The Society for Emblem Studies

Call for Papers

CfP: International Conference on The Frescoes in “Under Fortuna”: Sources and Background

Call for Papers


The „Under Fortuna” is a cellar in a house adjoining the once principal square in the city of Lublin (Poland). The sources for the frescoes covering its walls and vault have only been discovered recently. The recent study did not answer the pending questions. On the contrary. New perspectives have been opened concerning dating of the decoration, the mural’s patron, the function of the interior and the meaning of the iconographic program inside. Thy all require rewriting the history of „Under Fortuna”. Awareness of multiple relations linking the visual and text content of the frescoes with external contexts puts forward a demand that this historic interior should be cast against a wide background of the European history and culture. The subjects of libri emblematum, alba amicorum and peregrinatio academica are just a few of those which can be considered while studying the murals in the interior under the house of one of the most prominent families in Lublin.

To foster future research aiming to define the role of „Under Fortuna” in the history and
culture of Lublin as well as to cast it against the background of European culture, it has
been decided to hold an interdisciplinary, international conference. Its scope is defined by the following research fields:

  • artistic sources of the murals of „Under Fortuna” (Emblemata Saecularia, artistic oeuvre of brothers de Bry and Heinrich Ulrich);
  • iconography of the murals in „Under Fortuna”;
  • floral ornamentation in „Under Fortuna” – sources and significance;
  • relations between libri emblematum and applied emblematics (16th and 17th c.);
  • alba amicorum and libri emblematum – overlapping genres (16th and 17th c.);
  • Lublin city authorities – late 16th and 17th c.;
  • relations between townspeople and the nobility in 17th c. Lublin;
  • reception of emblems in Lublin and other cities of 16th and 17th c. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth;
  • peregrinatio academica – education of Lublin townsmen at the turn of 16th c.;
  • the Lubomelski’s house in Lublin – historical and archaeological sources;
  • Emblemata Saecularia – the meeting place for Latin and vernaculars;
  • typography, epigraphy and iconography – building applied emblematics in 16th and 17th c.;
  • text and image relations in 16th and 17th c.;
  • conservation and restoration of the murals in „Under Fortuna”.
    We invite researchers to submit paper proposals for 20 min. lectures complying with the above mentioned research fields. The organizers will give priority to papers which directly refer to the murals in „Under Fortuna” or the historic function of the interior as well as its cultural and historical background including references to the oeuvre of Johann Theodor de Bry, Johann Israel de Bry, Heinrich Ulrich and Cornelis Schonaeus.

    The conference will be held in Polish and in English. During the event the participants will be offered simultaneous interpretation of the content in the two languages. We invite you to submit English abstracts of max. 2000 characters. Please attach a short CV with your email and postal address, information about your current employment and the fields of your research. When introducing your proposal please choose from the research fields mentioned above. To send your abstracts or in case of questions regarding the conference, please contact

    fortuna2020lublin@gmail.com
    Submission deadline for abstracts is January 31, 2020.

    The authors will be informed about the decisions regarding their abstracts by March 30, 2020.

    The deadline for the final papers is September 30, 2020.

    It is our intent to provide the paper contributors with room and board for the time of the conference. Accepted papers are planned to be published in the Annals of Arts of the Catholic University of Lublin [www.czasopisma.tnkul.pl/index.php/rh].

    Additional information:
    www.teatrnn.pl/piwnica-fortuna/en – about „Under Fortuna”
    www .teatrnn.pl/files/websites/piwnica-fortuna/Fortuna_Tabularium_Historiae.pdf – recent
    research (in Polish with an extensive English abstract)
    www.kul.academia.edu/LukaszKonopa – more information about current research, visual
    content related to „Under Fortuna”

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