It’s Complicated: Landscapes and the Dynamics of Unfolding in Medieval and Early Modern Painting

Since at least Georg Simmel, notions such as manyfold, enfolding, or unfolding have echoed through landscape discourse—most notably in the writings of Tim Ingold, Lucius Burckhardt, and François Jullien. Central to these approaches is the metaphor of unfolding, which articulates a phenomenologically grounded understanding of landscape not as a static entity, but as a relational and dynamic experience constituted through perception.

Building on this background, Gerd Micheluzzi examines the assumptions embedded in the concept of unfolding and explores its analytical potential for landscape studies, with particular attention to medieval and early modern representations of landscapes and landscape fragments. The argument is informed by case studies gathered during a recently completed experimental pilgrimage along a section of the Via Francigena. The paper asks whether a focus on unfolding can bring to light qualities of landscapes that have hitherto received little scholarly attention.

Gerd Micheluzzi is an art historian trained in Graz and Vienna. He is a research associate at the University of Hamburg, since 2021 as a member of the DFG Centre for Advanced Studies »Imaginaria of Force«. His work focuses on medieval and early modern Italian art, art theory, and proto-scientific knowledge. His dissertation on cast shadows in Italian painting (ca. 430–1430) will appear with De Gruyter in 2026. He is currently co-authoring a book on Tuscany with Luc Wodzicki (Rome).

Scientific Organization: Luc Wodzicki