- Art History, Visual Studies, History and theory of images (14th-16th centuries), Early Netherlandish Painting, Cultural History, Relations between art and spirituality, and 32 moreText/images issues, History of spirituality (mystical tradition of the Rhineland and the Low Countries, Modern Devotion), History, Iconography, Mysticism, Medieval Devotional Culture, Spirituality & Mysticism, Image Analysis, Christian Spirituality, Text And Image, Medieval Studies, Medieval History, Word and Image Studies, The Grotesque Body, 16th Century Netherlandish Art, 15th Century Netherlandish Art, Image theory, Devotio moderna, Devotional literature, Donor Portrait, Spiritual literature, Visual Culture, Art and image theory, Heinrich Suso, History of Art, Medieval Mysticism, Medieval Theology, Medieval Art, History of the Senses, Christian Mysticism, Medieval Church History, and Iconologyedit
- I first studied Early Netherlandish Painting in its iconographical and stylistic aspects, before focusing my research... moreI first studied Early Netherlandish Painting in its iconographical and stylistic aspects, before focusing my research on the links between these paintings and devotional practises, and more generally on the relations between art and spirituality during the Late Middle Ages.
I dedicated my PhD thesis - entitled "Portraits de dévots, pratiques religieuses et expérience spirituelle dans la peinture des anciens Pays-Bas (1400-1550)(University of Liège, 2009)- to the links between Early Netherlandish religious paintings that include portraits and the meditative practices of the time. I did so by studying these images in conjunction with contemporary spiritual literature (esp. Jan van Ruusbroec and the writers of the Modern Devotion).
I am now pursuing my research on the links between religious literature and devotional imagery during the Late Middle Ages: my postdoctoral research is dedicated to the text/image issue and the image theory in the oeuvre of the mystical writer Henry Suso (Heinrich Seuse), and more precisely in his "Exemplar", a compilation of his vernacular texts accompanied by drawings probably designed by himself.edit
The art of the icon, a visual idiom born in the Eastern Church, has deeply influenced the visual creations of Western Christianity from the Middle Ages onward, despite the adoption of a different aesthetic that was created in opposition... more
The art of the icon, a visual idiom born in the Eastern Church, has deeply influenced the visual creations of Western Christianity from the Middle Ages onward, despite the adoption of a different aesthetic that was created in opposition to this maniera greca during the Renaissance. Even though artistic modernity was built against this art considered ‘awkward’, it did not prevent the ‘Byzantine’ style to come back to surface several times in the West. This volume aims to question the reasons of these revivals of the art of the icon in distinct Western artistic and religious contexts. It will highlight in particular the issues underlying the meeting, and sometimes the merging, of the two visual cultures, but also the complex and often conflicting relationships between art and religion.
Content:
* Introduction. Revivals or Survival? Resurgences of the Icon from the 15th Century to the Present Day
Ralph Dekoninck and Ingrid Falque
* Van Eyck, the Icons of the Holy Face, and the Politics of Miracles
Till-Holger Borchert
* The New Lamb and the Iconic Gaze
Barbara Baert
* Bellini’s Renewed Icons of Mary and Their Appropriation on Crete
Michele Bacci
* Titian’s Icons
Christopher J. Nygren
* Faces of Christ in Art Beyond Traditional Frontality
François Boespflug
* The Status of Icons in a Christian Art Ideal of the 19th and 20th Centuries: Contempt, Fascination and Appropriation
Isabelle Saint-Martin
* ‘In Search of a Painting Without Labels’: The Rediscovery of Byzantine Icon-Painting in Modern Greece During the 20th Century
Dimitra Kotoula
* 20th-Century Avatars of Christic Icons in Art and Advertising: Transformations and Decontextualisations
Jérôme Cottin
Content:
* Introduction. Revivals or Survival? Resurgences of the Icon from the 15th Century to the Present Day
Ralph Dekoninck and Ingrid Falque
* Van Eyck, the Icons of the Holy Face, and the Politics of Miracles
Till-Holger Borchert
* The New Lamb and the Iconic Gaze
Barbara Baert
* Bellini’s Renewed Icons of Mary and Their Appropriation on Crete
Michele Bacci
* Titian’s Icons
Christopher J. Nygren
* Faces of Christ in Art Beyond Traditional Frontality
François Boespflug
* The Status of Icons in a Christian Art Ideal of the 19th and 20th Centuries: Contempt, Fascination and Appropriation
Isabelle Saint-Martin
* ‘In Search of a Painting Without Labels’: The Rediscovery of Byzantine Icon-Painting in Modern Greece During the 20th Century
Dimitra Kotoula
* 20th-Century Avatars of Christic Icons in Art and Advertising: Transformations and Decontextualisations
Jérôme Cottin
Research Interests:
Intermediality, figurability, iconotext, visual exegesis: these are some of the many new ways in which the relationship between text and image has been explored in recent decades. Scholars have benefited from theoretical work in the... more
Intermediality, figurability, iconotext, visual exegesis: these are some of the many new ways in which the relationship between text and image has been explored in recent decades. Scholars have benefited from theoretical work in the fields of anthropology, psychoanalysis, and semiotics, alongside more traditional fields such as literature, art history and cultural history. Focusing on religious texts and images between 1400 and 1700, the essays gathered in this volume contribute to these developments by grounding their case studies in methodology. In considering various relations between the visual and the verbal, the editors have adopted the broadest position possible, emphasizing the phenomenological point of view from which the objects under discussion are examined.
Contributors to this volume: Ralph Dekoninck, Anna Dlabačová, Grégory Ems, Ingrid Falque, Agnès Guiderdoni, Walter S. Melion, Kees Schepers, Paul J. Smith, and Elliott D. Wise.
Contributors to this volume: Ralph Dekoninck, Anna Dlabačová, Grégory Ems, Ingrid Falque, Agnès Guiderdoni, Walter S. Melion, Kees Schepers, Paul J. Smith, and Elliott D. Wise.
