Dear colleagues,

We cordially invite you to the second lecture of the StředověC JinaX series this semester, entitled Successful Integration? The Golden Hen with Chicks in Monza. Eva Abelová will tell us about this extraordinary artifact of the early Middle Ages.

Stories about the meeting of different cultures have always permeated history and will probably never cease to be topical. One such story could be that of an unusual piece of goldsmithery – a golden hen with chicks, preserved in the treasury of the basilica in the northern Italian city of Monza.  

In this lecture I will introduce this artefact and, using it as a case study, I will address the question of the meeting of different visual languages in a single artwork. I will also highlight the thought process behind its creation, influenced by a “barbarian” queen who was not only aware of the power of visual culture, but also of the importance of cross-cultural exchange.  

We will meet on Thursday 17 October at 7 pm in the Hans Belting Library at Veveří. The lecture will be streamed on our YouTube channel.

The lecture is part of the Kontexty humanity project of energeia o.p.s.