Stages of Life and Concepts of Time (Italy, 13th–15th Century)

Andrea von Hülsen-Esch (Richard Krautheimer Fellow)

Age(ing) as a period and phase of life is a basic biological condition of life and is simultaneously understood as socially and culturally constructed. Pictorial representations and artifacts belong to a treasure trove of forms that have entered our collective memory in a culturally specific way and that shape our current ideas of age(ing). A cursory compilation of depictions of old age in illuminated manuscripts up to the 15th century suggests that the choice and form of depiction of certain divisions of old age – into three, four, six, seven, or ten sections – was made in connection with specific themes. Taking the Book of Hours of Francesco da Barberino (Padua, 1304–1309) as a starting point for a broader inquiry into Italian illuminated manuscripts from the 13th to the 15th centuries, this project will investigate how the number of different ages is determined in the pictorial representation, which rhythms and concepts of time are associated with it, and in what way gender-specific constructions of ages correspond to the social constructions of medieval society.