Research Interests:
This is the first exhaustive catalogue of paintings with devotional portraits produced in the Low Countries between c. 1400 and 1550. This catalogue is an appendix to the book Devotional Portraiture and Spiritual Experience in Early... more
This is the first exhaustive catalogue of paintings with devotional portraits produced in the Low Countries between c. 1400 and 1550. This catalogue is an appendix to the book Devotional Portraiture and Spiritual Experience in Early Netherlandish Painting.
Available online free of charges: https://brill.com/view/title/55785
Available online free of charges: https://brill.com/view/title/55785
Research Interests:
In Devotional Portraiture and Spiritual Experience Ingrid Falque analyses the meditative functions of early Netherlandish paintings including devotional portraits, that is portraits of people kneeling in prayer. Such paintings have been... more
In Devotional Portraiture and Spiritual Experience Ingrid Falque analyses the meditative functions of early Netherlandish paintings including devotional portraits, that is portraits of people kneeling in prayer. Such paintings have been mainly studied in the context of commemorative and social practices, but as Ingrid Falque shows, they also served as devotional instruments.
By drawing parallels between the visual strategies of these paintings and texts of the major spiritual writers of the medieval Low Countries, she demonstrates that paintings with devotional portraits functioned as a visualisation of the spiritual process of the sitters.
The book is accompanied by the first exhaustive catalogue of paintings with devotional portraits produced in the Low Countries between c. 1400 and 1550. This catalogue is available at no costs in e-format on Brill's website
https://brill.com/view/title/38271?language=en
By drawing parallels between the visual strategies of these paintings and texts of the major spiritual writers of the medieval Low Countries, she demonstrates that paintings with devotional portraits functioned as a visualisation of the spiritual process of the sitters.
The book is accompanied by the first exhaustive catalogue of paintings with devotional portraits produced in the Low Countries between c. 1400 and 1550. This catalogue is available at no costs in e-format on Brill's website
https://brill.com/view/title/38271?language=en
Research Interests: Visual Studies, Art History, Medieval History, History of Art, 16th Century Netherlandish Art, and 8 moreVisual and Cultural Studies, 15th Century Netherlandish Art, Early Netherlandish Painting, Late Medieval Religion, Monasticism and Devotion, Flemish Painting, Medieval Devotional Culture, Devotio moderna, and Jan van Ruusbroec
Table of Contents Foreword by Geert Warnar and Loris Sturlese ................................ vii Myrtha de Meo-Ehlert Über den Tod von St. Paul. Die verschiedenen mittelhochdeutschen Versionen eines ps.-dionysischen... more
Table of Contents
Foreword by Geert Warnar and Loris Sturlese ................................ vii
Myrtha de Meo-Ehlert
Über den Tod von St. Paul. Die verschiedenen
mittelhochdeutschen Versionen eines ps.-dionysischen Briefes................ 1
Luciano Micali
Comment faut-il connaître ? Règle, modèles et poursuite
de la bonne connaissance dans la théologie de la fin du Moyen Âge....... 33
Claudia Lingscheid
The Beguines, Heresy and Society in the Neunfelsenbuch .................... 49
Yves van Damme
«Noch soe rade ick dij, dattu swijchst!». Vom Sprechen und Schweigen im Dialog von Meister Eckhart und dem Laien................................... 67
DaniëLLe Prochowski
Gerson’s Legacy in Middle Dutch Religious Literature .......................... 101
Giacomo Signore
Late Medieval Miscellanies between Order and Randomness.
The Case of Albertus Löffler .................................................................. 141
Monika Studer
Der Ritter in der Kapelle. Edition und Untersuchung bisher
unbekannter oberdeutscher Prosafassungen ............................................ 175
Joni de MoL
Conversing with God. The Role of Vision and the Auditory Perception of God in the Writings of Alijt Bake....................................................... 203

Marieke Abram and Anna Dlabacová
A Vernacular Commentary on the spieghel der volcomenheit.
Reading, Writing, and the Transmission of Knowledge.......................... 229
Foreword by Geert Warnar and Loris Sturlese ................................ vii
Myrtha de Meo-Ehlert
Über den Tod von St. Paul. Die verschiedenen
mittelhochdeutschen Versionen eines ps.-dionysischen Briefes................ 1
Luciano Micali
Comment faut-il connaître ? Règle, modèles et poursuite
de la bonne connaissance dans la théologie de la fin du Moyen Âge....... 33
Claudia Lingscheid
The Beguines, Heresy and Society in the Neunfelsenbuch .................... 49
Yves van Damme
«Noch soe rade ick dij, dattu swijchst!». Vom Sprechen und Schweigen im Dialog von Meister Eckhart und dem Laien................................... 67
DaniëLLe Prochowski
Gerson’s Legacy in Middle Dutch Religious Literature .......................... 101
Giacomo Signore
Late Medieval Miscellanies between Order and Randomness.
The Case of Albertus Löffler .................................................................. 141
Monika Studer
Der Ritter in der Kapelle. Edition und Untersuchung bisher
unbekannter oberdeutscher Prosafassungen ............................................ 175
Joni de MoL
Conversing with God. The Role of Vision and the Auditory Perception of God in the Writings of Alijt Bake....................................................... 203

Marieke Abram and Anna Dlabacová
A Vernacular Commentary on the spieghel der volcomenheit.
