Profile

Biography

MA (Courtauld Institute of Art), PhD (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Hanna Vorholt's research into medieval art and visual culture focuses especially on illuminated manuscripts, and the representation of Jerusalem in the medieval West. Before joining the Department as an Anniversary Research Lecturer in 2012, she held positions or fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for History, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University Library, the British Library, and the Warburg Institute.

Departmental roles

Director of the Medieval Art and Medievalisms Research Cluster  

Research

Overview

• Illuminated manuscripts and the early history of the book
• Jerusalem in Western medieval art and architecture
• Romanesque art and its cultural and intellectual contexts
• Medieval encyclopaedias, maps and diagrams
• Iconicity of script and notation

Hanna's research investigates how ideas are transmitted through visual and material artefacts. Her book Shaping Knowledge presents the first monograph on the transmission of the Liber Floridus, created in the early twelfth century by Lambert of Saint-Omer. It offers new evidence regarding the history of this encyclopedic compilation and our understanding of the mechanisms which inform the way knowledge is produced, recorded and transformed. Her co-edited books Imagining Jerusalem in the Medieval West, Visual Constructs of Jerusalem and Between Jerusalem and Europe are concerned with Jerusalem in its relationship to Western medieval imagination, art and architecture. 

Projects

Hanna is currently continuing her research on the Liber Floridus transmission, is completing a book-length study of Western medieval maps of Jerusalem, and is engaged in preparing a project on typology in twelfth-century art. 

Research group(s)

Centre for Medieval Studies

Collaborators

Hanna collaborates in the ERC-funded project Visual Translations of Jerusalem. She was Co-Investigator in the AHRC-funded research project The Production and Reading of Music Sources (Bangor University, Manchester University, King’s College London, Warburg Institute), and co-curated the digital resource John Neuton and the Re-foundation of York Minster Library.

Supervision

Hanna welcomes enquiries from students wanting to undertake research in related areas.

In Progress

• Claudia Jung, 'Visual translations of Jerusalem in the Early Modern Netherlands' (ERC-funded, co-supervision with Dr Jeanne Nuechterlein)
• Elizabeth Wright, 'The Representation of the Book in the Visual and Textual Culture of Anglo-Saxon England' (Wolfson Scholarship, co-supervision with Prof. Elizabeth Tyler)
• Cher Casey, 'Sacred skulls, textiles, and medieval veneration: Exploring the Holy Head reliquaries of Cologne' (following Dr Emanuele Lugli, co-supervision with Prof. Jane Hawkes)
• Blair Apgar, 'Romanesque Architecture in Lombardy' (following Dr Emanuele Lugli, co-supervision with Prof. Amanda Lillie)

Completed

• Eleanor Jackson, To hold infinity in the palm of your hand: the Insular pocket gospel books re-evaluated (AHRC-funded, co-supervised with Dr Jane Hawkes)

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Jerusalem in Western Medieval Art and Architecture
• Illuminating the Bible

