The V&A will be organising an online symposium in early July as a follow-up to the display Fragmented Illuminations: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Cuttings at the Victoria and Albert Museum (now extended until 5 June 2022). It will be held over one afternoon to allow for as large an audience as possible to join and participate, from different time zones.
We welcome papers focusing on any of the following themes and aspects, preferably in relation to pieces in the V&A collection:
- Study of groups of cuttings from the same manuscript source
- Provenance research and history of collections
- Questions of attribution and iconography
- Identification of parent manuscripts when extant; reconstructions of broken manuscripts
- Materiality and digital display of manuscript cuttings: opportunities and challenges
- Collecting cuttings: new lives, functions, and uses
- Comparison between manuscript cuttings and other types of cuttings, e.g. from textiles or printed books
- Relationship between manuscript cuttings and copies
- 19th-cent reception of, and responses to, historic illuminated manuscripts
- Relationship between manuscript cuttings and copies
- 19th-cent reception of, and responses to, medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts
This list is indicative rather than exhaustive.
A preference will be given to contributions focusing on lesser-known examples in the collection and adopting innovative approaches.
Please send an abstract (max. 300 words), a paper title, and a short biography (max. 150 words) to c.yvard@vam.ac.uk.
Papers should be no more than 15 minutes in length, to allow time for questions and discussion.
The deadline for submissions is March 6, 2022. Selected speakers will be notified by mid-Marc-
