Actors of Sacred Space: Contexts, Objects, Memory

The Latin terms actor and auctor both denote protagonist-people who do things, produce, or bring into being. Disputed but blurred in medieval texts, the term actor came to be broadly applied to “doers,” while auctor emphasized the original authorship and visibility of the work. When it comes to medieval artistic production, indeed, the border between the two realms becomes porous. Engaging this premise, the workshop centers on subjects or groups who in different ways contributed to put into being, shaped or manipulated objects, contexts, and memories in medieval church spaces. The main focus will be on architectural spaces, their furnishings and decoration, on material signs of presence and devotion in sacred spaces, and on funerary monuments in relation to social memory and structures.

Stemming from the papers presented and discussed at the workshop, the final aim is to critically discuss the discipline’ positioning in front of still under-represented categories in art historical studies, and to trace possible paths for future research.

Please follow the event also online on our VIMEO CHANNEL
23.04. : https://vimeo.com/event/5818978?fl=so&fe=fs
24.04 : https://vimeo.com/event/5818996?fl=so&fe=fs

Program

APRIL 23, 2026

9:00
Tanja Michalsky (Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI), Gerardo Boto (Universitat de Girona), Marc Sureda (Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic, ICRPC-CERCA), Elisabetta Scirocco (Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI)
Welcome and Introduction

Chair: Elisabetta Scirocco
09:30
Ivan Foletti (Hradec Králové University)
Lay Persons and Their Actions in the Sacred Space of Conques: Bernard of Angers’ Stories

10:10
Lisa Hortsmann (Technische Universität Darmstadt)
Inscribing the Sacred: Graffiti as Pilgrimage Practice in Medieval Europe

10:50
Xènia Granero Villa (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona)
Beyond Royal Patronage: Lay Actors, Heraldry, and the Construction of Sacred Space in the Cloister of Poblet

11:30–11:50 Coffee Break

11:50
Alejandro Piñel Bordallo (Universitat de Girona)
Non potest recipere populum ad divina oficia confluentem. Considerations About the Role of Citizens in the Spatial, Objectual, and Liturgical Configuration of Barcelona Cathedral During the 14th Century

12:30
Chiara Stombellini (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)
From Global to Local: Reading the Last Judgment Portal of Saint-Urbain, Troyes

13:10–14:00 Lunch Break

Chair: Gerardo Boto
14:00
Aina Palarea Marimón (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)
Between Religion and Power: Artistic Patronage of the Lesser Catalan Nobility (1301-1475)

14:40
Marta Serrano-Coll (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona)
The Discursive Eloquence of the ornamenta ad usum liturgicum: The Promotion of Archbishop Juan of Aragon in the Cathedral of Toledo (1319–1326)

15:20-15:40 Coffee Break

15:40
Tainah Moreira Neves (Universitat de Girona)
Lineage Memory in the Sacred Space: The Saera Family at Santa Maria of Manresa in the 14th Century

16:20
José Puente Martínez (independent researcher), Víctor Rabasco García (Universidad de Léon)
When Light Performs: Royal Patronage and Sacred Scenography at Toledo Cathedral

APRIL 24, 2026

Chair: Marc Sureda
9:30
Marcello Angheben (Université de Poitiers)
The Stained Glass Windows in the Choir of Évreux Cathedral

10:10
Ferruccio Botto (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI)
‘Signed’ Tabernacles: The Eucharist and Lay Self-Representation in Italy, c. 1200–1400

10:50
Vincent Debiais (Centre de recherches historiques, EHESS-CNRS, Paris)
Unreadable Pantheons: Sociology of Epigraphic Actors in Medieval Funerary Practices

11:30-11:50 Coffe Break

11:50
Nicolas Bock (Université de Lausanne)
From Public to Private. Westminster Abbey and its Architectural Arrangement Under the Plantagenet

12:30
Irene Bruzzone (Università degli Studi di Udine)
Two Doges and an Admiral: Death Politics, Sacred Space and Civic Memory in Late Fourteenth-Century Genoa

13:10-14:00 Lunch Break

Chair: Tanja Michalsky
14:00
Jill Caskey (University of Toronto Mississauga)
Expressions of Authority in the Inventories of San Nicola, Bari and the Objects They Enumerate

14:40
Louise Bourdua (University of Warwick)
Actors, Authors and Procurators. Observations on the tagliapietra Andriolo de’ Santi, the Procurators of San Marco and the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua

15:20 Final Discussion

Scientific Organization:
Gerardo Boto (Universitat de Girona), Tanja Michalsky (Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI), Marc Sureda (Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic, ICRPC-CERCA), Elisabetta Scirocco (Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI)

Promoting Institutions:
Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History
Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic, Barcelona
TEMPLA International Research Team, Universitat de Girona