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The biblical Creator and the chaos waters (detail), illustration accompanying Psalm 104, 9th century, Stuttgart Psalter, Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart

Aquatic Chaos: Images of Cosmic Disorder in Medieval Art

Center Research Talks

  • Thursday, April 20, 2023
  • 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
  • West Building Lecture Hall
  • Talks
  • Hybrid
  • Registration Required

Join an in-depth presentation by Marius B. Hauknes, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, on how artists portrayed the concept of chaos through representations of waters, seas, and rivers in the medieval period.

In considering these images, Hauknes’ talk argues that such mythopoetic depictions pave the way for later representations of chaos as instruments for political, ethnic, and religious othering.