Title of Contribution:

Time:

Lines and Lists

9:00

9:30

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Charles Univeristy / Catholic Theological Faculty

Abstract of the contribution:

The main topic of this paper is the issue of displaying family trees and galleries in the Middle Ages and their interpretation. Pedigree galleries were part of representational spaces where they were intended to emphasise the power and political status of their commissioners. In addition to pedigrees, they were also lists of monarchs and kings that listed their members. The order, however, did not have to correspond to the actual order of the reigning monarchs, but could be supplemented by daughters, sons, or family ties that enriched and strengthened the dynasty's position. Thus, family lines were inspired by the narrative of family myth, which was strategically incorporated into family trees. This article addresses the question of the connection between the list of rulers and family galleries.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

Music allegory - mural in the alcove of the Knight's Hall at Rozmberk Castle

9:30 10:00

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Charles Univeristy / Catholic Theological Faculty

Abstract of the contribution:

The music alcove inside the Knight´s Hall in Rozmberk castle is decorated with a fresco with a Music Allegory motive. It is one of the best preserved and highest quality murals from late renaisance on Czech territory. Despite all this, there are few mentions of this mural in literature. This work will describe the conception of this artwork, introduce possible sources of inspiration and it will also endeavour to compare how music worked in different noble houses at the time in both praxis and theoretical notions about music.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

Imitation of Christ and the Imagery of Jesuits: Images of Jesuit Saints as devices for Spiritual formation

10:00 10:30

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Masaryk University / Faculty of Arts / Department of Art History

Abstract of the contribution:

The imitation of Christ is considered to be the main point of Jesuit Christological Spirituality. Jesuits regularly used the images of Christ’s life during formation of novices, missions or pilgrimages in order to instruct the faithful in Christian belief and convert them to Christianity. Among Jesuits, the efforts to imitate Christ were also inspired by images of the most important Jesuit saints and the scenes from their life. These are for example the images of the Vision of Ignatius of Loyola at La Storta and the Death of Francis Xavier from the Jesuit Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Brno. The aim of this paper is to present the aforementioned images within Jesuit Spirituality, religious praxis and perception inside and outside of the Society of Jesus. In fact, these Images represent the true way of the principal idea of the Society of Jesus.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

The Three Arrows in Atypically Typical Images: 16th and 18th Century Versions of St Dominic‘s Vision

11:00 10:30

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Vilnius Academy of Arts / Institute of Art Research

Abstract of the contribution:

A recent discovery of an engraving which inspired an unknown late Baroque artist to paint the fresco “St Dominic’s Vision” in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, Lithuania, led to consideration about the initial impulse which had allowed the recognition of connection between both artworks. This impulse – a strange, secondary detail of three arrows held by Jesus Christ – became the main axis of a whole system of interpretation of an image. In my contribution, I intend to present the importance of the methodological approach of microhistory to recognition of the scene of the fresco and unfolding its relations with other images and ideas.

In addition to starting an investigation from a strange detail that requires explanation, a feature of microhistory is understanding the object of research as “atypically typical” and showing the connections between systems of faith, values, representations through it. I intend to compare two “atypically typical” images that represent different interpretations of the same story – the legend about St Dominic’s vision from “Legenda Aurea” by Jacobus de Varagine. In Vilnius, it was depicted not only in the former Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit, but also in a cycle of the early 16th century frescoes in the Franciscan Observant Church of St Francis of Assisi. Their realization (in Gothic or late Baroque style) and interpretation (expressing the unity between the Dominicans and the Franciscans or the role of St Dominic) are completely different. However, both representations are united by a motive of three arrows. This secondary detail, important in the microhistorical approach, remains central to understanding the connection between both frescoes, the images that inspired them, and the ideas presented in the legend.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

Visualization of own disease

12:00 12:30

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Silesian University in Opava / Institute of Creative Photography

Abstract of the contribution:

My contribution will focus on depicting disease in my work. How to portray the disease through art to other people, but also to yourself. How to better understand the topic of own illness through creation. In what forms and why to visualize the disease. I will be based on my personal experiences with the disease Multiple Sclerosis, which I have been focusing in my photographic work since 2018 with the aim of knowing and understanding my illness better through art.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

A Figure of Saint Mary and Her Portraits in Main Female Protagonists of Elected Works of Jaroslav Durych

14:00 14:30

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Masaryk University / Faculty of Education / Department of Czech Language and Literature

Abstract of the contribution:

The contribution is titled ‟A Figure of Saint Mary in Main Female Protagonists of Elected Works of Jaroslav Durych”. The presentation concerns with a literary field of Czech production, prosaic pieces of Jaroslav Durych who belongs to main catholic writers of the first half of the twentieth century. It is focused on elected works of the author that are supposed to reflect the inspiration in Saint Mary. The figure of Saint Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is esteemed to be an everliving muse through ages, so the twentieth century might not be an exception. Mary as a woman and a sinless human is an insuperable ideal that is adored not only in religious sphere, but also in art, naturally including literature. The contribution aims to reveal how strongly the Marian theme is implemented on Durych´s female protagonists and suggest means or ways of thematic usage in his prose as well. Moreover, it has also an ambition to generate a unique portrait of the figure Mary in elected literary works of Jaroslav Durych.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

