In early modern times, royal funerals provided noteworthy occasions to gather heads of states and were an essential part of constructing the memory of the departed regent. Hence, ephemeral décor and architecture, but also more lasting monuments, such as tombstones, poetry, music, and funeral books were created to confer fame. While a vast amount of scholarly studies on early modern royal funeral practices already exists, proportionally little concerns one of the most lasting and maybe even most convenient funeral monuments – medals. This paper addresses Swedish royals’ funeral medals from the late 16th to the 18th century. Medals were part of a regent’s visual rhetoric, thus their visual execution was as consciously implemented as the rest of the courtly display of mourning. It was customary to distribute medals at funerals, in order to give the attending public something to remember the departed and the funeral service. The parties who organised the courtly demonstration of grief could vary among a regency government, a succeeding ruler or a mourning spouse. Therefore, the medals’ iconography could look very different. Depending on who ordered the medal, diverse agendas could be read from the material, as the medals could range between being markers of dynastic aspirations, idolisation and signs of deep sincere affection. The closer examination of medals commissioned for royal’ burials will provide a new vital insight to the funeral customs of Swedish regents, and add another level to the understanding of the memory construction of the dead.

Der introvertierte, der Öffentlichkeit kaum zugängliche runde Innenhof im Bahnhof Roma Termini erscheint im Werdegang des Architekten Angiolo Mazzoni als Memento mori, als Ausdruck einer Vorahnung, dass möglicherweise ein einschneidender politischer und persönlicher Wendepunkt bevorstand. Mit dem unscheinbaren Detail eines Schriftzugs gemahnte Mazzoni an die Vergänglichkeit seines eigenen Werks und Daseins, gleichzeitig erinnerte er sich dabei an die Anfänge, an seine ersten Studien während der Ausbildung in Bologna. Und auch die beiden von ihm realisierten Flanken der Bahnhofsanlage, die den Monumenten der Kirche Santa Bibiana und der Minerva Medica explizit Raum gewähren, zeugen vom künstlerischen Bewusstsein des Architekten, das weit über den begrenzten Zeitgeist seiner eigenen Gegenwart hinausweist.

Royal entries into European cities during the 16th century have long been recognized as an important tool for introducing classical models into urban spaces of Northern Europe. The designs for these solemn occasions were prestigious tasks to obtain, highly symbolic and often innovative and opulent. The ephemeral character of the arches that directed the processions across the cities, which at times were built in a great hurry and even unfinished, is noted in an idealized manner in the so-called festival books, solid, durable, and easily transportable testimonies on the occasion. This paper will examine instances of the usage of a specific ancient model, the Arch of Sergii family in Pula (Istria) in the festival processions of Habsburg and Valois royal entries. The focus on a single peripheral ancient model enables a close examination of its resemiotization, as it appears both as an emblem and as a part of a system of orders displayed throughout the city. This kind of analysis aims to shed new light on the circulation of ancient models and branching of their meaning, examining it as tools of political propaganda within different urban and social contexts.

Das Lebendige zu beobachten, gehört zu den ältesten Herausforderungen naturwissenschaftlichen Forschens. Bereits die vormoderne Naturkunde hatte eine Vielzahl von Techniken entwickelt, um Phänomene, denen ›Leben‹ zugeschrieben wird, besser zu verstehen. Erst recht aber die modernen Naturwissenschaften werden von einem Prozess getragen, der ein überaus reiches und komplexes Instrumentarium von Technologien und Verfahren zur Erforschung des Lebens hervorgebracht hat. Die Deutungsmacht, die den Biotechniken des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts im Hinblick auf die Vorstellungen und Definitionen ›vom Lebendigen‹ zugeschrieben wird, basiert nicht zuletzt auf dem Einfluss jener Bildsprachen und Sprachbilder, mit deren Hilfe sich diese Wissenschaften mitteilen.

Thomas Wilke: Der städtische Raum und die Feste des Heiligen Grabtuchs in Turin

Session : "Architecture of Empire, Architecture of the Common: Issues of the Built Environment since the 1990s"- Chair : Pr Philip Ursprung (ETH ZÜRICH) and Pr Berndt Nicolai (Université of Bern)

Congress organised by Prof. Dr Kornelia Imesch Oechslin and the Committee of the Swiss Association of Art Historians (VKKS-ASHHA-ASSSA), 22.8.2013.