Artificii Occulti: Knowledge and Discernment in the Artistic and Scientific Cultures of the Netherlands and the Spanish Habsburg World (16th-17th Centuries)

A Three-Day International Colloquium, Bern 12–14 May 2011 This conference explores the ways in which knowledge was shaped, shared, and circulated among artists, artisans, scientists and architects, as well as collectors, and connoisseurs in the Netherlands and the Spanish Habsburg World. By expanding our focus to include the Netherlands, Spain, and the Spanish Habsburg lands in Italy and the New World we hope to open new fields of research beyond the dominant Italian model. Among the foci of the contributions are epistemological dimensions of tacit and experimental knowledge; the intersections between art, alchemy, technology, natural philosophy, and theology; circulation of learned and hermetic knowledge; notions of virtuosity and ingenuity in various arts and crafts; antiquarianism and ‘love of the arts’ in the Netherlands and Spain; and the circulation and transformation of artists’ secrets across different cultural-geographical contexts. Thursday, 12 May 2011, Kuppelsaal der Universität Bern, Hochschulstrasse 4 9:45–10:30 Coffee and Registration 10:30–11:00 Welcome and Introduction: Prof. Dr. Martin G. Täuber, Vice Rector for Research, Universität Bern Christine Göttler (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bern) 11:00–11:45 I. ARTISANAL KNOWLEDGE Chaired by Pascal Griener (Institut d’histoire de l’art et de muséologie, Université de Neuchâtel) Pamela H. Smith (Department of History, Columbia University) Why Write a Book? Artisanal Experience and the Written Word in Early Modern Europe. 11:45–12:00 Coffee 12:00–13:30 II. HIDDEN ARTIFICES Chaired by Sven Dupré (Centre for History of Science, Universiteit Gent) Koenraad Van Cleempoel (Department of Architecture, Hasselt University) A Reflection on Artisanal Epistemology and ‘Tacit Knowledge’: The Circulation of 16th-Century Scientific Instruments from Louvain to the Escorial. Rudolf Preimesberger (em., Kunsthistorisches Institut, Freie Universität Berlin) Caravaggios Artificii bei Rubens und Ribera. 13:30–14:30 Lunch 14:30–16:00 III. THE SPHERES OF ART Chaired by Ulrich Heinen (Fachbereich Design und Kunst, Bergische Universität Wuppertal) Tine Meganck (Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels) Transforming Nature into Art: 'The Fall of the Rebel Angels' by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Christine Göttler (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bern) Affinities: The Sphere of ‘const’ in Early Modern Antwerp, circa 1600. 16:00–16:15 Coffee 16:15–17:45 IV. ALCHEMY AND GLASS Chaired by Pamela H. Smith (Department of History, Columbia University) Sven Dupré (Centre for History of Science, Universiteit Gent) The Alchemy of Glass, Light and Paint in Early Seventeenth-Century Antwerp. Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk (Glasmuseum Hentrich, Düsseldorf) The Tree of Knowledge. An Exhibition Project on Art and Alchemy at the museum kunst palast in Dusseldorf. 17:45–18:15 Coffee 18:15 Keynote Lecture: Introduction by Christine Göttler (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bern) and Sven Dupré (Centre for History of Science, Universiteit Gent) Martin Kemp (em., Department of the History of Art, Oxford University) Taking it on Trust: Naturalism, Knowledge and the Fantastical from Leonardo to Now. Reception Friday, 13 May 2011, Kuppelsaal der Universität Bern, Hochschulstrasse 4 9:30–11:00 V. RUBENS: THEORETICAL NOTEBOOK AND LIBRARY Chaired by Christine Göttler (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bern) Michael Thimann (Kunstgeschichte / Bildwissenschaften, Universität Passau) Rubens’s Library: Problems in its Reconstruction. Arnout Balis (Faculty of Arts, Languages and Literature, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels) Rubens’s Theoretical Notebook. 11:00–11:15 Coffee 11:15–12:45 VI. RUBENS: BODIES AND FIGURES OF BODIES Chaired by Sarah Moran (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bern) Ulrich Heinen (Fachbereich Design und Kunst, Bergische Universität Wuppertal) 'De arte gymnastica': Rubens’s Art of Body-Building. Caroline van Eck (Institute for Cultural Disciplines, Leiden University) Grotesque Figuration in Rubens’s Designs for the Pompa Introitus Ferdinandi. 12:45–14:15 Lunch 14:15–15:45 VII. INGENUITY AND VIRTUOSO CRAFTS Chaired by Tristan Weddigen (Kunsthistorisches Institut, Universität Zürich) Lorenz Seelig (em., Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München) Antwerpener Goldschmiedekunst des Barock – Virtuoses Kunsthandwerk im Kontext von Malerei und Plastik. Alexander Marr (Department of Art History, University of Southern California, Los Angeles) Ingenuity in the Gallery. 15:45–16:00 Coffee 16:00–17:30 VIII. LIEFHEBBERS AND ANTIQUARIANS Chaired by Jan Blanc (Unité d’histoire de l’art, Université de Genève) Paul Taylor (Warburg Institute, University of London) Artists versus Art-Lovers in the Dutch Republic. Thijs Weststeijn (University of Amsterdam) Franciscus Juniu's 'De schilderkonst der oude' and the Rise of Antiquarianism in the Dutch Republic. Saturday, 14 May 2011, UniS, A003, Schanzeneckstrasse 1 9:30–11:00 IX. THE DUTCH REPUBLIC Chaired by Frédéric Elsig (Unité d’histoire de l’art, Université de Genève) Karin Leonhard (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz) How to Cultivate Colour in the Field of Painting. Stillife Painting and Baroque Colour Theory. Andreas Thielemann (Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rom) Das Stillleben als “optische Bank” – Künstler-Raffinesse und optisches Wissen. 11:00–11:15 Coffee 11:15–12:45 X. SPAIN Chaired by Cristina Urchueguía (Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Bern) Anette Schaffer (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bern) Zum Nachtstück bei El Greco. Felipe Pereda (Department of the History of Art, Johns Hopkins University) Zurbaráns Veronica and the Limits of Likeness in Baroque Spain. 12:45–14:15 Lunch 14:15–15:45 XI. WORKSHOP SECRETS Chaired by Marie Theres Stauffer (Unité d’histoire de l’art, Université de Genève) Oskar Bätschmann (em., Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bern / Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft, Zürich) Oil Painting: The Legends of a Workshop Secret. Valeska von Rosen (Kunstgeschichtliches Institut, Ruhr-Universität Bochum) Veränderte Kommunikationsbedingungen und ihre Folgen. Die niederländischen Caravaggisten nach ihrer Rückkehr aus Italien. 15:45–16:15 Coffee 16:15–16:45 Concluding discussion Drinks and farewell

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