Ius Illuminatum - Oficina de investigação

20/10/2026

📜✨ IUS ILLUMINATUM International Conference in Bologna: “Beyond the Separation between Clergy and Laity in Medieval Sacred Spaces: Visual Evidence and Liturgical Norms”

We are delighted to announce the international conference “Oltre la separazione tra clero e popolo negli spazi sacri medievali: evidenze visive e norme liturgiche”, organised by the IUS ILLUMINATUM international research team, in collaboration with the THESAURI RITUUM project, the Dipartimento delle Arti (DAR) of the Università di Bologna, and the Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM – NOVA FCSH).

The conference will take place on 28–29 October 2026, at the Aula Magna di Santa Cristina in Bologna, Italy.

The event is organised by Maria Alessandra Bilotta, Principal Investigator and Coordinator of IUS ILLUMINATUM, together with Gianluca del Monaco and Fabio Massaccesi, both members of the research team.

Taking as its starting point the Decretales of Pope Gregory IX (1234), particularly the provisions governing the separation between clergy and laity during religious ceremonies, the conference will explore the organisation and transformation of medieval sacred spaces.

Bringing together specialists in medieval art history, archaeology, legal history and liturgical studies, the event will examine how images, architecture and ecclesiastical norms shaped the boundaries, hierarchies and experiences of sacred space from Late Antiquity to the late Middle Ages.

📚 The programme includes contributions by Andrea Padovani, Fabio Massaccesi, Giulia Marsili, Michelle Beghelli, Gianluca del Monaco, Maria Alessandra Bilotta, Davide Tramarin and Giovanni Giura, with sessions chaired by Giovanna Valenzano and Massimo Medica.

The Scientific Committee comprises Maria Alessandra Bilotta, Gianluca del Monaco, Fabio Massaccesi, Andrea Padovani, Ángel Pazos Lopez and Giovanna Valenzano.

📍 Aula Magna di Santa Cristina, Piazzetta G. Morandi 2, Bologna, Italy
📅 28–29 October 2026

✨ An important opportunity for interdisciplinary dialogue at the intersection of medieval visual culture, canon law, liturgy and the history of sacred spaces, reflecting the international scholarly collaboration fostered by IUS ILLUMINATUM.

20/10/2026

📚✨ New Publications from IUS ILLUMINATUM: Illuminated Manuscripts, Urban Memory and Civic Identity in Medieval Europe

We are delighted to highlight three new scholarly contributions by members of the IUS ILLUMINATUM research network, published in the volume “A(s) memória(s) na Europa urbana medieval”/ “Memory(ies) in Medieval Urban Europe”, edited by Amélia Aguiar Andrade and Gonçalo Melo da Silva (Lisbon, 2026).

The volume brings together research developed in connection with the X Jornadas Internacionais de Idade Média, held in Castelo de Vide, Portugal, from 2 to 4 October 2025.

During the conference, Maria Alessandra Bilotta, Principal Investigator and Coordinator of IUS ILLUMINATUM, organised the thematic session “A memória iluminada: manuscritos jurídicos e identidade urbana medieval”, chaired by Maria João Branco, which brought together three scholars associated with our research team.

📜 Maria Alessandra Bilotta (Principal Investigator and Coordinator of IUS ILLUMINATUM)
“Shaping Urban Memory around the Jubilee of 1350: Caritas, Classical Legacy, and Christian Devotion in Three Illuminated Manuscripts”

An exploration of how three illuminated manuscripts contributed to preserving and shaping the memory of medieval Rome around the Jubilee of 1350, through institutional charity, classical heritage, Christian devotion, and civic identity.

📜 Maria Alessandra Panzanelli Fratoni (Member of the IUS ILLUMINATUM Scientific Committee)
“City Statutes from Manuscript to Print. Studying the Transmission of Texts and Decorative Apparatuses through IVS Commune online”

A study of the transmission of medieval city statutes from manuscript to print, focusing on the statutes of Perugia and the potential of digital humanities for investigating legal texts and their decorative apparatuses.

📜 Camilla Marangoni (Member of the IUS ILLUMINATUM Research Team)
“The Statutes of Turin (1360) and Their Images: Civic Identity and Legal Iconography in the IVS Commune online Database”

An analysis of the illuminated statutes of Turin, exploring the relationships between legal iconography, civic identity, political authority, and the visual representation of power.

✨ These three contributions offer complementary perspectives on the role of illuminated manuscripts, legal texts, and visual culture in constructing, preserving, and transmitting urban memory in medieval Europe.

Their publication also highlights the scholarly exchanges fostered by the thematic session organised within the framework of IUS ILLUMINATUM’s research activities, reflecting the team’s commitment to advancing interdisciplinary research on medieval manuscripts and their historical, artistic, and cultural contexts.

📖 The complete volume is available in open access:

https://research.unl.pt/ws/portalfiles/portal/175835199/2026_Mem_rias.pdf

Instituto de Estudos Medievais Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - NOVA FCSH

17/10/2026

📜✨ IUS ILLUMINATUM at the Instituto de Estudos Medievais – NOVA FCSH!

On 16 October 2026, Ángel Fuentes Ortiz and María Teresa Chicote Pompanin, both members of the IUS ILLUMINATUM research team and Assistant Professors of Art History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, delivered a lecture as part of the IEM Conference Series at NOVA FCSH in Lisbon.

