Burials in the Mediterranean Middle Ages, Minima Medievalia

The act of preparing the final resting place for the mortal remains of members of medieval communities is one of the practices that found many forms of material expression and countless artistic forms in the Mediterranean world. The most salient aspects of a person’s life could be recalled in evocative apparatuses, even very complex ones, in strict adherence to the burial practices of the society in which the deceased lived. But more often it is a more restrained, even anonymous, dimension that conveys the sense of pity towards the dear departed.

The next issue of Minima Medievalia will address the implications of funerary art in the Latin, Byzantine and Islamic Middle Ages. The focus will be on burial monuments, both in their concrete and immaterial dimensions. The aim is not only to census and deepen the knowledge of monumental tombs, but also to give space to those minor, violated, destroyed, fragmentary and even devoid of material consistency contexts that make up the most widespread mosaic of this phenomenon.

The volume therefore intends to address issues of various kinds related to the world of burials: the addressee (sepulchers of saints, of religious, of laymen); the types of messages conveyed by the funerary practice and the cultural values of reference; the methods of display; the forms and typologies used around the Mediterranean; the linguistic and material expressions translated through various artistic (sculpture, architecture, monumental art, painting, epigraphy) and documentary media (sources, liturgy, worship, devotion); the areas of destination and conditions of use; the role of patrons, artists, communities; and much more.

Abstracts due July 15, 2022. The deadline for submission of the final version is due June 2023. The volume is expected to be published at the end of the same year.