Reading, Writing, and the Transmission of Knowledge.......................... 229
Research Interests:
Tome 3, n° 1 des "GEMCA Papers in Progress", disponible en ligne à l'adresse suivante : http://gemca.fltr.ucl.ac.be/docs/pp/GEMCA_PP_3_2016_1.pdf Table des matières : - Ingrid Falque, « Images et expérience mystique chez Henri Suso » -... more
Tome 3, n° 1 des "GEMCA Papers in Progress", disponible en ligne à l'adresse suivante : http://gemca.fltr.ucl.ac.be/docs/pp/GEMCA_PP_3_2016_1.pdf
Table des matières :
- Ingrid Falque, « Images et expérience mystique chez Henri Suso »
- Aline Smeesters, « Fides ex auditu : fortune d’une citation de saint Paul au début du XVIIe siècle »
- Ralph Dekoninck, « L’invention moderne de l’expérience entre mystique et esthétique »
- Agnès Guiderdoni, « Expérience d’image : entre emblématique et physique »
à propos des "GEMCA Papers in Progress" : Aujourd’hui, les GEMCA : Papers in progress remplacent les Cahiers en ligne du GEMCA. Le changement de titre que nous opérons a pour but de souligner le caractère « brut» des textes que nous proposons au téléchargement : textes de conférences données à l’Université catholique de Louvain, dossiers de textes réunis après un séminaire ou une journée d’étude, états intermédiaires de recherches doctorales, comptes rendus critiques. Certains articles pourront être publiés presque à l’état de brouillon, avec un appareil de notes réduit au strict minimum : il s’agit essentiellement de donner une plus large diffusion à nos activités par l’intermédiaire d’une publication électronique dont la périodicité sera annuelle, avec la possibilité de plusieurs livraisons par an. (http://gemca.fltr.ucl.ac.be/php/pages/papers.en.php)
Table des matières :
- Ingrid Falque, « Images et expérience mystique chez Henri Suso »
- Aline Smeesters, « Fides ex auditu : fortune d’une citation de saint Paul au début du XVIIe siècle »
- Ralph Dekoninck, « L’invention moderne de l’expérience entre mystique et esthétique »
- Agnès Guiderdoni, « Expérience d’image : entre emblématique et physique »
à propos des "GEMCA Papers in Progress" : Aujourd’hui, les GEMCA : Papers in progress remplacent les Cahiers en ligne du GEMCA. Le changement de titre que nous opérons a pour but de souligner le caractère « brut» des textes que nous proposons au téléchargement : textes de conférences données à l’Université catholique de Louvain, dossiers de textes réunis après un séminaire ou une journée d’étude, états intermédiaires de recherches doctorales, comptes rendus critiques. Certains articles pourront être publiés presque à l’état de brouillon, avec un appareil de notes réduit au strict minimum : il s’agit essentiellement de donner une plus large diffusion à nos activités par l’intermédiaire d’une publication électronique dont la périodicité sera annuelle, avec la possibilité de plusieurs livraisons par an. (http://gemca.fltr.ucl.ac.be/php/pages/papers.en.php)
Research Interests:
The aim of this essay is to survey debates about early Netherlandish paintings as devotional objects from roughly the late 1980s to about 2020. During this period, an important shift in the study of this topic occurred: religious images... more
The aim of this essay is to survey debates about early Netherlandish paintings as devotional objects from roughly the late 1980s to about 2020. During this period, an important shift in the study of this topic occurred: religious images were increasingly considered as devotional objects by virtue of how they were thought to have been used rather than how they appeared. In the last decades, questions about the functions of devotional imagery, about pictorial rhetoric, and about the responses that rhetoric might provoke in viewers, as well as its relationship to contemporaneous spiritual literature, have become core questions for subsequent scholarship dedicated to early Netherlandish painting. The essay concludes with a section devoted to research perspectives.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Gilles li Muisis est avant tout reconnu pour son œuvre historiographique et son activité réformatrice à Saint-Martin de Tournai. Son activité poétique jouit par contre d’une réputation bien plus contrastée. Conservé sous la cote IV 119 à... more
Gilles li Muisis est avant tout reconnu pour son œuvre historiographique et son activité réformatrice à Saint-Martin de Tournai. Son activité poétique jouit par contre d’une réputation bien plus contrastée. Conservé sous la cote IV 119 à la Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, le Registre de li Muisis en est le principal témoin. Illustré d’un cycle iconographique exécuté par Pierart dou Tielt, le manuscrit comprend de nombreux textes, dans lesquels le vieil abbé se livre à une description des différents états de la société de son époque et dont qualité littéraire a été diversement appréciée. Dans le cadre de cet article, nous entendons revenir sur ces miniatures afin de saisir quel a pu être leur rôle dans l’économie globale de l’ouvrage et quels sont leurs liens potentiels avec les idéaux réformateurs de l’abbé. En abordant ce cycle iconographique en dialogue avec les textes poétiques de Gilles et en les replaçant dans leur contexte de production, nous entendons montrer que les miniatures du KBR IV 119 ne sont pas de simples illustrations ; au contraire, elles jouent un rôle important en renforçant le propos réformateur de l’abbé et, surtout, en lui permettant de laisser à la postérité une image valorisante de lui-même. Gilles li Muisis is well-known for his historiographical production and his reformative activities at Saint-Martin of Tournai. His poetical activity enjoys a far more contrasted reputation. Now kept at the Royal Library in Brussels (ms. IV 119), Li Muisis’ Registre is the main witness of this part of his work. Illustrated by an iconographical cycle produced by Pierard dou Tielt, the manuscript includes numerous texts in which the abbot describes the different states of the society of his time. The literary quality of this collection has been diversely appreciated. In this article, my aim is to study the miniatures in order to grasp their function and their potential links with the reformative ideals of the abbot. Analysing these pictures in close connection with the texts of the manuscript enables to show that they are not simple illustrations. On the contrary, the play a crucial role by reinforcing the intention of Li Muisis and by allowing him to leave to the posterity a valorizing image of himself.
