The 8th ARDS annual colloquium focuses on alabaster as a material for European sculpture from the 14th until the 17th century.

Much research has been carried out on this subject over the past few decades in several European countries, both in universities and in laboratories, and in particular on the occasion of restorations carried out in museums and historic monuments. New analysis methods have improved our knowledge of the origin of alabaster and the quarries exploited during this period, supply and trade circuits - often long distance - have been brought to light, restorations have enabled to specify the implementation of the material. The results have been the subject of seminars, study days and major publications.

In order to present the general public with a summary of the current state of our knowledge, M Leuven and the Musée du Louvre jointly organize an international exhibition on this theme in the fall of 2022. This exhibition will show how and why alabaster was used for sculpture in Western Europe during the late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque period. This exhibition will bring together high-quality sculptures, small-format objects with monumental achievements, from the Louvre and M’s collections, as well as from numerous public and private collections.

This Paris colloquium brings together specialists in this material, whether they are geologists, restorers, historians or art historians. The scientific committee of the conference invited researchers to submit papers via a call for papers and has selected 15 papers, which resulted in a highly qualitative and varied programme. Registration is now open.

TUESDAY THE 18TH OF JANUARY 2022
Lectures will be held in French or English, corresponding to the language used in the lecture’s title.
9:15 Registration & coffee - Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, Paris

9:45 Welcome | Sophie Jugie, Directrice du département des Sculptures du Musée du Louvre, Paris
9:50 Introduction to the conference theme and practicalities | dra. Marjan Debaene, Head of Collections M Leuven and Coordinator ARDS

Session 1 | “Back to the quarries”: provenance research of alabaster
9:55 Session Chair | Pierre-Yves Le Pogam, conservateur en chef du patrimoine, département des Sculptures du Musée du Louvre, Paris

10:00 Lecture 1 | Sophie Jugie, Directrice du département des Sculptures du Musée du Louvre, Paris; Wolfram Kloppmann, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Orléans;
Lise Leroux, Ingénieure de recherche au pôle Pierre du Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques, Champs-sur-Marne
Alabaster from the Jura in the 15th and 16th century: from the archives to the quarries, from the quarries to the works of art

10:25 Lecture 2 | Magali Briat-Philippe, Conservatrice en chef et responsable des patrimoines Monastère Royal de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse; Lise Leroux, Ingénieure de recherche au pôle Pierre du Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques, Champs-sur-Marne
L’albâtre de Saint-Lothain au Monastère Royal de Brou à Bourg-en-Bresse, son utilisation et son rayonnement

10:50 Lecture 3 | dr. Carmen Morte Garcia, Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History of the University of Zaragoza; dr. José Gisbert Aguilar, Professor of Petrology and Geochemistry in the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Zaragoza; dr. Alicia Muñoz, Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Zaragoza
L’albâtre, matériau du patrimoine culturel de l’Aragon: identification de la carrière dont proviennent des œuvres du Musée de Zaragoza

11:15 Lecture 4 | Lorenzo Appolonia, Surintendance des activités et des biens culturels de la Vallée d’Aoste, Italie; Philippe Bromblet, Centre interdisciplinaire de conservation et restauration du patrimoine, Marseille; Wolfram Kloppmann, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Orléans; Lise Leroux, Ingénieure de recherche au pôle Pierre du Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques,Champs-sur-Marne
L’albâtre dans la statuaire et la sculpture architecturale de la cathédrale d’Aoste au XIVe et XVe siècles: une provenance locale confirmée ?

11:40 Lecture 5 | dr. Fabiana Susini, Professor of History of Medieval Art at the Higher School for Linguistic Mediators of Pisa & Lecturer at the University of Pisa; dr. Eleonora Romanò, Professor of Etruscology at the Higher School for Linguistic Mediators of Pisa
The ‘Renaissance’ of Volterra Alabaster in Sacred and Secular Craftsmanship of the Sixteenth Century

  • 12:00 Q&A (all speakers)
  • 12:15 Lunch - Foyer of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs

13:45 Visit to the medieval sculpture collection of the Musée du Louvre: display case (“Vitrine d’actualité”) on alabasters and in the permanent collection | Sophie Jugie, Directrice dudépartement des Sculptures du Musée du Louvre, Paris

Session 2 | “Handle with care”: interdisciplinary conservation and study of alabaster
14:45 Session Chair | Sophie Jugie, Directrice du département des Sculptures du Musée du Louvre, Paris

14:50 Lecture 6 | Judy De Roy, Scientific assistant at the Conservation-Restoration department and Head of the Stone Sculpture Studio of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage KIK-IRPA, Brussels
Alabaster Sculpture Through the Eye of the Conservator-Restorer: Obtaining Material Technical Knowledge About Alabaster Sculpture in the Low Countries through 70 Years of Conservation Reports

