Art and Crisis: Transnational and Interconfessional Translation Processes in the Visual Arts and Architecture in Great Britain (1603-1750)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Christina Strunck
• Subject Area: Art History
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 405202528

In the period between 1603 and 1750 Great Britain experienced a series of crises, which –just as with Brexit today– challenged the nation to confront itself with questions about national identity. Against the background of numerous wars with European powers, artistic competition between Great Britain and the continent had strong political overtones. In addition, the period was characterized by fierce confessional conflicts. The research project, funded by the DFG since 2018, analyses how political and confessional conflicts were addressed in British art and architecture with reference to continental European models.As the applicant has dealt with issues related to the visual arts in the first part of the project, she would like to complete this work in the second period of the priority programme (SPP) by conducting a study of British architectural policy. This research addresses the search for a national style in British architecture, both sacred and profane, while the accompanying dissertation project undertakes a study of the construction of the early Stuart monarchs’ identity in the theatrical spectacles designed by court architect Inigo Jones (with particular reference to national and colonial self-image, representation of non-European cultures and gender roles). Each subproject will result in a monograph. The goal of the project is to provide a new understanding of three types of translation processes. Firstly, both subprojects study the translation into English of European architectural treatises and costume books and the underlying motivations of such transfers as expressed in the paratexts. Secondly, both subprojects are concerned with the reception of continental works of art and architecture in Great Britain and the specific changes and distinctions that can be observed in their translation into a British context. Thirdly, both subprojects examine the translation of political and confessional messages into a visual language and demonstrate the extent to which this process was guided by the rules of ancient rhetoric. The applicability of the concept of translation in the visual arts and architecture will also be the subject of the applicant’s chapter in the planned SPP handbook.Both subprojects will contribute to current debates on translation cultures of the early modern period by focusing on two areas the SPP has not yet addressed: architecture and theatre. Furthermore, each subproject can bring individual focal points into the work of the SPP. The dissertation project focuses on the aspects of gender and diversity, while the applicant's project encompasses the whole so-called “Baroque age” and is therefore particularly relevant to the analysis of the period concept proposed by the SPP.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 2130: Cultures of Translation in Early Modern Times