A donde Neptuno reina: Water, Gods and the Iconography of Early Modern Power (16th–18th Centuries)
CHAM Conference—Oceans and Shores: Heritage, People, and Environments
Lisbon
12–15 July 2017
Since Antiquity, the personification of water—rivers or seas—has been a recurrent elements in the iconography related to power. From the Tigris to the Ganges, from the Mare Nostrum to the Atlantic Sea, water seems to have been an essential element in the visual display of powerful monarchies and empires. After the European discovery of the Americas, oceans started also to play an extraordinary role in allegorical representations, especially in Spain and Portugal, though elsewhere, too. This panel approaches water iconography, especially as related to oceans, as a mode of representation of power during the early modern period, addressing its role in politics and culture. We are interested in arts, music, and literature, and how they relate to the iconography of water and its relationship with power. Especially welcome are cross-disciplinary contributions, proposals that address different cases studies in a comparative way, and studies focused on ephemeral architecture and theatrical contexts. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Ephemeral art: Celebrations of victories, kings’ birthdays, or even religious events were the perfect context for the representation of water as the image of rulers.
- Prints, emblems, and propaganda: How does the topic relate to rulers’ propaganda?
- European powers and the new geography: How did sovereigns employ discoveries into their own images of power?
- Odes, poetry, and epic: How did literature use the image of oceans and rivers to glorify rulers, and what were the implications for the visual arts?
More information is available at the CHAM conference website, and please direct any questions to Dr. Pilar Diez del Corral Corredoira, diezdelcorralcorredoira@tu-berlin.de. Proposals are due by 1 February, 2017.