Research Interests:
In his Exemplar (the famous compilation of his German texts that is extant in several manuscripts and printed copies, some of them illustrated with the same iconographical programme), Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366) develops a complex... more
In his Exemplar (the famous compilation of his German texts that is extant in several manuscripts and printed copies, some of them illustrated with the same iconographical programme), Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366) develops a complex reflection on the role of images in mystical experience and discourse, and notably on their capacity to express the ineffable nature of God. This image theory relies on a rich vocabulary based on the term bild and its derivatives (entbilden, überbilden, bildgebend, bildlos…), but also on a key phrase (Daz man bild mit bilden ûs tribe). This phrase has been much debated but it requires reconsideration. Taking Suso’s image theory as its starting point, this article sheds new light on the figural dimension and strategies of the Exemplar, as expressed both in text and images. It first demonstrates that Suso offers a twofold image theory: on the one hand, he makes explicit the essential place occupied by images in the process of mystical transformation. On the other, he develops – in a more unusual way – a metadiscourse on images, which states their utility as instruments of knowledge and emphasizes the effectiveness of figurative discourse and images in order to capture what lies beyond images. Secondly, the article shows that the drawings visually express (or implement) this theory by using a strategy that consists of depicting Eternal Wisdom as a changing and multiple figure. As a representation of God (that is, of the unrepresentable), Wisdom appears as the lieu plastique where Suso’s thought on images unfolds.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Published in "Ons Geestelijk Erf" 86(3) (2015), 219-249. doi: 10.2143/OGE.86.3.3154602 Depicting the Carthusian monk Jan Vos (successively prior of the Charterhouses of Bruges and Utrecht) kneeling in prayer in front of the Virgin and... more
Published in "Ons Geestelijk Erf" 86(3) (2015), 219-249.
doi: 10.2143/OGE.86.3.3154602
Depicting the Carthusian monk Jan Vos (successively prior of the Charterhouses of Bruges and Utrecht) kneeling in prayer in front of the Virgin and Child, Petrus Christus’ Exeter Madonna is a small painting probably destined to private devotional practices of its owner. This work is particularly interesting for it perfectly illustrates how the structuring of the pictorial space endows paintings that include devotional portraits with a dynamic dimension and how this dimension plays an essential role in the spiritual meaning and function of such images. The aim of this article is to show that by bring- ing together the worldly sphere below in the background and the sacred space in the foreground, where the Virgin welcomes the devotee, the Exeter Madonna can be under- stood as a visualization of the spiritual ascent of Jan Vos. To this end, the visual struc- ture of the painting is closely analysed, before being compared with devotional texts dealing with the theme of the spiritual ascent (such as De spiritualibus ascensionibus of Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen), which Jan Vos knew well. Secondly, this devotional painting is re-placed within its context, namely the Charterhouses of Utrecht and Bruges and Carthusian spirituality in order to demonstrate that together with books, such images played a crucial role in the meditative practices of Carthusian monks.
doi: 10.2143/OGE.86.3.3154602
Depicting the Carthusian monk Jan Vos (successively prior of the Charterhouses of Bruges and Utrecht) kneeling in prayer in front of the Virgin and Child, Petrus Christus’ Exeter Madonna is a small painting probably destined to private devotional practices of its owner. This work is particularly interesting for it perfectly illustrates how the structuring of the pictorial space endows paintings that include devotional portraits with a dynamic dimension and how this dimension plays an essential role in the spiritual meaning and function of such images. The aim of this article is to show that by bring- ing together the worldly sphere below in the background and the sacred space in the foreground, where the Virgin welcomes the devotee, the Exeter Madonna can be under- stood as a visualization of the spiritual ascent of Jan Vos. To this end, the visual struc- ture of the painting is closely analysed, before being compared with devotional texts dealing with the theme of the spiritual ascent (such as De spiritualibus ascensionibus of Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen), which Jan Vos knew well. Secondly, this devotional painting is re-placed within its context, namely the Charterhouses of Utrecht and Bruges and Carthusian spirituality in order to demonstrate that together with books, such images played a crucial role in the meditative practices of Carthusian monks.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Visual Studies, Portraits, Christian Mysticism, Mysticism, Portraiture, and 17 moreSpirituality & Mysticism, 16th Century Netherlandish Art, Text And Image, Visual Arts, Medieval Mysticism, 15th Century Netherlandish Art, Early Netherlandish Painting, Flemish Painting, Text-Image Relations, Burgundian Netherlands, Medieval Literature, Spirituality, Gender, Jan van Ruusbroec, Donor Portrait, Hans Memling, Flemish Primitives, Portraiture and the Problematic of Representation, and Early Modern Netherlandish Art
Publié dans : "MethIS. Méthodes et Interdisciplinarité en Sciences humaines", vol. 5 "Images fixes/images en mouvement", édité par M. Bert, I. Falque et M. Hagelstein, 2016, pp. 77-109. Résumé. Depuis les travaux fondateurs d’Erwin... more
Publié dans : "MethIS. Méthodes et Interdisciplinarité en Sciences humaines", vol. 5 "Images fixes/images en mouvement", édité par M. Bert, I. Falque et M. Hagelstein, 2016, pp. 77-109.
Résumé. Depuis les travaux fondateurs d’Erwin Panofsky, prolongés par ceux de Sixten Ringbom et Hans Belting, les Andachtsbilder – ou images de dévotion, ces tableaux représentant le Christ ou la Vierge cadrés à mi-corps et isolés de leur contexte narratif – sont généralement considérées comme des images destinées
à susciter une réponse empathique de la part du spectateur. Cette contribution entend démontrer que ces tableaux méritent toutefois d’être envisagés dans une perspective différente, visant à mettre davantage en lumière leur nature dynamique
et à jeter un éclairage nouveau sur la manière dont ils étaient utilisés dans les pratiques dévotionnelles de l’époque. L’article débute par un aperçu historiographique sur les Andachtsbilder, avant de présenter, en termes généraux, le rôle crucial joué
par les images dans les pratiques méditatives à la fin du Moyen Âge. Dans un second temps, plusieurs Andachtsbilder – et en particulier le Diptyque de Lodovico Portinari du Maître de la Légende de sainte Lucie – sont analysées à la lumière d’une série de textes religieux contemporains abordant la question du processus contemplatif. Le but de cette démarche est de démontrer que de telles images ne sont en réalité pas
conçues pour placer le spectateur dans un état émotionnel statique. Au contraire, grâce à un ensemble d’artifices picturaux qui « densifient » la composition, ces images structurent l’expérience méditative du spectateur et l’invitent à évoluer spirituellement en visualisant sa progression.
