aims to analyse the reception of medieval art over the centuries, reflecting, above all, on the potential of the digital medium (artificial intelligence, augmented reality, social networks) for the study, conservation, communication, and usability of medieval art.

We invite you to send us a paper with an abstract between 250-300 words, 3-5 keywords and a brief CV at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  before April 24^th, 2023. Papers will be accepted in Catalan, Spanish, English, and Italian. The paper’s duration must be of 20 minutes.

Scientific Committe formed by: Manuel Castiñeiras (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Gaetano Curzi (Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti - Pescara), Carles Sánchez (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) i Josefina Planas (Universitat de Lleida).

Organized by: SGR 2021-63 Magistri Cataloniae & Mediterranei—Estudis artístics de la Mediterrània Medieval i la seva recepció (MACMED)

Call for papers ENG: PDF

Special Issue "Byzantium and the Mediterranean (11th–13th C.): Multiculturalism, Gender and Profane Topics in Illuminated Manuscripts"

Byzantine illuminated manuscripts constitute a fascinating field of study to be explored in terms of cross-cultural exchanges, gender issues and the spreading of profane topics. This phenomenon was especially rich in the turmoil of 12th and 13th century art in the Mediterranean as a privileged space for interchanging between Latins, Greeks and Muslims. The prestige of Constantinople, the continuity of deep-rooted Byzantine artistic traditions in most of the areas of the Mediterranean (Sicily, Venice, Cyprus, Crusader States, etc), and the increasing mobility of artists, models, and codices fostered these kinds of artistic encounters.

Some of the Byzantine codices from this period—chronicles, manuals of poliorcetics, cynegetic treatise or even biblical and ecclesiastical manuscripts—provide us precious information related to customs, ceremonies, warfare techniques, buildings, clothing, social strata and ethnic and cultural diversity.

We invite articles concerning these topics, especially those regarding gender roles, the depiction of Otherness, the use and meaning of profane repertoires in manuscripts and their spreading and impact on other visual arts. 

Proposals for papers of up to max 15.000 words in length should be sent to the guest editors, Manuel Castiñeiras, on  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , and Carles Sánchez Márquez, on  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , by 31 October, 2022. Papers should be in English.

Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Manuel Castiñeiras, Prof. Dr. Carles Sánchez Márquez

For further information:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/arts/special_issues/Byzantium_Mediterranean

I International Seminar MABILUS, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, 11 th November 2022

Coor. Manuel Castiñeiras (UAB), Carles Sánchez Márquez (UAB), Giulia Arcidiacono (Università di Catania)

Byzantine illuminated manuscripts constitute a fascinating field of study to be explored in terms of cross- cultural exchanges, gender issues and the spreading of profane topics. This phenomenon was especially rich in the turmoil of 12th-and-13th century art in the Mediterranean as a privileged space for interchanging between Latins, Greeks and Muslims.

The prestige of Constantinople, the continuity of deep-rooted Byzantine artistic traditions in most of the areas of the Mediterranean (Sicily, Venice, Cyprus, Crusader States, etc), and the increasing mobility of artists, models, and codices fostered these kinds of artistic encounters. Some of the Byzantine codices from this period—chronicles, manuals of poliorcetics, cynegetic treatises or even biblical and liturgical manuscripts— provide us precious information related to customs, ceremonies, warfare techniques, buildings, clothing, social strata and ethnic and cultural diversity.

This First International Seminar MABILUS is focused on the study of these topics, especially those especially those regarding gender roles, the depiction of Otherness, the use and meaning of profane repertoires in manuscripts and their spreading and impact on other visual arts.

We invite you to submit a paper proposal (including a 120-word abstract) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , by Monday, July 4, 2002. Proposals in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, English and French are welcomed.

Organized by: Manuscritos bizantinos iluminados en España: obra, contexto y materialidad – MABILUS (MICINN-PID2020-120067GB-I00).

Call for papers CAT, CAST, ENG: PDF

The Prof. Manuel Castiñeiras, has enjoyed a research stay (from 1 September to 15 September 2012) in Japan, invited by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, to give a cycle of conferences on Spanish Medieval Art in universities and museums of Japan. The last act was celebrated in Tokyo, in the National Museum of Western Art. The results of our research project has been submitted, with the title:

"Pintar hace mil años: recursos técnicos y programas iconográficos de los artistas del Románico catalán”

The Prof. Manuel Castiñeiras has been invited by the History of Art Department of the University of Pennsylvania, as Visiting Professor, from 23 October to 8 November, to give a series of lessons inside the doctoral seminars " Spanish Medieval Art " of the Prof. Robert Maxwell.

In addition, he will participate in the Fourth Annual Anne d'Harnoncourt Symposium - The Art of Sculpture 1100-1550: Sculptural Reception, from 2 November to 3 November, which take place in the University of Pennsylvannia and the Museum of Philadelphia, with the paper: “Opus artificum universa haec (Jer 10, 9): Romanesque Portal as liturgical perfomance”.

Symposium's program.

Manuel Castiñeiras, will participate in the colloquium Art et réforme grégorienne in France et in Espagne (15 October, 17:00 to 17:30) organized by Barbara Franze in the Université of Laussane, (section histoire of l'art) with the paper:

"Le Tapis de la Création de Gérone et les peintures de Sant Pere del Burgal: deux programmes de l'art de la réforme grégorienne en Catalogne?"

Colloquium program.