Ruth’s paper, “Analyzing the Torah Shield: Understanding the Abundance of Animal Imagery through the Zohar,” aims to explain the unusual presence of abundant animal imagery on a Boston MFA Torah shield through the relevance of the Zohar.  The proliferation of mystic piety and use of animal imagery within the religious practices of these eighteenth-century Polish-Lithuanian Jewish communities speaks to the creation of a cultural climate where the symbols on the Torah shield can be interpreted as meaningful and fitting. Vivian’s paper, “Royal Family Feud: Cordelia Parting from her Sisters as a Pre-Raphaelite Social Commentary,” delves into Ford Madox Brown’s 1854 painting Cordelia Parting from her Sisters, now housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art. A visual interpretation of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, the painting serves as a critical commentary on the societal and moral landscapes of 1850s England. Maddy’s paper, “The Adoption of Aesthetics: Borrowing Byzantium and Looking West in the Russian Romanesque,” seeks to address and expand the notion of amalgamation between the Byzantine and European tradition in Slavic architecture during the 12th century. In doing so, the study the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl’s unique construction, distinct materiality, and decorative program sheds light on the complex interrelationship between political power and viewership of this monumental architecture in the 12th century between Rus, Byzantium, and the West.

The conference will be held from April 11th-14th via Zoom.