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10/08/2024

Graduate Students Join Colleagues for Summer Conferences and Travel in Cappadocia, Istanbul, and Georgia

College of Fine Arts

Art History doctoral students Serena D’Alessandro, Quentin Clark, and Hudson Kauffman travelled to Cappadocia, central Turkïye, this summer to hear papers by Dr. Lynn Jones and Sarah Mathiesen in the conference “Byzantine Cappadocia: Visualizing Community From Local and Transregional Perspectives,” sponsored by Cappadocia and Penn Universities. The conference was held in memory of Robert G. Ousterhout,  1950-2023, Professor Emeritus of History of Art at UPenn and leading scholar of Byzantine architecture, art, and urbanism. Dr. Jones presented “Miniaturization, Iconography, and Gender: The Decorative Program of Chapel 33 (Kiliçlar Kusluk/Meryemana),” and Mathiesen presented “The Appearance of the ‘Angel of the Lord’ in Yılanlı Kilise.”

The FSU Art History group met in Istanbul for three days of touring prior to the conference, and spent three days afterward in the wilds of the Cappadocian landscape. Among other sites, they visited Hagia Sophia, Chora Church (Kariye Mosque), Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Yılanlı Kilise, Tokalı Kilise, and the Chapel of Saint Basil.

Following the conference, doctoral candidate Sarah Mathiesen traveled on to Georgia to participate in the ten-day International Cultural Workshop “Rediscovering the Cultural Heritage of Upper Svaneti,” hosted by the Institute of Art History and Theory at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and funded by the United States Embassy in Georgia. The workshop brought together a group of ten student participants and four senior scholars of Georgian and medieval art -Zaza Skhirtladze, Irine Koshoridze, Glenn Peers, and Erik Thunø. Students represented a range of international countries and universities, hailing from the US to Italy, Poland, Germany, and Georgia. Sarah describes her travels and experiences in Georgia with the workshop cohort:

Starting in the capital Tbilisi, we traveled for the next ten days to the region of Upper Svaneti to experience its distinctive history and culture. A wealth of medieval material survives – secular and religious, architecture to icons of all sizes to illuminated manuscripts – set against a backdrop of the epic Caucasus Mountain range.

For my contribution to the workshop, I presented on icons from the treasury now housed in the Ushguli Museum and on the topic of early medieval monumental painting as demonstrated by the decorative program in the Church of the Savior from Chvabiani.

 
One of the distinctive features of Upper Svanetian architecture and culture is the towers that dot the landscape; towers which mark settlements and family wealth. The churches are intimate spaces that require dedication and perhaps not a little faith – especially if heights are not your favorite – to reach.
More Research Travels in the Summer of ’24

Five Art History students traveled to Tuscany to participate in the Archaeological Field School at Cetamura del Chianti.
Two doctoral candidates received the International Programs Florence Teaching Appointment.

Support for Art History Research Travel

Students & prospective students: For information about more ways you can receive support for research travel in Art History, visit Fees & Funding.

Alumni & friends: If you would like to support FSU Art History students in their travel and research, please consider a donation to the Christopher M.S. Johns Award or the Patricia Rose Fund.

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