Postgraduate

• Corpus Christi
• Mapping the World, 1100-1300

Publications

Selected publications

• 'The Apocalypse and Representations of Time in the Liber Floridus Manuscripts' [manuscript in preparation for Time and Science in the Liber Floridus of Lambert of Saint-Omer, ed. Patrizia Carmassi]
• 'The Local, Regional, and Universal in Knowledge Compilations: Observations on the Codex Aldenburgensis' [manuscript submitted for Early Modern "Cultural Encyclopaedias" Defining a Genre and its Agency from a Transcultural Perspective,eds Anna Boroffka and Margit Kern]
• 'The Ruled Line and the Drawn Line in Medieval Maps', in Charlotte Denoël and Francesco Siri (eds), France et Angleterre : manuscrits médiévaux entre 700 et 1200 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019), in print 
• Shaping Knowledge: The Transmission of the Liber Floridus [= Warburg Institute Studies and Texts 6], London, 2017
• '"Das was ich als Jude vertrete kann ich auch in England oder Frankreich sein". A letter by Gertrud Bing to Hanns Swarzenski of May 1933', in Uwe Fleckner and Peter Mack (eds), The Afterlife of the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg. The Emigration and the Early Years of the Warburg Institute in London (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2015), pp. 23-37 and 202-208
• Between Jerusalem and Europe: Essays in Honour of Bianca Kühnel [= Visualising the Middle Ages 11] (Leiden, 2015), ed. with Renana Bartal    
• Journal of the Alamire Foundation 6.2 (2014) and 7.1 (2015), guest ed. with Thomas Schmidt
• Visual Constructs of Jerusalem [= Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 18] (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014), ed. with Bianca Kühnel and Galit Noga-Banai
• 'Wissenstransfer und Erkenntnisprozesse in einer enyzklopädischen Sammelhandschrift aus dem Umfeld der Universität Leuven', in Eckart Conrad Lutz, Vera Jerjen and Christine Putzo (eds), Diagramm und Text. Diagrammatische Strukturen und die Dynamisierung von Wissen und Erfahrung (Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2014), pp. 95-121 and figs 38-46
• 'Herrschaft über Jerusalem und die Kartographie der Heiligen Stadt', in: Ingrid Baumgärtner and Martina Stercken (eds), Politische Kartographie des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit (Zürich: Chronos, 2012), pp. 211-228
• 'Gregor Reisch, Margarita Philosophica', in Christoph Pressler and Karen Attar (eds), Treasures of Senate House Library (London: Scala, 2012)
• 'Studying with Maps: Jerusalem and the Holy Land in Two Thirteenth-Century Manuscripts', in: Lucy Donkin and Hanna Vorholt (eds), Imagining Jerusalem in the Medieval West [= Proceedings of the British Academy 175] (Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 163-200
• Imagining Jerusalem in the Medieval West [= Proceedings of the British Academy 175] (Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2012), ed. with Lucy Donkin
• Cat. nos 12, 13, 14, 16, 64, 274, 279, 363 and 364, in: Nigel Morgan, Stella Panayotova, Suzanne Reynolds, Illuminated Manuscripts in Cambridge: A Catalogue of Western Book Illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges, 2, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, 2 vols (London: Harvey Miller, 2011)
• Cat. nos 45, 47, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 65, 67, 68, 78, 80, 81, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 95, 97, 99, 105, 106, 108, 110, 123, 126, 130, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 144 and 150, in: Nigel Morgan, and Stella Panayotova, with the assistance of Martinie Meuwese, Elizabeth New, Suzanne Reynolds, Hanna Vorholt, and Andrea Worm, Illuminated Manuscripts in Cambridge: A Catalogue of Western Book Illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges, 1, The Frankish Kingdoms, Northern Netherlands, Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Austria, the Meuse region, Southern Netherlands, 2 vols (London: Harvey Miller, 2009)
• 'Touching the Tomb of Christ: Notes on a Twelfth-Century Map of Jerusalem from Winchcombe, Gloucestershire', in: Imago Mundi 61/2 (2009), pp. 244-55
• 'Mise-en-page in choirbooks, ca. 1450-1550', in: Gazette du livre médiéval 55 (2009), pp. 31-42, co-authored with Thomas Schmidt
• 'Bildlichkeit und politische Legitimation im Vorfeld des Irakkriegs 2003', in: Bildwelten des Wissens. Kunsthistorisches Jahrbuch für Bildkritik 2,1 (2004), pp. 29-40, co-authored with Stefan Schweizer 
• 'Der "Guernica Cover-Up" vom Februar 2003. Verhüllung und Enthüllung zeitgenössischen Bildgebrauch', in: Historische Anthropologie 3 (2003), pp. 435-446, co-authored with Stefan Schweizer
• Die Neue Wache [= Berliner Ansichten 19] (Berlin 2001)
• 'Die Kunst technologischer Kulturerkundung – Stephan von Huene', in: Horst Bredekamp and Jochen Brüning(eds), Theatrum Naturae et Artis. Theater der Natur und Kunst. Wunderkammern des Wissens (Berlin 2000), vol. 1, pp. 236-241, vol. 2, cat. nos 1/10-11‌   ‌    ‌

