Maria Judith Feliciano, Seattle, “Andalusi Textiles or Medieval Textiles in Iberia?”

Maria Judith Feliciano, Seattle, “Andalusi Textiles or Medieval Textiles in Iberia?”

The lecture will offer an overview of medieval Iberian textiles and the challenges inherent to their study. Starting with the long-lasting influence of nineteenth and early twentieth century discovery and collecting practices on the academic and museological fields, we shall move back in time to examine the manufacture, trade, and multiple uses of sumptuous textiles in medieval Iberian architecture, liturgy, courtly rituals, and economic life. The centrality and complexity of the roles that textiles played in medieval Iberian life require varied methodological approaches. We will analyze the need for a new general history of medieval Iberian textiles vis-à-vis the importance of contextual specificity in the study of such a vast array of objects and uses.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of History of Art, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Spanish and Portuguese at Penn, and the Middle East Center