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'Insculpta imago' - seal matrices and seal impressions in the Mediterranean
International Conference

 organized by Ruth Wolff and Gerhard Wolf, funded by the Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung

The seal as an artifact in very small format displays a multiplicity of images and signs. With a 9000 year-old history the seal belongs to one of the oldest and most enduring forms of image reproduction, embracing numerous cultures.
A seal matrix, or cylinder seal, seal tongs or gems mounted in seal rings can produce a large quantity of impressions in clay, lead or wax. In comparison with other artifacts seals have an exponentially high and wide distribution, in diplomatic correspondence and in trade, and as objects of representation and collection as well. Both the seal matrix and the seal impression are three dimensional, that is, sculptural images - 'insculptae imagines': the recessed image of the die appears raised and relief-like on the impression.

An enormous number of seals are preserved. They are objects of investigation in such disciplines as Egyptology, archeology, Jewish, Byzantine and Islamic studies, medieval historical studies, and, increasingly in recent times, art history, albeit within the context of the single field of research. According to the traditions of the respective discipline emphasis is laid either on the seal die or on the seal impression. The conference to be held at the Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florence - Max-Planck-Institute will encompass seals from late antiquity to early modern times in the Mediterranean area as a region of contact and coexistence of different cultures. Considering the seal as a transcultural image and medium of reproduction, the conference aims to bring together the disciplines mentioned above. Its focus lies on the 'insculpta imago' of both the seal matrix and the seal impression, whereby 'imago' corresponds to the medieval understanding of the seal image as a whole, that is, in the interaction of image, text and sign.
The issues to be dealt with concern the seal images of different Mediterranean cultures, their legal status, their innovations or their intended adherence to traditional depictions and formulas, their mutual reception, the role of the materiality of seal dies and impressions, and the interaction of seals with other relevant artifacts and symbols.

The conference 'Insculpta imago' originates within the context of the research project on "Siegel-Bilder" financed by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and carried out by Dr. Ruth Wolff under the direction of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf and Prof. Dr. Michael Stolleis at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, in collaboration with the Max-Planck-Institute for European Legal History in Frankfurt.


  

Date
February 3rd, 2011 to February 5th, 2011

Location
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut
Palazzo Grifoni - Seminarraum
Via dei Servi 51
50122 Firenze
Contact
Dr. Ruth Wolff
E-mail: wolff@khi.fi.it
Program
http://www.khi.fi.it/ pdf/c20110203.pdf
Further information
Research project "Images on Seals"

Online Exhibition "Sigilli"

Press Release
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