Call for Papers | Water, Gods, and the Iconography of Power

Posted in Calls for Papers by Editor on January 13, 2017

Design for a Carriage Built by Andrea Cornely after a design by Ciro Ferri, engraving published in 'An Account of His Excellence, Roger Earl of Castelmaine's Embassy from His Sacred Majesty James the II King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland &c. To His Holiness Innocent XI' (London, ca. 1687). London: V&A 19393.

Design for a Carriage Built by Andrea Cornely after a design by Ciro Ferri, engraving published in An Account of His Excellence, Roger Earl of Castelmaine’s Embassy from His Sacred Majesty James the II King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland &c. To His Holiness Innocent XI (London, ca. 1687). London: V&A 19393. Inscriptions read: “The Tritons behind support two Majestic figures of Neptune & Britannia who extend each / an Arm & rear up the Imperial Crown of England’ and in the lower center of the plate, “A Marine Lion with two Genii each curbing ye Lion & Unicorn, one next Neptune holds his Trident”

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

A donde Neptuno reina: Water, Gods and the Iconography
of Early Modern Power (16th–18th Centuries)
CHAM Conference—Oceans and Shores: Heritage, People, and Environments
Lisbon, 12–15 July 2017

Proposals due by 1 February 2017

Since Antiquity, the personification of water—rivers or seas—has been a recurrent elements in the iconography related to power. From the Tigris to the Ganges, from the Mare Nostrum to the Atlantic Sea, water seems to have been an essential element in the visual display of powerful monarchies and empires. After the European discovery of the Americas, oceans started also to play an extraordinary role in allegorical representations, especially in Spain and Portugal, though elsewhere, too. This panel approaches water iconography, especially as related to oceans, as a mode of representation of power during the early modern period, addressing its role in politics and culture. We are interested in arts, music, and literature, and how they relate to the iconography of water and its relationship with power. Especially welcome are cross-disciplinary contributions, proposals that address different cases studies in a comparative way, and studies focused on ephemeral architecture and theatrical contexts. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Ephemeral art: Celebrations of victories, kings’ birthdays, or even religious events were the perfect context for the representation of water as the image of rulers.
• Prints, emblems, and propaganda: How does the topic relate to rulers’ propaganda?
• European powers and the new geography: How did sovereigns employ discoveries into their own images of power?
• Odes, poetry, and epic: How did literature use the image of oceans and rivers to glorify rulers, and what were the implications for the visual arts?

More information is available at the CHAM conference website, and please direct any questions to Dr. Pilar Diez del Corral Corredoira, diezdelcorralcorredoira@tu-berlin.de. Proposals are due by 1 February 2017.

Save