Please consider submitting a paper for consideration for this paper panel session at the Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting on March 20-22, 2025 in Boston, MA.
We welcome submissions in the disciplines of art history, architecture, collecting history, literary studies, women and gender studies, history, and related fields.
Session Abstract: Interior spaces emerged in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as arenas for the curation of identities that aligned with the virtues of humanism, masculinity or femininity, and religious piety. These thoughtfully crafted spaces placed political power, civic pride, and diverse forms of connectivity on display through a variety of visual strategies. Acting as more than sites of self-fashioning, these spaces were intentionally modified to engage the senses, showcase evolving modes of craftsmanship and materials, and manifest global and local networks. Throughout the early modern period, both secular and sacred spaces were continuously reimagined, refashioned, and renovated by individuals, families, communities, and institutions. We are seeking papers that offer new approaches to the modification and function of interior spaces in the early modern world during the period 1300-1600.
Possible subjects include, but are not limited to:
The senses: sound/light/scent/tactility
Space/spatiality
Sacred and secular spaces
Domestic material culture/domesticity
Patronage, collecting, and display
Identity/individuality
Sociability of space and manifestation of networks
Interiors connected to merchants, immigrants, laborers, and non-elite groups
Gathering, communal, or community focused spaces
The mobile interior: people and interiors on the move
Interior architecture and design
Refashioning/repurposing of interiors or collections
Restoration of spaces, materials, and objects, including spolia and antiquities
Exterior or transitional spaces in dialogue with interiors
Global and colonial influences
Redefining archetypes/models of interiors
Please submit a CV and abstract of 250 words to dadonato@bu.edu, kfkelley@bu.edu, and rtkline@bu.edu by July 26, 2024. Applicants will be notified by August 5, 2024.
