Colloque international: “Sensing Divinity: Incense, Religion and the Ancient Sensorium”, Rome, 23-24 Juin 2017

Colloque international organisé par Mark Bradley (University of Nottingham), Béatrice Caseau (Paris IV), Adeline Grand-Clément (Toulouse Jean-Jaurès/IUF), Anne-Caroline Rendu-Loisel (Toulouse Jean Jaurès), Alexandre Vincent (University of Poitiers)

Lieu: British School in Rome (23 Juin) et l’Ecole française de Rome (24 juin)

Inscription préalable (avant le 14 Juin 2017) sur le site Eventbrite

This conference will explore the history of a medium that has occupied a pivotal role in Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman and Judeo-Christian religious tradition: incense. According to Margaret E. Kenna in her provocative 2005 article ‘Why does incense smell religious?’, this aromatic substance became a diagnostic feature of Greek orthodoxy during the Byzantine period, but it is clear that incense was also extensively used in the rituals of earlier polytheistic societies to honour the gods. Fragrant smoke drifting up towards the heavens emblematized the communication that was established between the mortal and the immortal realms, which in turn contributed to the sensory landscape of the sanctuary.

sensing-divinity-programme