On 3 July, at 11:00, online (via MS Teams), another session of the Forum organised by the IEM Research Group Images, Texts and Representations (ITR) will take place. This session will feature a lecture by researcher Helena Besteiro Freire (Visiting Scholar), PhD candidate in Art History at the University of Santiago de Compostela, entitled Weavers of Networks: Female Agency, Materiality and Transculturality.

Abstract

This presentation will address the study of networks of contact and transcultural exchange, forged on the basis of family, political, and clientelistic ties, and supported by late medieval female figures. To this end, it seeks to trace the threads operating within these networks, exploring the position and role played by queens, princesses, and other noblewomen, with the aim of understanding how people, objects, and ideas circulated through the communication channels established between different spaces. The objective is to reflect on the role of women as cultural vectors, as well as on the meanings acquired by objects as instruments of promotion, memory, and female identity.

Biographical note

Helena Besteiro Freire holds a BA in History from the University of Santiago de Compostela and a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies: Images, Texts and Contexts from the same university. She is currently the holder of a predoctoral research contract under the Programme for Predoctoral Research Staff Grants associated with Knowledge Generation Projects 2022 (continuation of the FPI-2023 subprogramme), within the project Illuminated Books and Libraries in Renaissance Europe: the Marquis of Santillana and his Cultural Project (LIBREUR-MQS), at the Department of Art History of the University of Santiago de Compostela.