Books by Clare Vernon
This is the first major study to comprehensively analyze the art and architecture of the archdioc... more This is the first major study to comprehensively analyze the art and architecture of the archdiocese of Bari and Canosa during the Byzantine period and the upheaval of the Norman conquest. The book places Bari and Canosa in a Mediterranean context, arguing that international connections with the eastern Mediterranean were a continuous thread that shaped art and architecture throughout the Byzantine and Norman eras. Clare Vernon has examined a wide variety of media, including architecture, sculpture, metalwork, manuscripts, epigraphy and luxury portable objects, as well as patronage, to illustrate how cross-cultural encounters, the first crusade, slavery and continuities and disruptions in the relationship with Constantinople, shaped the visual culture of the archdiocese. From Byzantine to Norman Italy will appeal to students and scholars of Byzantine art, the medieval Mediterranean and the Italo-Norman world.
Papers by Clare Vernon
Arte Medievale, 2021
This paper considers two buildings in southern
Italy; the cathedral of Acerenza, and the unfinis... more This paper considers two buildings in southern
Italy; the cathedral of Acerenza, and the unfinished
church (‘l’Incompiuta’) laid out behind
the apse of the late Antique basilica at Venosa.
Both churches are in the modern region of Basilicata
(ancient Lucania) and were begun under
Norman patronage to a virtually identical
plan. That plan, an apse ambulatory with three
radiating chapels, is so unusual in southern Italy
that a variety of non-Italian sources have been
proposed, for the most part consisting of lists
of 11th century buildings with apse ambulatories
in France. It will be argued here that there is
nothing ‘generalised’ in the realisation of this
plan, but that its detailing, in particular the
wide spacing of the apse piers and the method of receiving pairs of transverse arches on their
aisle side faces, indicate the churches share a
common Norman or Anglo-Norman model.
The sculpture has elicited less comment, but
despite the capitals having been carved by quite
different workshops, both similarly point to an
awareness of Norman carving even if the sculptors
may have been southern Italian.
The paper is divided into four sections, dealing
respectively with the architecture, sculpture,
documentary history and European context.
Al-Masāq Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean, 2018
The subject of this article is the mantle of the kings of Sicily, now in the Kunsthistorisches Mu... more The subject of this article is the mantle of the kings of Sicily, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Made in Palermo in the 1130s, it is often known as the mantle of Roger II. Following his coronation in 1130, King Roger II saw the need to ensure the succession of his sons. As part of his strategy to consolidate dynastic succession, Roger invested his sons with important titles in the mainland regions of the kingdom. This article has two parts: the first discusses the materials used to make the mantle, the journeys they took to reach Sicily and the diplomatic and commercial relationships necessary to acquire them. The second part argues that the mantle may have been made for the investiture ceremonies of the king’s sons and examines how the materials and their exoticism shaped the ceremonial meaning of the garment.
Pseudo-Arabic is a form of ornament, derived from Arabic script, which appears in both Islamic an... more Pseudo-Arabic is a form of ornament, derived from Arabic script, which appears in both Islamic and Christian contexts from the 10th century onwards. The city of Bari in south-east Italy, and its hinterland, boasts a number of examples of this motif. This article explores how pseudo-Arabic was employed in Bari and how the circulation of luxury objects in the medieval Mediterranean contributed to the dissemination of the motif. Bari’s most prominent church, the Basilica of San Nicola, contains a particularly inventive example of pseudo-Arabic in its apse mosaic, which can be dated to the decades following the First Crusade. This article explores the idea that booty from the crusade may have provided the inspiration for the pseudo-Arabic pavement. Open access: https://olh.openlibhums.org/articles/10.16995/olh.252/.
Conferences by Clare Vernon
Conquest and Construction:
Architecture and Landscapes in the Medieval Mediterranean
Call for Pa... more Conquest and Construction:
Architecture and Landscapes in the Medieval Mediterranean
Call for Papers
Friday 1st March 2019
Architecture Space and Society Research Centre, Birkbeck (University of London)
Much recent scholarship on the medieval Mediterranean focuses on shifting borders and cultural identities. Conquest is one of the causes of such shifts. This one-day symposium will examine how the consequences of conquests were manifested in conquered cities and landscapes, asking how conquerors responded to their new environments and how conquered communities were built and re-built.
Papers might touch on any of the following in relation to conquest, conquerors or conquered territories in the Mediterranean world, in the period 500 – 1500.
• Architecture
• Space, landscape, urbanism, topographies
• Architectural sculpture and decoration
• Sacred and liturgical spaces
• Destruction of architecture and urbanism
• Spoliation and re-use of building materials
• Cross-cultural exchanges through buildings, cities and landscapes
• Conquerors as builders and patrons of architecture
• Castles and defensive architecture
• Written descriptions of conquered landscapes
Papers are welcome on all areas of the Mediterranean world (including the Islamic, Byzantine and Latin areas, Jewish communities, the crusades and border zones).