External activities

Editorial duties

• Member of Editorial Board of York Medieval Press

Invited talks and conferences

• Apocalypse et représentations du temps dans les différentes versions du Liber Floridus, conference 'Temps et science dans le Liber Floridus de Lambert de Saint-Omer', Le Studium, Institute for Advanced Studies, Orléans (03/2019)
• Ruling and Illumination: Observations on Some Twelfth-Century Maps and Diagrams, conference 'France et Angleterre : manuscrits médiévaux entre 700 et 1200', Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (11/2018)
• Encyclopedic Compilations: The case of the Codex Aldenburgensis, conference 'Cultural Encyclopedias', University of Hamburg (10/2018)
• Strukturen der Heilsgeschichte: Der Kontext des Apokalypsezyklus im Liber Floridus, conference 'ZeitenWelten', University of Duisburg-Essen (04/2015)
• Performative Strategies in Image Placement: The Case of the Liber Floridus Manuscripts, invited lecture, University of Hamburg (01/2014)
• Being Jewish and being German: A letter from Gertrud Bing to Hanns Swarzenski of May 1933, conference ‘The Afterlife of the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek, Hamburg and London Traditions in the Development of the Warburg Institute: A Commemoration of the Migration in December 1933’, Warburg Haus, Hamburg/Warburg Institute, London (12/2013)
• Maps of Jerusalem and the Passion, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (07/2013)
• Composite Diagrams in Romanesque Art: the example of the Liber Floridus, conference ‘Maps and Diagrams’, Princeton (03/2013)
• Wissenstransfer und Erkenntnisprozesse in einer Liber Floridus-Bearbeitung des 15. Jahrhunderts aus dem Umfeld der Universität Leuven, conference 'Diagramm und Text', Fribourg (03/2012)
• The Jerusalem map in the Stuttgart Passional and its cartographic tradition, Minerva Gentner Symposium 'Jerusalem Elsewhere: The German Recensions', Wienhausen (10/2011)
• The iconocity of the page in Lambert of Saint-Omer’s Liber Floridus, GRIM conference 'Fréquence ou rareté des thèmes iconographiques: entre l'unicum et la série', Institut National d'Histoire de L'Art, Paris (03/2011)
• The map of Jerusalem in manuscripts of Paulinus Minorita's Chronologia Magna, conference 'Visual Constructs of Jerusalem', Hebrew University, Jerusalem (11/2010)
• The Liber Floridus diagrams in a 15th Century manuscript at Tongerlo, Medieval Work in Progress Seminar, Courtauld Institute of Art (11/2010)
• The construction of history through images in the Liber Floridus, BAA conference 'Romanesque and the Past: Retrospection in the Art and Architecture of Romanesque Europe, Courtauld Institute of Art, London (04/2010)
• Provenance and Dissemination of Medieval Maps of Jerusalem: Constructing and Deconstructing a Stemma, Maps and Society Series, Warburg Institute, London (03/2009)
• 'Hec sunt peregrinationes in sanctam terram'. Collating two early 13th century English Maps, conference 'Imagining Jerusalem in the Medieval West', University of Oxford (03/2009)
• Herrschaft über Jerusalem und die Kartographie der Heiligen Stadt', conference 'Herrschaft verorten. Politische Kartographie des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit', University of Zurich (01/2009)
• Between Genealogy and Morals: A miniature of Lambert of Saint-Omer in its Manuscript Setting, International Medieval Congress, Leeds (07/2008)
• An unpublished map of Jerusalem at the British Library: Observations on its place in the history of cartography, Cambridge Seminars in Medieval Art, University of Cambridge (11/2008)
• St Omer, the Liber Floridus and the Origin of the Circular Map of Jerusalem, 35th annual Saint Louis Conference on Manuscript Studies, St Louis (10/2008)
• Hand-held libraries: Encyclopedic compilations of Early Norman England, Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Cambridge University Library (05/2007)
• The Scales of Heaven: A 12th Century Treatise on the World Soul and the Harmony of the Spheres and its Transmission in the Copies of the Liber Floridus, Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference, Tours (07/2005), with Christian Leitmeir
• Remarks on the Foundation of the 'Kaiser-Wilhelm'Gesellschaft' in Berlin and on the Formation of the 'Three Sections' of its Scientific Council, conference 'Languages of Science', Humboldt University, Berlin (05/2004) 

International Conference Organisation  

• Political Dimensions of Visual Translations of Jerusalem (20-21 March 2015), held at the Humanities Research Centre, University of York, co-organised with Laura Slater
• Cathedral Libraries and Archives in the British Isles (2-4 July 2014), international conference held at York Minster Library and the King’s Manor, hosted by CMS and CREMS, in association with the Cathedral Libraries and Archives Network, co-organised with Brian Cummings, Linne Mooney and Bill Sherman
• Production and Reading of Music Sources (6-8 June 2013), held at the British Library and the Warburg Institute, co-organised with Thomas Schmidt
• Medieval Diagrams and Maps (9 March 2012), held at the Warburg Institute, co-organised with Alessandro Scafi
• Language of Science – Sprachen der Wissensgesellschaft (14-15 May 2004), held at the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt-University, Berlin, in association with the Max Planck Society

Teaching and Research Training

• Co-organiser of the AHRC- and COST-funded PhD training course Medieval Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age (MMSDA), a collaboration between the Institute of English Studies in the University of London, the University of Cambridge, King’s College London and the Warburg Institute (2008-2012)
• Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge (2011-2012)