Object Studies in Art History – serie

Die Forschungsgeschichte der Zeit wird traditionell von einer Trennung zwischen technikhistorischen Ansätzen, welche die Entwicklung der Zeitmessung nachzeichnen, und sozial- und kulurhistorischen Ansätzen, die sich etwa mit Fragen nach dem Zeitbewusstsein oder gesellschaftlicher Synchronisierung und Disziplinierung beschäftigen, bestimmt. " Material Histories of Time" eröffnet einen Dialog zwischen beiden Zugängen. Ausgehend von den Objekten wie zum Beispiel Monumental-, Tisch- und tragbare Uhren sowie Kutschenuhren werden Praktiken der Zeitmessung und -erfahrung untersucht. Die Beiträge reichen von den Anfängen der mechanischen Zeitmessumg im Mittelalter bis zur Industrialisierung im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert.

Shields are both weapons and image carriers. The close link between these functions dates back to antiquity but took on fresh significance in the early modern period: at a time when shields were losing their military relevance, they became even more sought-after as image carriers. The weapon found a new purpose in this role. This publication traces the change in the use of shields, showing what it means to carry them as image carriers on one’s own body, examining the role such objects play in generating and conveying pictorial meaning, and reconstructing the new functional, spatial and narrative contexts of image shields. The focus is on the key phase from the 15th to the 17th century, with additional insights into antiquity and cultural contexts outside Europe.A first in-depth examination of the shield as an image carrier and topic of art theoryPresentation of little-known objects from European and American collectionsReferences to the animal kingdom (turtle) and to the processes of transcultural entanglement

Natural science collections were widespread in the early modern period. This volume focuses on the eventful collection history of the Chamber of Mathematics and Physics of the former Jesuit College in Cologne from its 17th-century beginnings to the present day. Political and (ecclesiastical) historical events influenced the organisation, function, and collection of instruments. As early as the 18th century, but more especially in the French period around 1800, the Jesuit collection developed into one of mathematics and physics, which Georg Simon Ohm later used to prepare for his important discovery of Ohm’s Law. In the context of science’s historical development towards modern natural science, the Cologne chamber played an active role, helping to shape this major transformation on a small scale.

Talismans are objects much neglected by art historical research to date. This volume is the first to present such magical artefacts as a highly complex and extremely promising object genre in terms of visual studies, which can be discussed in the context of recent discourses such as material cultural studies, object studies, and the question of the agency of artistic works. Based on the Kunstkammer of Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, who was the most important collector of naturalia, artificialia and scientifica around 1600, Kunstkammer objects will also be considered as magica: artefacts to which a natural magical quality could be attributed due to their iconographic and material preparation or artistic craftsmanship.

In medieval and early modern Venice, churches gleamed with the brilliance of gold and silver altarpieces and altar frontals. Large-scale, sumptuous, and visually ingenious, these altarpieces functioned as dramatic "viewing machines", dominating the architectural space and framing the liturgy. The essays in this volume bring those awe-inspiring and long-neglected objects back to light, exposing their significance as the forgotten heart of Venice’s visual and religious landscape, and situating them within their broader Adriatic and Mediterranean contexts. In doing so, this volume contributes to key art-historical debates about materiality and the "object archive"; fragmentation and the afterlives of artworks; the interactions between space and liturgy; visuality, and the history of the senses.Reassessment of the arts of medieval and Renaissance VeniceReframes "Venetian art" as the product of dynamic exchanges between the city, its Adriatic colonies, and the wider MediterraneanIncluding two Italian contributions

In the Early Modern period, astronomical table clocks were among the most complex and indeed most expensive objects produced in the centers of craftsmanship in southern Germany such as Augsburg and Nuremberg. While the extensive information provided by the various timekeeping systems, the positions of the sun, the moon and the zodiac, and the many other features is truly impressive, an equally surprising element is the central principle by which the table clocks are designed: their presentation in the shape of other objects. The study shows how clockmakers developed formal strategies to set the scene for their outstanding craftsmanship and expertise. Astronomical table clocks fitted out with casings in the form of towers, mirrors or books thus take on the symbolic interpretation of these artefacts as technological wonders, images of the cosmos, and vessels of heavenly knowledge. From the invention of the spring drive to the implementation of the pendulum clock, the study offers countless findings on the practice and teaching of technology, art, and science.