Résumé. Depuis les travaux fondateurs d’Erwin Panofsky, prolongés par ceux de Sixten Ringbom et Hans Belting, les Andachtsbilder – ou images de dévotion, ces tableaux représentant le Christ ou la Vierge cadrés à mi-corps et isolés de leur contexte narratif – sont généralement considérées comme des images destinées
à susciter une réponse empathique de la part du spectateur. Cette contribution entend démontrer que ces tableaux méritent toutefois d’être envisagés dans une perspective différente, visant à mettre davantage en lumière leur nature dynamique
et à jeter un éclairage nouveau sur la manière dont ils étaient utilisés dans les pratiques dévotionnelles de l’époque. L’article débute par un aperçu historiographique sur les Andachtsbilder, avant de présenter, en termes généraux, le rôle crucial joué
par les images dans les pratiques méditatives à la fin du Moyen Âge. Dans un second temps, plusieurs Andachtsbilder – et en particulier le Diptyque de Lodovico Portinari du Maître de la Légende de sainte Lucie – sont analysées à la lumière d’une série de textes religieux contemporains abordant la question du processus contemplatif. Le but de cette démarche est de démontrer que de telles images ne sont en réalité pas
conçues pour placer le spectateur dans un état émotionnel statique. Au contraire, grâce à un ensemble d’artifices picturaux qui « densifient » la composition, ces images structurent l’expérience méditative du spectateur et l’invitent à évoluer spirituellement en visualisant sa progression.
Research Interests:
“Verbalising” the soul’s journey towards God has a privileged place in the religious context of the late Middle Ages. Many devotional texts are dedicated to spiritual progression and mystical union. Starting from this observation, this... more
“Verbalising” the soul’s journey towards God has a privileged place in the religious context of the late Middle Ages. Many devotional texts are dedicated to spiritual progression and mystical union. Starting from this observation, this essay shows that these subjects addressed in literature have a counterpart in paintings of the period, and more specifically in paintings containing devotional portraits. These works are considered here as true “visualizations” of the spiritual process in which the individuals represented are engaged. Consequently, they are seen, like texts, as instruments of spiritual edification and lasting representations of the efforts made by believers to attain union with God.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Dedicated to the diffusion of the devotional portrait diptych in the Low Countries, this article demonstrates that this genre of paintings was not as popular as often stated, but was instead a particular type of painting which was... more
Dedicated to the diffusion of the devotional portrait diptych in the Low Countries, this article demonstrates that this genre of paintings was not as popular as often stated, but was instead a particular type of painting which was circulated in very specific ways and contexts. The dukes of Burgundy - especially Philip the Good - made devotional portrait diptychs popular in the first half of the 15th century, before being imitated by several noble men, who commissioned such works of art for Rogier van der Weyden between 1450 and 1460. While we do not know any diptych from the years 1460-1480, the two next decades mark the peak of production of such diptychs, most of them being produced by or for the citizens of Bruges; the probable presence of the "Diptych of Jean Gros" in this town surely explains this revival. During the first decades of the 16th century, Margaret of Austria promoted this genre once more, and several members of her circle followed her example by commissioning such diptychs. The scheme of diffusion of devotional portrait diptychs in the Low Countries attests to their capacity to express the social ambition and prestige of the person portrayed, as well as their devotional function.
Research Interests:
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From the early Middle Ages onwards devotional portraits are well attested but during the 15th century they occupy a prominent place in the pictorial production of the Low Countries. If at first these portraits were largely reserved to... more
From the early Middle Ages onwards devotional portraits are well attested but during the 15th century they occupy a prominent place in the pictorial production of the Low Countries. If at first these portraits were largely reserved to princes and kings, they now spread into broader social circles. Bourgeois, nobles, ducal officials and clergy wanted to leave traces of their piety and their presence on earth. This resulted in an amplification and diversification without precedent of religious works including one or more portraits. In the course of the 16th century however this trend slackened. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the integration of a portrait into a religious composition can take many forms. The sponsor is often portrayed on his knees, hands clasped, but he can also act as privileged follower situated among the saints, or even take part in the scene itself, through the features of one of the protagonists. The corpus, comprising over 750 works for the 15th and 16th centuries, shows many variations of these basic formulas, suggesting a multiplicity of meanings and functions of these works. The specific nature of this pictorial production, mixing sacred and profane elements, asks for a study that does justice to this dual nature. The analysis establishes a classification based on a typology combining the physical structure of works (front / rear, central part / wings) and the symbolic structuring of the fictional space they show (how the sacred and the profane area are differentiated, the gradation or the fusion between both areas). It also takes into account the presence of figures of mediation, in particular the patron saints. The stylistic approach focuses initially on the iconographic language that is used and aims to identify the semantic units before referring to external textual sources (archives, literature of devotion etc.). These in turn play a vital role in better understanding the often complex motivations of the devotees who are portrayed. By their presence in the image they wish to express a prayer, a vow, and especially to ensure their salvation in the hereafter. But their portraits also reflect a concern for self-representation, as evidenced by sumptuous clothing, jewelry, emblems which indicate the social rank and the position they occupy in society. The article demonstrates the importance of a rigorous cluster analysis, which outlines the issues as they appear after the confrontation with all known iconographic parallels.
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Cette contribution s’attache à analyser le discours complexe du mystique rhénan Henri Suso (c. 1295-1366) sur les images, en se penchant sur l’Exemplar, la compilation de ses œuvres allemandes réalisées à la fin de sa vie, sous la forme... more
Cette contribution s’attache à analyser le discours complexe du mystique rhénan Henri Suso (c. 1295-1366) sur les images, en se penchant sur l’Exemplar, la compilation de ses œuvres allemandes réalisées à la fin de sa vie, sous la forme d’un ouvrage alliant textes et images. Lorsqu’il s’agit d’envisager la question de la relation entre images et discours mystique, cet ouvrage apparaît sans conteste comme l’un des témoignages les plus fascinants de la fin du Moyen Âge. Dans un premier temps, l’article s’attache a étudier la théorie de l’image développée par Suso dans les textes compilés dans l’Exemplar, avant de déterminer dans quelle mesure ce discours sur les images trouve une expression dans les dessins du recueil. Pour ce faire, la célèbre formule de Suso « il faut chasser les images par les images » sera placée au cœur de notre investigation. Dans un second temps, la question de l’articulation entre texte et image est abordée en recourant au concept théorique de cadre, notre but étant de mettre en lumière le caractère atypique de ce recueil de textes mystiques.