Friends and enemies: Historical presumptions of the idea of Slovak National Gallery

14:30 15:00

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Masaryk University / Faculty of Arts / Department of Art History

Abstract of the contribution:

The Slovak National Gallery, founded in 1948, with its relatively short history, is one of the organizations mentioned in the general discourse as a completely new foundation. Unlike the connection between the National Gallery in Prague and the Society of Patriotic Friends of Art, the Slovak professional background does not mention any connection or continuity between the Slovak National Gallery and other, older art institutions. Paradoxically, this is due to the connection between these two galleries and thanks to the generally accepted assumption that the establishment of the Slovak National Gallery was conditioned by the establishment of the National Gallery in Prague. The fact that the Czech institution was established in its current form only a year later than the Slovak one may, at first glance, call this idea into question. If we realize that in Slovakia, the same as in the

Czech Republic, there was a well-developed art world with rich cultural and social structures, it is possible to assume a certain degree of development of the idea of a national art institution for the collection of art before the founding of the Slovak National gallery. The connection between this idea and the historical development of time can be observed at three different levels. From an artistic point of view, it is necessary to point out the extent to which individual institutions have participated in the development of the local art world. In terms of galleries, it is then necessary to consider how these institutions have approached efforts to build their own art collections. The final analysis of the national ideological framework can, after that, really point to the real development of this topic. The idea of the Slovak National Gallery thus requires a much broader view than the one devoted to it so far. The complexity of this topic was conditioned by the diversity of local developments at the time.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

In between the „Idea“ and the „Appropriation“ in the work of Michelangelo Pistoletto

15:30 16:00

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Charles University

Abstract of the contribution:

Michelangelo Pistoletto created in 1967 "Venus of the Rags", an art installation with the sculpture of the goddess of love, symbol of Platonic beauty, loses its patina of originality and enters the world of reality placed in front of a pile of colored rags. In Pistoletto found new solutions the inspiration from Renaissance art and the practice of the appropriation and variation of model or real object according to the practice of Arte Povera of the sixties. The Italian artist goes beyond the Renaissance tradition and criticizes the principle of "originality" typical of the "genius" and the idea of "authenticity" which is opposed to the “copy "of the works of the great masters. In Florentine Neoplatonic philosophy, the idea of "Good" is associated with the idea of "Spiritual beauty" embodied in Venus. The Neoplatonic philosophy of Beauty is transformed in Pistoletto's works in the image of man reflected and multiplied in the art installations of mirrors, until it becomes today a mathematical infinity sign that characterizes the author's work-manifesto "Third Paradise", symbol of a rebirth of humanity through artistic expression and its interaction with the pubblic or local community.

Title of Contribution:

Time:

Works and ideas of Jan Kubíček and their evaluation by Czechoslovak art theoreticians in the 1960s. Hidden conflict between artists and critics

16:00 16:30

University / Faculty / Department / Institute:

Palacky University Olomouc and Czech Academy of Sciences

Abstract of the contribution:

For some time there was view that Czechoslovak neo-constructivists painters were to large degree influenced by their Western counterparts and that they developed (with some exception) under their influence. Now when we have opportunities to see original archival materials of the artists, (handbooks, notes for interviews or copies of their own lectures), which were not previously widely known, suddenly different art history of neo-constructivist art in former Czechoslovakia appears.

In research so far, the most interesting materials are thoughts of Czech painter Jan Kubíček (1924-2013). His several surviving notebooks from 1960s and 1970s present us with his deep creative urge, methodical development of his philosophy of painting, together with precise and merciless evaluation of the Czech society at the time. Now we can also understand that he solved some artistic problems without help from abroad, independently. Moreover, Kubíček´s notebooks present us with hidden conflicts between the artists and the art theoreticians.

The rift between Czechoslovak artists and Czechoslovak art theoreticians at 1960s to certain extend explains why Czechoslovak neo-constructivists painters were not better known and better evaluated at that time, not only in the former Czechoslovakia, but also abroad. Moreover Soviet invasion and period of “normalisation” lead to prohibition of Kubíček´s work and others (Z. Sýkora, V. Mirvald, ect.) and they could present their work fully only in 1990s. After that recognitions of their works swiftly followed in the Czech Republic and abroad.

This raises more general question: was it possible to successfully present one´s art work and artistic ideas when faced with competing foreign influences supported by powerful institutions and flourishing art markets in the West? Could artistic ideas be understood, when category used for their evaluation were created on the other side of the “iron curtain”? Works and ideas of Jan Kubíček and others show that when dealing with evaluations we are dealing with categories and it did matter who put them forward and where.