Spring school « Introduction to Sphragistic Sources between Antiquity and the Middle Ages »

Introduction to Sphragistic Sources between Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Sources, Methods, and Tools

The workshop aims to introduce doctoral students and early career researchers to the study of sphragistic sour ces, through the analysis of two categories of materials that are not commonly associated with each other, re presenting respectively matrices and impressions. On the one hand, the signacula—or so-called “bread-stamps”— stamps in metal, wood, or stone used to make direct im pression on soft materials or with pigments; and on the other hand, lead seals, used to mark goods and documents.

The objective is to provide an initiation into the types of sources, their informational potential, the problems and methodological approaches used in their study, from an interdisciplinary and long-term perspective bridging An tiquity and the Middle Ages, archaeology and archival studies, materiality and representation, classification and interpretation techniques, and the use of digital tools.

The program includes theoretical lectures, practical exer cises, group discussions, and a guided tour of the Vati can Museums and the Vatican Apostolic Library, with particular attention to the conservation of materials.

ORGANISATION

Lucia Maria Orlandi, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow at École française de Rome

Download the program →
 

More information about the MSCA SIGN‑IT project →

Illustration: PK 2919 = GDKE, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (EV 2015, 210 Nr. 93A), Ph.: Th. Zühmer