Research Interests: Cultural History, Cultural Studies, German Studies, Art History, Medieval Literature, and 13 moreLate Middle Ages, Medieval German Literature, Medieval Studies, Spirituality, Christian Mysticism, Mysticism, Intellectual and cultural history, Text And Image, Medieval Art, Mystical Theology, History and theory of images (14th-16th centuries), Heinrich Seuse, and Heinrich Suso
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L’année 2017 marque le 500e anniversaire de la publication des 95 thèses de Martin Luther. Le fait est bien connu, cette retentissante condamnation du commerce des indulgences contribua à l’émergence des Églises dites « protestantes » ou... more
L’année 2017 marque le 500e anniversaire de la publication des 95 thèses de Martin Luther. Le fait est bien connu, cette retentissante condamnation du commerce des indulgences contribua à l’émergence des Églises dites « protestantes » ou « évangéliques ». Elle stimula aussi, par contrecoup, une profonde réforme de l’Église romaine, de ses institutions et de sa doctrine lors du Concile de Trente. À l’occasion de cet anniversaire, la 36e journée d’étude du RMBLF souhaite poser un regard rétrospectif sur ce tournant de l’histoire de la Chrétienté occidentale et, partant, s’interroger sur la notion de « réforme » en contexte ecclésiastique.
En s’inscrivant dans une perspective d’histoire des idées, des spiritualités et des écrits, la présente rencontre vise à mettre en exergue la richesse des travaux menés par de jeunes médiévistes belges – francophones et néerlandophones – sur les réformes religieuses des Xe-XIIe siècles et de la fin du Moyen Âge.
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Maison d’Érasme (Anderlecht), le vendredi 28 avril 2017
Informations et inscription (souhaitée) : info.rmblf@gmail.com
Bruxelles – Maison d’Érasme
Rue du Chapitre, 31- 1070 Bruxelles (Métro Ligne 5, dir. Érasme, à 5 min.
de l’arrêt Saint-Guidon)BRUXELLES – Maison d’Érasme
Rue du Chapitre, 31- 1070 Bruxelles (Métro Ligne 5, dir. Érasme, à 5 min.
de l’arrêt Saint-Guidon)
En s’inscrivant dans une perspective d’histoire des idées, des spiritualités et des écrits, la présente rencontre vise à mettre en exergue la richesse des travaux menés par de jeunes médiévistes belges – francophones et néerlandophones – sur les réformes religieuses des Xe-XIIe siècles et de la fin du Moyen Âge.
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Maison d’Érasme (Anderlecht), le vendredi 28 avril 2017
Informations et inscription (souhaitée) : info.rmblf@gmail.com
Bruxelles – Maison d’Érasme
Rue du Chapitre, 31- 1070 Bruxelles (Métro Ligne 5, dir. Érasme, à 5 min.
de l’arrêt Saint-Guidon)BRUXELLES – Maison d’Érasme
Rue du Chapitre, 31- 1070 Bruxelles (Métro Ligne 5, dir. Érasme, à 5 min.
de l’arrêt Saint-Guidon)
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- A lecture organised by the Vlaamse Werkgroep Mediëvistiek (VWM) and the Réseau des médiévistes belges de langue française (RMBLF) - Bruegel’s landscapes take his viewers on a visual and mental quest of the visible world which leads to... more
- A lecture organised by the Vlaamse Werkgroep Mediëvistiek (VWM) and the Réseau des médiévistes belges de langue française (RMBLF) -
Bruegel’s landscapes take his viewers on a visual and mental quest of the visible world which leads to the realm of the invisible. The lecture will highlight this fundamental characteristic of Bruegel’s work. The works of Bruegel, as Reindert Falkenburg and Michel Weemans suggest, are to be seen as lessons in observation: providing subjects for speculation and traps to see.
Bruegel’s landscapes take his viewers on a visual and mental quest of the visible world which leads to the realm of the invisible. The lecture will highlight this fundamental characteristic of Bruegel’s work. The works of Bruegel, as Reindert Falkenburg and Michel Weemans suggest, are to be seen as lessons in observation: providing subjects for speculation and traps to see.
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Dans le cadre de l’année thématique LOUVAINTERNATIONAL et s’inspirant de la riche programmation proposée par UCL Culture qui invite à ‘HABITER LE MONDE’, l'Institut INCAL organise une journée d’études destinée à mettre en valeur les... more
Dans le cadre de l’année thématique LOUVAINTERNATIONAL et s’inspirant de la riche programmation proposée par UCL Culture qui invite à ‘HABITER LE MONDE’, l'Institut INCAL organise une journée d’études destinée à mettre en valeur les recherches menées par ses membres autour de cette problématique. Il s’agit d’y discuter des thématiques du départ, de l’exil, de l’enracinement et du déracinement, mais aussi de la cohabitation et de ses formes multiples, de la rencontre de l’Autre, de l’Ici & l’Ailleurs, ou encore de l’interculturalité. Des chercheurs et chercheuses d’INCAL présenteront la manière dont ils/elles intègrent ou font appel à ces questions dans leurs travaux.
Voir : https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/incal/evenements/journee-d-etudes-incal-2019-habiter-le-monde.html
Voir : https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/incal/evenements/journee-d-etudes-incal-2019-habiter-le-monde.html
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Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Visual Studies, Art History, Medieval Literature, Medieval Studies, and 10 moreManuscript Studies, Visual Communication, History of Art, Text And Image, Medieval Art, Medieval illuminated manuscripts, Biblical Exegesis, Text-Image Relations, Art and Art History, and Image text Relations
Présent dès les premiers siècles du Moyen Âge et ce, jusqu'au XVIIe siècle au moins, le portrait de dévot (ou portrait dévotionnel) connaît à la fin du Moyen Âge un succès sans précédent et ce, particulièrement dans la peinture... more
Présent dès les premiers siècles du Moyen Âge et ce, jusqu'au XVIIe siècle au moins, le portrait de dévot (ou portrait dévotionnel) connaît à la fin du Moyen Âge un succès sans précédent et ce, particulièrement dans la peinture des anciens Pays-Bas. Alors qu'il était jusque-là ...
