The Institute of Medieval Studies and the IHA (Instituto de História da Arte) of the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, along with the Centro de Investigação e Estudos em Belas Artes of the Faculdade de Belas Artes of the Universidade de Lisboa and in collaboration with the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon, are organizing the International Congress “Souls of Stone. Funerary Sculpture: from Creation to Musealization”.
Funerary sculpture is definitely a precious source for the understanding of the Middle Ages. This can be observed in the light of a series of studies and projects produced in the last decades by the international scientific community. Those researches, belonging to different domains and representing various methodological approaches, are encouraging the reconsideration of some traditional points of view on the medieval times. The extent, the relevance and the potential of this field of research is therefore becoming very evident. In fact, funerary sculpture can provide a privileged window to the observation of some realities, which are difficult to access through other means and sources. Medieval tombs are testimonies of specific characters and processes; they materialize particular ways of thinking and intentions; they reveal the complexity of some concepts and ideologies, as that of the interactions between body and soul in the afterlife. Therefore, the funerary monuments present a continuous challenge to the scholar. They are, simultaneously, the result of spiritual aspirations and earthly expectations, an aesthetic product and a symbolic device, but also the place where to exhibit the concrete shape of the body (which is incorruptible and lays down at the top of the chest), while the gracefulness of the soul is manifested in stone reliefs, keeping the individual suspended in limbo, in a certain way. This complexity of the sepulchre, understood as an artistic, aesthetic, spiritual, historical, anthropological, sociological and cultural artefact, implies a true and authentic interdisciplinarity, which is one of this congress’ main focus.

Moreover, the fact that the tombs were commonly taken out of their original contexts, so decontextualized and even manipulated and used in different visual discourses, is an another source of challenges for the scholars. On the one hand, we have to figure out the impact of such processes on the current interpretation of those artworks and, subsequently, we have to try to understand them going back to the context in and for which they were produced. On the other hand, it seems relevant to think about the most suitable means to promote and respect the tombs within the context of a museum, but also to debate the possible ways of fostering an historical comprehension of those that remain in their initial settings.

Another important dimension of these artworks that we need to explore is their materiality, both the original one, resulting from the process of their creation, and the one they have been given throughout their existence. This is a central issue when we talk about the criteria that must sustain any kind of restoration work on the tombs, envisioning their preservation as a heritage for the future.

From the creation to the musealization: this is a sort of an extended and multi-layered cycle, within which we would like to think about funerary monuments and their “lives”. In order to discuss, to understand, to question and to contextualise the medieval tomb we aim to bring together scholars, museum curators and restorers from different countries who can promote an interdisciplinary debate.

The congress will be organised in four sessions, three of them dedicated to papers and the last one to the presentation of research projects carried on the field of funerary sculpture.

All the sessions, including that of the projects, will be opened by keynote lectures, presented by well-known specialists of each scientific area.

The congress includes also a visit to the Monastery of S. Dinis at Odivelas, nearby Lisbon. This late 13th century foundation houses some royal tombs that are representative of Portuguese gothic sculptural production and that have recently been submitted to restoration works.

CALL FOR PAPERS – CALL FOR PROJECTS
Historians, museologists, restorers and all the researchers in general working on the topic are invited to submit proposals.

Will be accepted proposals on the general issue of the congress and, more specifically, from following thematic areas:
- Artworks’ creation processes: commitment; production; artists/workshops; relation between commitment and artist; patterns and their circulation; literary and iconographic sources; technics of realization; materials; iconographic programs.
- Artworks’ reception: processes of commemoration; constructed memory; processes of appropriation; multiple interpretations and levels of significance; relation between past and present.
- Artworks’ manipulation: interventions; transfers and dislocations; decontextualisations.
- Artworks’ musealization: conservation; restoration; museography; actions of safeguard, protection and valorization.

The call for papers and call for projects will be open until March 31, 2017.
The papers and projects presented at the congress will be published.

CALL FOR PAPERS
The Organizing Committe invites the international scientific community interested in the topic of funerary sculpture to submit proposals.
The call for papers will be open until March, 31, 2017.

Guidelines

1. Abstracts of the proposals (max. 300 words) should be sent by March, 31, 2017 to the Organizing Committee, on following mail address: almasdepedra2017@gmail.com. Each proponent can submit only one proposal.

2. The proposal should include the following information:
Name
Affiliation
Title of the paper
Abstract (max. 300 words)
Contacts
CV (max. 300 words)

3. Abstracts and papers can be presented in any of the official languages of the meeting: English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

4. Abstracts should be detailed about the object of the study and offer original approaches/perspectives. Critical and interpretative approaches will have preference over mere descriptive analysis.

5. Proposals should aim at a 20-minute conference presentation. At the end of each
session there will be a round-table discussion including all speakers and participants.

6. The acceptance or non acceptance of the proposal will be communicated to each proponent in April.

CALL FOR PROJECTS
The Organizing Committe invites the international scientific community interested in the topic of funerary sculpture to submit proposals of presentations of ongoing projects on research, musealization, restoration etc., in this specific field.
The call for projects will be open until March, 31, 2017.

Guidelines

1. Abstracts of the proposals (max. 500 words) should be sent by March, 31, 2017 to the Organizing Committee, on following mail address: almasdepedra2017@gmail.com. Each proponent can submit only one proposal.

2. The proposal should include the following informations:
Name of the proponent/team
Affiliation
Title of the project
Abstract (max. 500 words)
Contacts

3. Abstracts of the projects and the presentation conference can be presented in any of the official languages of the meeting: English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

4. Proposals should aim at a 15-minute conference presentation. It will also possible to exhibit posters and didactical material - prepared entirely by the proponents - in the Library of Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, next to the Auditorium where the congress will be hold.

5. The acceptance or non acceptance of the proposal will be communicated to each proponent in April.

All information and updates will be available on the official website of the congress, currently under construction.