The V&A will be organising an online symposium in early July as a follow-up to the display Fragmented Illuminations: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Cuttings at the Victoria and Albert Museum (now extended until 5 June 2022). It will be held over one afternoon to allow for as large an audience as possible to join and participate, from different time zones.
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We welcome papers focusing on any of the following themes and aspects, preferably in relation to pieces in the V&A collection:
- Study of groups of cuttings from the same manuscript source
- Provenance research and history of collections
- Questions of attribution and iconography
- Identification of parent manuscripts when extant; reconstructions of broken manuscripts
- Materiality and digital display of manuscript cuttings: opportunities and challenges
- Collecting cuttings: new lives, functions, and uses
- Comparison between manuscript cuttings and other types of cuttings, e.g. from textiles or printed books
- Relationship between manuscript cuttings and copies
- 19th-cent reception of, and responses to, historic illuminated manuscripts
- Relationship between manuscript cuttings and copies
- 19th-cent reception of, and responses to, medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts
This list is indicative rather than exhaustive.
A preference will be given to contributions focusing on lesser-known examples in the collection and adopting innovative approaches.
Please send an abstract (max. 300 words), a paper title, and a short biography (max. 150 words) to
Papers should be no more than 15 minutes in length, to allow time for questions and discussion.
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