Research Interests: Iconography, Word and Image Studies, The Grotesque Body, Image Analysis, Spirituality & Mysticism, and 14 more16th Century Netherlandish Art, Text And Image, Christian Spirituality, 15th Century Netherlandish Art, Early Netherlandish Painting, Devotional literature, Medieval Devotional Culture, Image theory, Devotio moderna, Devotional Portrait, Donor Portrait, Ruusbroec, Zerbolt van Zutphen, and Spiritual literature
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Aperçu général, illustré par des exemples, des usages et fonctions des images religieuses au Moyen Âge
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In his Exemplar (the famous compilation of his German texts that is extant in several manuscripts and printed copies, some of them illustrated with the same iconographical programme), Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366) develops a complex... more
In his Exemplar (the famous compilation of his German texts that is extant in several manuscripts and printed copies, some of them illustrated with the same iconographical programme), Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366) develops a complex reflection on the role of images in mystical experience and discourse, and notably on their capacity to express the ineffable nature of God. This image theory relies on a rich vocabulary based on the term bild and its derivatives (entbilden, überbilden, bildgebend, bildlos…), but also on a key phrase (Daz man bild mit bilden ûs tribe – “Driving out images with images”). This phrase has been much debated, but it still requires reconsideration. Taking Suso’s image theory as its starting point, this article sheds new light on the figural dimension and strategies of the Exemplar, as expressed in both text and images. It first demonstrates that Suso offers a twofold image theory: on the one hand, he makes explicit the essential place occupied by images in the pro...
séminaire de méthodologie du GEMCA « L’histoire de l’art en question » (Louvain-la-Neuve, UClouvain, 16 mai 2019) ; réalisé en collaboration avec Caroline Heerin
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Introduction du volum
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Depicting a Carthusian monk (identified with Jan Vos, prior of the charterhouses of Bruges and Utrecht) kneeling in prayer in front of the Virgin and Child, Petrus Christus’ Exeter Madonna perfectly illustrates how the structuration of... more
Depicting a Carthusian monk (identified with Jan Vos, prior of the charterhouses of Bruges and Utrecht) kneeling in prayer in front of the Virgin and Child, Petrus Christus’ Exeter Madonna perfectly illustrates how the structuration of pictorial space endows paintings that include devotional portraits with a dynamic dimension, which bears an essential role in the spiritual meaning and function of such images. The aim of this article is to show that by bringing together the worldly sphere below in the background and the sacred space in the foreground, where the Virgin welcomes the devotee, the Exeter Madonna can be understood as a visualisation of the spiritual ascent of Jan Vos. In order to do so, the visual structure of the painting is closely analysed, before being confronted to devotional texts dealing with the theme of the spiritual ascent (such as De spiritualibus ascensionibus of Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen) that Jan Vos knew. Secondly, this devotional painting is replaced withi...
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Cette communication s’attachera a etudier les peintures religieuses comportant des portraits devotionnels (ou portraits de donateurs) qui ont ete commandees par des Espagnols a des peintres flamands. Il s’agira notamment de determiner si,... more
Cette communication s’attachera a etudier les peintures religieuses comportant des portraits devotionnels (ou portraits de donateurs) qui ont ete commandees par des Espagnols a des peintres flamands. Il s’agira notamment de determiner si, en la matiere, ces derniers se laisserent tenter par le gout flamand ou si, au contraire, ils imposerent aux artistes de realiser des œuvres repondant aux criteres esthetiques alors en vigueur dans la peninsule iberique.
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Au sein de l’abondante production picturale flamande des XVe et XVIe siecles, les tableaux religieux comportant des portraits de contemporains en priere – c’est-a-dire des « portraits devotionnels » ou « portraits de donateurs », pour... more
Au sein de l’abondante production picturale flamande des XVe et XVIe siecles, les tableaux religieux comportant des portraits de contemporains en priere – c’est-a-dire des « portraits devotionnels » ou « portraits de donateurs », pour reprendre leur appellation la plus commune – ont rencontre un tres vif succes. En effet, on conserve encore aujourd’hui plus de 700 œuvres de ce type. Si la majeure partie des personnes representees dans ces images sont issues des Pays-Bas bourguignons, une part non negligeable de ces tableaux est constituee d’œuvres commandees par et representant des etrangers, parmi lesquels un certain nombre d'Espagnols. Dans le cadre de cette communication, nous nous attacherons a etudier les œuvres commandees par ces derniers, afin d'en degager les particularites. Les questions soulevees seront les suivantes : les commanditaires iberiques ont-ils prefere un type d'œuvres particulier? Les tableaux flamands comportant des portraits d'Espagnols trahis...