Their lecture, “Evocar el pasado, construir el presente: pervivencia, reempleo y resignificación de la cultura visual medieval entre los siglos XV y XVIII”, explored the fascinating ways in which medieval artistic heritage was preserved, reused, transformed, and reinterpreted during the early modern period.

Drawing particularly on the Cathedral of Cuenca, the speakers examined how medieval images, objects, and architectural spaces acquired new meanings and contributed to the construction of historical memory, identities, and discourses of power and legitimacy.

The lecture presented research developed within MIDLE – Memoria, Identidades, Legitimación y Evocaciones: el reempleo de la cultura visual medieval en Castilla (siglos XIV–XVI), a research project co-directed by Ángel Fuentes Ortiz and María Teresa Chicote Pompanin and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

✨ A wonderful opportunity to highlight the research of two IUS ILLUMINATUM members and their contribution to the study of medieval visual culture, artistic heritage, and the enduring presence of the Middle Ages in later centuries.

Instituto de Estudos Medievais Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - NOVA FCSH

30/09/2026

21/09/2026

📜✨ IUS ILLUMINATUM at the opening of the exhibition “Sorella Arte. San Francesco tra Medioevo e Contemporaneo”

On 17 September 2026, the Museo d’Arte Lercaro in Bologna inaugurated the exhibition Sorella Arte. San Francesco tra Medioevo e Contemporaneo, curated by Mark D’Apuzzo, Pasquale Fameli, Giovanni Gardini and Fabio Massaccesi. The exhibition forms part of the initiatives marking the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi and develops a dialogue between medieval and contemporary art.

Among the curators is Fabio Massaccesi, member of the IUS ILLUMINATUM research team. The opening also brought together Gianluca del Monaco, member of IUS ILLUMINATUM, and Massimo Medica, member of the IUS ILLUMINATUM Scientific Committee.

A particularly meaningful occasion for our research team, bringing together scholars whose work explores medieval art, visual culture, and the transmission and interpretation of medieval artistic heritage.

The exhibition project unfolds across two complementary venues in Bologna, the Museo d’Arte Lercaro and the Museo Civico Medievale, and will remain open until 17 January 2027.

Museo d'arte Lercaro

18/09/2026

📚✨ IUS ILLUMINATUM at the International Conference “Arte, autorità e consenso nel Medioevo”

From 15 to 17 September 2026, the international conference “Arte, autorità e consenso nel Medioevo. Immagini, spazi, pratiche” brought together scholars working on medieval art, visual culture, authority, and the construction of consensus. The conference opened at the Università degli Studi di Pavia, with subsequent sessions at the Collegio Borromeo in Pavia and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan.

IUS ILLUMINATUM was represented in the opening session, “I modelli del prestigio e del potere”, by Gianluca del Monaco and Fabio Massaccesi, both members of the IUS ILLUMINATUM research team. The session was chaired by Fabio Coden, member of the Scientific Committee of IUS ILLUMINATUM.

Gianluca del Monaco presented “Regnum e sacerdotium: le prime raffigurazioni dei due poteri supremi nei manoscritti miniati del Decretum Gratiani”, while Fabio Massaccesi spoke on “Mortariensi e Portuensi nella contesa tra Giovanni XXII e Ludovico il Bavaro. Spazi e forme della legittimazione pontificia”.

✨ A stimulating occasion for scholarly exchange on the visual languages of authority and power in medieval society, and a particularly meaningful presence for IUS ILLUMINATUM.

Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera Università degli studi di Pavia

12/09/2026

📸 A few moments from last Thursday’s “Dialoghi di Hipácia” at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona.

Maria Alessandra Bilotta, Principal Investigator and Coordinator of IUS ILLUMINATUM, presented some of the latest results of her research on the mobility and circulation of illuminated legal manuscripts between Italy, France and Portugal in the Middle Ages. 📜

The evening also marked the signing of the collaboration protocol between the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona and Hipácia – Associação dos Investigadores Italianos em Portugal.

A memorable occasion for research, exchange, and scholarly dialogue. ✨

Instituto de Estudos Medievais 90 Segundos de Ciência

09/09/2026

📜 We are pleased to share the ANSA.it feature on tomorrow’s “Dialoghi di Hipácia” at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona, featuring Maria Alessandra Bilotta, Principal Investigator and Coordinator of IUS ILLUMINATUM.

✨ Looking forward to tomorrow’s event!

Il quinto incontro dei 'Dialoghi di Hipácia. Scienze e ricerca a confronto' si terrà domani alle 18.30 all'Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona. (ANSA)

09/09/2026

✨ IUS ILLUMINATUM at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona

Tomorrow, Maria Alessandra Bilotta, Principal Investigator and Coordinator of IUS ILLUMINATUM, will open the new season of the “Dialoghi di Hipácia” at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona.

Her lecture, “Ricostruire le rotte del diritto nel Medioevo: mobilità e circolazione dei manoscritti giuridici miniati tra Italia, Francia e Portogallo”, will explore the mobility and circulation of illuminated legal manuscripts between Italy, France and Portugal during the Middle Ages. 📜

The event will also mark the signing of a collaboration protocol between the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona and Hipácia - Associazione Ricercatori Italiani in Portogallo.

A significant occasion for research, exchange, and scholarly dialogue. ✨

Instituto de Estudos Medievais