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SUMMARY:Reading the signs: the meanings of medieval and Renaissance objects, symbols, and tokens
DESCRIPTION:in memory of art historian and Kellogg Fellow, Dr Cathy Oakes\nSigns and symbols have been used throughout human history to record deeds, to project identity, and to convey messages over time and place. Their specific forms and meanings depend, however, on the society and culture in which they operate. Oxford Festival of the Arts is delighted to join Kellogg College and Oxford Lifelong Learning in presenting this interdisciplinary conference offering fresh perspectives on the signs and symbols used by medieval and Renaissance people. It is inspired by the work of the late Dr Cathy Oakes, FSA, and Kellogg Fellow and art historian. Cathy’s research interests were wide ranging, but she is particularly well known for her study of iconography in images of the Virgin Mary in medieval art and architecture. As her work showed, it is critical to appreciate the context in which signs and symbols were used so as to understand what they meant to those who made, saw (and heard) them.\nAt a time in our history when few people could read or write, when most communication was by word of mouth, when heads of state and others in authority had to project their power and influence over long distances, and when people had to trust to their powers of memory and their senses, the use of visual and oral signs, physical gestures, and material tokens was of special importance. Signs and symbols permeated all aspects of life, from religious devotion and liturgical practice to politics, personal relationships, trade and commerce, and the law. Extraordinary weather events were seen as portents; great decisions were guided by the movements of the stars. This day conference will offer ways of seeing the signs and symbols which were ubiquitous in our medieval and early modern past.\nThis is an academic conference in memory of a much loved and missed friend and inspiration, mentor, colleague, and respected art historian, Dr Cathy Oakes.\nChair & Convenor: Professor Elizabeth Gemmill\nCo-convenor: Dr Michelle Castelletti\nConference organisation: Kellogg College Oxford & Oxford Festival of the Arts\nConference Secretary: Craig Paterson\nFestival Administrator: Milica Tičerić\nDAY TICKET (including all refreshments £30) *\nSupported by Kellogg College Oxford, and the Oxford Festival of the Arts\nCONFERENCE SCHEDULE:\n9.30am – 9.55am               Registration & Coffee\n10am                          ‎               Welcome/Introduction\nSESSION 1\n10.10am – 11am                  KEYNOTE SPEAKER 1: Professor Elizabeth Gemmill, Professor Emerita in Medieval\n‎                                                        Economic and Social History; Fellow Emerita of Kellogg College Oxford\n                                                       Proclamation, Authentication, Degradation: signs and symbols in late medieval Scotland\n11.05am – 11.20am           TEA/COFFEE & BISCUITS\n11.25am – 11.45am            Paper 1: Carolin Victoria König\n                                                        Between enclosure and liberation: Deciphering the mythological scenes of Correggio fresco´s at the monastery San Paolo\n11.50am – 12.10pm            Paper 2: Mariona Ponce Bochaca\n The Virgin-Pearl: Iconography, Devotion, and Political Meanings in the Chequers Ring\n12.15pm – 12.25pm            Questions/discussion\n12.30pm – 1.15pm              LUNCH BREAK (Hot fork buffet, including three options, and dessert) **\n\nSESSION 2\n1.20pm                                      Introduction 2\n\n1.30pm – 2.20pm                KEYNOTE SPEAKER 2: Dr Christine Jackson, Fellow Emerita of Kellogg College Oxford\n                                                      Curating courtly and intellectual image and reputation in early Stuart Britain: an introduction to the art of self-presentation in the life and works of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1582-1648)\n\n2.25pm – 2.45pm                Paper 3: Dr Steve Kershaw\n                                                      The allegory of Kairos in the relief in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello, Venice\n\n2.50pm – 3.10pm                Paper 4: Craig Paterson\n‘                                                     Tokens speak’: Objects, proof, and persuasion on Shakespeare’s stage\n3.15pm – 3.25pm                Questions/discussion\n3.30pm – 3.45pm               TEA/COFFEE & PASTRIES\n\nSESSION 3\n3.50pm                                    Introduction 3\n\n4pm – 4.25pm                     Paper 5: Dr Michelle Castelletti\n(including questions)       Decoding stone. Sculpting sound and rite in the Corinthian capitals of Cluny III\n4.30pm – 5.20pm              KEYNOTE SPEAKER 3: Dr Lynn Robson, Fellow Emerita of Regent’s Park College Oxford\n                                                     Ladies of Wool: Hilary Mantel and tapestries of Queen Esther and the Queen of Sheba \n5.25pm – 5.35pm               Closing remarks\n5.40pm – 6.30pm               Wine/Champagne Reception\n \n** Current Menu:\nPreserved Lemon, Roasted Vegetable and Chickpea Tagine (Ve)\nSriracha Honey Chicken with Spring Onions and Sesame\nMediterranean Fish Stew with Sultanas, Capers and Gremolata\n—\nFresh fruit platter (Ve)\nHome-baked Scones with Jam and Clotted Cream (V)\n* if anyone has any dietary requirements, please e-mail these to Milica Tičerić mticeric@mcsoxford.org ( mailto:mticeric@mcsoxford.org ) by May 1, 2026.\nImage: The Virgin Mary. Wall painting on the East splay of the Annunciation window (north wall) in the Chancel of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire. Photo by Dr Michelle Castelletti.\n \nKEYNOTE SPEAKER ABSTRACTS\nProfessor Elizabeth Gemmill\nProclamation, Authentication, Degradation: signs and symbols in late medieval Scotland\n\nThis paper looks at how quite ordinary people in late medieval Scotland (and not just persons of wealth and influence) needed to use and understand signs and symbols in their daily lives and work. Marks and tokens were used to authenticate deeds, to guarantee the quality of craftsmanship, to attest to the ownership of commodities traded overseas, to advertise goods for sale, to proclaim citizenship, and to warn against imminent dangers such as plague, war, or deceitful traders. Symbolic actions underpinned the operation of the law and shamed those who broke it. But if signs and symbols had such salience it matters to know how their use (or abuse) was controlled, by whom and to what purpose, and what this might tell us about the operation of power.\nDr Christine Jackson\nCurating courtly and intellectual image and reputation in early Stuart Britain: an introduction to the art of self-presentation in the life and works of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1582-1648)\nLionised by his admirers as the embodiment of knightly chivalry and noble learning, and castigated by his detractors as a duellist, intellectual dilettante and deist, Lord Herbert of Cherbury was a colourful seventeenth-century nobleman who enthusiastically pursued overlapping careers as a county governor, courtier, soldier, ambassador and published scholar. From his pious teenage years at Oxford to his controversial deathbed in London, he was driven by upbringing, temperament, ambition and political rivalry to pay careful attention to the fashioning and reception of his image and reputation as he negotiated the opportunities and challenges life offered him. This paper will explore how Lord Herbert consciously martialled material objects and visual display to shape and enhance his self-presentation.\nDr Lynn Robson\nLadies of Wool: Hilary Mantel and tapestries of Queen Esther and the Queen of Sheba \n\nIn her Wolf Hall trilogy of novels, Hilary Mantel uses tapestry depictions of two biblical queens – Queen Esther and the Queen of Sheba – to weave together imaginative fiction and historical authenticity. This lecture will explore the role of woven objects in Mantel’s creation of her fictionalised Tudor world and consider the significance of the act of seeing/gazing to the interpretation of literary texts, works of art, and the art of research.\n \n
URL:https://artsfestivaloxford.org/events/reading-the-signs-the-conference/
CATEGORIES:Academic,History
LOCATION:60-62 Banbury Road
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