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Research Interests: Philosophy, Visual Studies, Art History, Humanities, Medieval Literature, and 12 moreArt, Medieval Studies, Political Science, Monastic Studies, History of Art, Medieval Art, Visual Arts, Benedictine History, Benedictine Monasticism, Miniatura medievale, Image text Relations, and Benedictine Studies
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Falque Ingrid. Marion Boudon-Machuel, Maurice Brock et Pascale charron (éd.), Aux limites de la couleur. Monochromie et polychromie dans les arts (1300-1600), 2011. In: Bulletin Monumental, tome 173, n°3, année 2015. La cathédrale de... more
Falque Ingrid. Marion Boudon-Machuel, Maurice Brock et Pascale charron (éd.), Aux limites de la couleur. Monochromie et polychromie dans les arts (1300-1600), 2011. In: Bulletin Monumental, tome 173, n°3, année 2015. La cathédrale de Chartres, Nouvelles découvertes. pp. 289-290
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This essay explores several paintings with devotional portraits executed by Hans Memling
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Notice de catalogue decrivant et analysant une copie d'apres Gossart de "La Vierge aux cerises"
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Notice de catalogue decrivant et analysant un "Paysage avec saint Christophe" attribue a un artiste flamand du debut du XVIe siecle
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At the end of his life, the Dominican monk and mystical writer Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366) put together the Exemplar, the famous compilation of his German works carried out with the help of his spiritual daughter, Elsbeth Stagel. This work... more
At the end of his life, the Dominican monk and mystical writer Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366) put together the Exemplar, the famous compilation of his German works carried out with the help of his spiritual daughter, Elsbeth Stagel. This work is exceptional in many respects: first, Suso develops a complex reflection on the place of images in spiritual experience, as well as on the role of images in mystical discourse (notably their capacity to express the ineffable nature of God). This image theory relies on a rich vocabulary based on the term "bild" and its derivatives (entbilden, uberbilden, bildgebend, bildlos, bildrich…), but also on a key phrase ("Daz man bild mit bilden us tribe…"). Second, the most striking aspect of the Exemplar lies without doubt in the presence of actual drawings in six of the fourteen manuscripts as well as in the two early printed versions. Although we cannot claim with certainty that Suso designed this iconographical programme himself, th...
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La « mise en mots » de l’evolution de l’âme vers Dieu occupe une position privilegiee dans le contexte religieux de la fin du Moyen Âge. En effet, de nombreux traites devotionnels sont dedies a la progression spirituelle et a l’union... more
La « mise en mots » de l’evolution de l’âme vers Dieu occupe une position privilegiee dans le contexte religieux de la fin du Moyen Âge. En effet, de nombreux traites devotionnels sont dedies a la progression spirituelle et a l’union mystique. Partant de ce constat, cet article montre que ces themes developpes dans le champ litteraire trouvent un equivalent dans la production picturale contemporaine, et plus precisement dans les tableaux comportant des portraits devotionnels. Ces oeuvres sont envisagees ici comme de veritables ‘mises en image’ du processus spirituel dans lequel sont engagees les personnes representees. De ce fait, ils apparaissent, au meme titre que le texte, comme des moyens d’edification spirituelle et des representations durables des efforts realises par les devots pour atteindre l’union a Dieu.
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In his Exemplar (the famous compilation of his German texts that is extant in several manuscripts and printed copies), Henry Suso develops a deep reflection on the place of images in spiritual experience, as well as on the role of images... more
In his Exemplar (the famous compilation of his German texts that is extant in several manuscripts and printed copies), Henry Suso develops a deep reflection on the place of images in spiritual experience, as well as on the role of images in mystical discourse, and notably on their capacity to express the ineffable nature of God. This image theory relies on a rich vocabulary based on the term bild and its derivatives (entbilden, uberbilden, bildgebend, bildlos, bildrich,…), but also on a key phrase (Daz man bild mit bilden us tribe) on which we need to take a fresh look. Furthermore, the most striking aspect of the Exemplar lies in the presence of actual drawings in many manuscripts. Although we cannot know for certain that Suso designed this iconographical programme himself, there are arguments that suggest that it is well the case. These drawings, not only illustrating the text but also completing it, make the Exemplar a unique example of the complex relationship between texts and ...
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L’art religieux de la fin du Moyen Âge inclut frequemment, on le sait, des portraits de devots en priere. S’il s’agissait initialement de portraits de princes et de souverains, on assiste dans la peinture flamande du XVe siecle a une... more
L’art religieux de la fin du Moyen Âge inclut frequemment, on le sait, des portraits de devots en priere. S’il s’agissait initialement de portraits de princes et de souverains, on assiste dans la peinture flamande du XVe siecle a une diversification des types de personnes portraiturees. Nobles, bourgeois et membres du clerge regulier ou seculier apparaissent desormais dans de nombreux tableaux religieux. Ces nouveaux commanditaires donnent ainsi une forme tangible a leur aspiration a un contact intime avec le divin. Faisant valoir ces gages de leur piete, ils expriment leur espoir de salut dans l’au-dela, mais aussi leurs aspirations sociales. La volonte de ces personnes est donc complexe, teintee de devotion sincere mais aussi du desir d’exalter leur prestige. Si l’attitude pretee au devot portraiture est souvent la meme – il est figure a genoux, les mains jointes ou tenant un livre de priere – la place qu’occupe son effigie dans l’œuvre peut varier de maniere considerable et tres ...
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Around 1362, a few years before his death, Henry Suso (or Heinrich Seuse, c. 1295–1366) started to write the Exemplar, the authorized compilation of his German works, preserved today in fourteen manuscripts, six of them illustrated with... more
Around 1362, a few years before his death, Henry Suso (or Heinrich Seuse, c. 1295–1366) started to write the Exemplar, the authorized compilation of his German works, preserved today in fourteen manuscripts, six of them illustrated with drawings.1 In the prologue, the Dominican friar makes a point of revealing the purpose of this vast literary enterprise—the fear that his oeuvre would sink into oblivion or would be misinterpreted—as well as the content of his “four good books” (vier guotú buechlú). Interestingly, Suso also takes pains to unveil the strategies displayed in his texts in order to convey his teachings. Regarding the first book, the Life of the Servant (Seuses Leben), which he probably composed with the help of his spiritual daughter Elsbeth Stagel,2 he writes, “The first book in its entirety describes in a manner that offers examples (mit bildgebender wise) the life of a beginner and demonstrates in a veiled manner how a beginner should order his inner and outer self according to God’s dear will. And, since good actions are, without a doubt, more instructive and uplift one’s heart somehow more
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La vie de l’Institut ;
Bilan 2018-2019 ;
Cycle de conférences CEMR ;
Rétrospective Habiter le monde ;
Rétrospective Théâtre latin ;
Focus CERTA ;
Focus GRMF
Bilan 2018-2019 ;
Cycle de conférences CEMR ;
Rétrospective Habiter le monde ;
Rétrospective Théâtre latin ;
Focus CERTA ;
Focus GRMF