15:15 Lecture 7 | Sonia Tortajada, Sculpture Conservator at the Prado National Museum, Madrid
Conservation Insights into the Study of Alabaster Sculptures at the Prado Museum

15:40 Lecture 8 | Lucretia Kargère, Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art & The Cloisters, New York
Revisiting The Cloisters’ fifteenth-century alabaster predella from Zaragoza

16:00 Coffee break - Foyer of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs

16:20 Lecture 9 | Matthieu Fantoni, Conservateur du patrimoine, Conservation régionale des monuments historiques de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon
La restauration de la Pietà de Conrad Meit de la cathédrale de Besançon: une approche interdisciplinaire d’une œuvre en albâtre de la Renaissance

16:45 Lecture 10 | drs. Petr Hrubý, Director of the National Heritage Institute, regional department in Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic) & Lecturer at the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Ústí nad Labem; drs. Antonín Kadlec, Preservationist National Heritage Institute regional department in Ústí nad Labem & Lecturer at the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Ústí nad Labem
Alabaster Altar and the Pulpit in the Church of St. Florian in Krásné Březno, district Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic

17:20 Lecture 11 | Christina Spaarshuh, Paintings Conservator and Researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, NIKU, Oslo
English Alabaster Reliefs in Lade Church, Norway: History, Polychromy and a Reconstruction Attempt

  • 17:40 Q&A
  • 18:00 End of day I
  • 19:00 Conference dinner (upon reservation beforehand: please read particulars below)

WEDNESDAY THE 19TH OF JANUARY 2022
On this conference day all lectures will be simultaneously translated from English to French.
9:30 Free entrance to the Musée du Louvre
10:00 Welcome & introduction to the conference theme and practicalities, Auditorium du Louvre, Cour Napoléon et Pyramide du Louvre, Paris | dra. Marjan Debaene, Head of Collections M Leuven and Coordinator ARDS

Session 3 | “From Power to Powder”: the meaning of alabaster
9:55 Session Chair | dr. Peter Carpreau, Head of Old Masters M Leuven

10:05 Keynote I | Prof. dr. Aleksandra Lipińska, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München
The rhetorics of alabaster

10:55 Lecture 1 | Jessie Park, Nina and Lee Griggs Assistant Curator of European Art, Department of European Art, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
Between Loyalty and Enmity: Alabaster Funerary Monuments and Material Articulations of Power in Habsburg Europe

11:20 Lecture 2 | Rebekkah C. Hart, MA - Art History, Research & Teaching Assistant, University of California,Riverside
Powders and Plasters: Alabaster and the Curative Consumption of Holy Medieval Sculpture

  • 11:40 Q&A
  • 11:55 ARDS News | dra. Marjan Debaene, Head of Collections M Leuven and Coordinator ARDS

12:10 Lunch break on your own & free visit to Musée du Louvre and/or Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

Session 4 | “From Nottingham with love”: English alabaster in context
14:30 Session Chair | Jean-Marie Guillouët, Professor of Medieval Art History, University of Burgundy, Dijon

14:35 Keynote II | dr. Jessica Barker FSA, Senior Lecturer in Medieval Art, The Courtauld, London
Caring for the Dead: Alabaster Funerary Monuments and the Problem of Material Persistence

15:25 Lecture 3 | Lloyd de Beer, Curator Late Medieval European collections, The British Museum, London
Alabaster, Industry and the Problem of Englishness

15:50 Lecture 4 | Zuleika Murat, Associate Professor of History of Medieval Art, University of Padua
Experiencing English Alabaster as Material for Religious Sculpture in Late Medieval Parish Churches

  • 16:10 Q&A
  • 16:25 Closing remarks | representative scientific committee
  • 16:30 Verre d’amitié - closing reception for registered participants, Foyer Musée du Louvre, Paris

17:30 End of day II | Musée du Louvre closes at 18:00

THURSDAY, THE 20TH OF JANUARY 2022
Excursion to the Musée National de la Renaissance – Château d’Ecouen 10:45 Assemble in front of the Musée National de la Renaissance, Rue Jean Bullant, Écouen

  • 11:00 Guided tour | Thierry Crépin-Leblond, Directeur du Musée National de la Renaissance – Château d’Ecouen; Guillaume Fonkenell, Conservateur chargé de la sculpture et de l’architecture, Musée National de la Renaissance - Château d’Ecouen
  • 12:30 Lunch | Fixed menu at approx. € 20,00 at ‘La table des Rois’ in the Château d’Ecouen (upon reservation beforehand: please read particulars below)

13:30 End of day III