Please send proposals for 20-minute papers to Clare Vernon ([email protected]), by Monday 3rd December 2018, including a paper title, an abstract (max 300 words) and contact details.
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Books by Clare Vernon
Papers by Clare Vernon
Italy; the cathedral of Acerenza, and the unfinished
church (‘l’Incompiuta’) laid out behind
the apse of the late Antique basilica at Venosa.
Both churches are in the modern region of Basilicata
(ancient Lucania) and were begun under
Norman patronage to a virtually identical
plan. That plan, an apse ambulatory with three
radiating chapels, is so unusual in southern Italy
that a variety of non-Italian sources have been
proposed, for the most part consisting of lists
of 11th century buildings with apse ambulatories
in France. It will be argued here that there is
nothing ‘generalised’ in the realisation of this
plan, but that its detailing, in particular the
wide spacing of the apse piers and the method of receiving pairs of transverse arches on their
aisle side faces, indicate the churches share a
common Norman or Anglo-Norman model.
The sculpture has elicited less comment, but
despite the capitals having been carved by quite
different workshops, both similarly point to an
awareness of Norman carving even if the sculptors
may have been southern Italian.
The paper is divided into four sections, dealing
respectively with the architecture, sculpture,
documentary history and European context.
Conferences by Clare Vernon
Keynes Library, School of Arts, 43 Gordon Square
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conquest-and-construction-tickets-55022443610
Architecture and Landscapes in the Medieval Mediterranean
Call for Papers
Friday 1st March 2019
Architecture Space and Society Research Centre, Birkbeck (University of London)
Much recent scholarship on the medieval Mediterranean focuses on shifting borders and cultural identities. Conquest is one of the causes of such shifts. This one-day symposium will examine how the consequences of conquests were manifested in conquered cities and landscapes, asking how conquerors responded to their new environments and how conquered communities were built and re-built.
Papers might touch on any of the following in relation to conquest, conquerors or conquered territories in the Mediterranean world, in the period 500 – 1500.
• Architecture
• Space, landscape, urbanism, topographies
• Architectural sculpture and decoration
• Sacred and liturgical spaces
• Destruction of architecture and urbanism
• Spoliation and re-use of building materials
• Cross-cultural exchanges through buildings, cities and landscapes
• Conquerors as builders and patrons of architecture
• Castles and defensive architecture
• Written descriptions of conquered landscapes
Papers are welcome on all areas of the Mediterranean world (including the Islamic, Byzantine and Latin areas, Jewish communities, the crusades and border zones).
Please send proposals for 20-minute papers to Clare Vernon ([email protected]), by Monday 3rd December 2018, including a paper title, an abstract (max 300 words) and contact details.
Italy; the cathedral of Acerenza, and the unfinished
church (‘l’Incompiuta’) laid out behind
the apse of the late Antique basilica at Venosa.
Both churches are in the modern region of Basilicata
(ancient Lucania) and were begun under
Norman patronage to a virtually identical
plan. That plan, an apse ambulatory with three
radiating chapels, is so unusual in southern Italy
that a variety of non-Italian sources have been
proposed, for the most part consisting of lists
of 11th century buildings with apse ambulatories
in France. It will be argued here that there is
nothing ‘generalised’ in the realisation of this
plan, but that its detailing, in particular the
wide spacing of the apse piers and the method of receiving pairs of transverse arches on their
aisle side faces, indicate the churches share a
common Norman or Anglo-Norman model.
The sculpture has elicited less comment, but
despite the capitals having been carved by quite
different workshops, both similarly point to an
awareness of Norman carving even if the sculptors
may have been southern Italian.
The paper is divided into four sections, dealing
respectively with the architecture, sculpture,
documentary history and European context.
Keynes Library, School of Arts, 43 Gordon Square
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conquest-and-construction-tickets-55022443610
Architecture and Landscapes in the Medieval Mediterranean
Call for Papers
Friday 1st March 2019
Architecture Space and Society Research Centre, Birkbeck (University of London)
Much recent scholarship on the medieval Mediterranean focuses on shifting borders and cultural identities. Conquest is one of the causes of such shifts. This one-day symposium will examine how the consequences of conquests were manifested in conquered cities and landscapes, asking how conquerors responded to their new environments and how conquered communities were built and re-built.
Papers might touch on any of the following in relation to conquest, conquerors or conquered territories in the Mediterranean world, in the period 500 – 1500.
• Architecture
• Space, landscape, urbanism, topographies
• Architectural sculpture and decoration
• Sacred and liturgical spaces
• Destruction of architecture and urbanism
• Spoliation and re-use of building materials
• Cross-cultural exchanges through buildings, cities and landscapes
• Conquerors as builders and patrons of architecture
• Castles and defensive architecture
• Written descriptions of conquered landscapes
Papers are welcome on all areas of the Mediterranean world (including the Islamic, Byzantine and Latin areas, Jewish communities, the crusades and border zones).
Please send proposals for 20-minute papers to Clare Vernon ([email protected]), by Monday 3rd December 2018, including a paper title, an abstract (max 300 words) and contact details.