"Monuments as Palimpsests-An Art History Symposium"

Wesleyan’s Art History Program hosts an exciting two-day symposium
on architectural palimpsests, which opens with a keynote lecture by F. Barry
Flood on Friday evening and continues all day on Saturday, with twelve papers
delivered in four thematic sessions. Covering a wide range of geographical
areas and time periods—from ancient Pompeii and medieval Cairo to modern-day
Rwanda and post-9/11 New York—these lectures will be given by Wesleyan faculty
and alumni in the field, as well as distinguished scholars from other
institutions. The idea of “scraping again,” as suggested by the etymology of
the word “palimpsest” (from Greek palin psestos), lends itself especially well
to the interpretation of architectural monuments. These are by their very
nature often modified significantly over time, leaving them to display a
complex layering of forms and a sedimentation of meanings related to different
periods in their ongoing lives. Some of the questions asked at the symposium
will be: How do art and architectural historians deal with the layered nature
of the buildings they study? Do they privilege one historical episode in their
long lives or consider them in their contemporary totality? How do they
separate the layers, read what has been erased and re-written, and tackle the
historically hybrid nature of what stands before them today? How does stylistic
layering square with the restoration of monuments, both historically and in
contemporary practice?