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SUMMARY:‘Viking' Audiences and Agents: Analyzing display to interpret th
 e social significance of free-standing human imagery in Scandinavia\, AD 5
 00-1200 - Thea Thompson\, Department of Archaeology
DTSTART:20080520T121500Z
DTEND:20080520T130000Z
UID:TALK11529@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:T.S. Thompson
DESCRIPTION:The art of Scandinavia\, AD 500-1200\, was dominated by geomet
 ric animal decorations.  Free-standing\, semi-naturalistic human imagery w
 as less common and appeared on objects associated with the elites of socie
 ty.  This style of imagery first appeared in Scandinavia during the early 
 6th century AD and continued into the early medieval period.  This imagery
  has been found on a range of objects including gold\, stone monuments\, t
 apestries\, churches\, and jewelry.  The goal of my research is to underst
 and the meaning of the free-standing\, human image tradition in Scandinavi
 an society\, AD 500-1200.  To do this\, I am analyzing how the images were
  displayed.  My thesis argues that to interpret the social meaning/purpose
  of art of past cultures\, two elements need to be first established: who 
 was displaying the art (agent) and who was viewing the art (audience).  Th
 e materials (gold\, monumental stone\, tapestry) used to make the art obje
 ct\, can identify the agent by indicating the social status\, wealth or sk
 ill of the agents involved.  The manner in which the art displayed can ind
 icate what scale of audience (divine\, social\, public) the art was intend
 ed for. Once the agents and audiences are established\, the social intenti
 ons of this art tradition can be inferred through an analysis of the agent
 /audience relationship.  
LOCATION:Entertaining Room\, Darwin College
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