My interest in medieval images of the Virgin Mary began with the Annunciation of the Virgin. During my doctoral studies I had the opportunity to take a course in Italian art history at the Istituto Svedese in Rome — truly a feast for any art historian since we could visit and study art and architecture in a Grand Tour fashion. But there is also a risk of overload, particularly in the churches of Rome that are heavily decorated from floor to roof with visual propaganda. To focus on one particular motif was not just a strategy of orientation in the various narratives present in the churches, it was also a matter of survival from the risks of a Stendahl-syndrome (something that might happen to tourists of Florence when over-exposed to the marvelous art collections - basically a nervous breakdown). At first I tried to use the Madonna of Mercy, but that figure was not depicted as much as the Annunciation and the variation in the last motif was stunning. The Virgin got different looks, positions and activities by artists from different periods and places. Her gaze was directed to the viewer, to other characters in the images or to nothing at all, and the holy spirit in the shape of the dove flew towards different parts of her body. Could close readings of different Annunciations bring new understandings to views on women in different eras and geographical boundaries? Back in Sweden I started to take photos of the Annunciation from different periods and it struck me how some of these were different from the ones I saw in Italy, or just plain strange. Like the above from Bro church on the island of Gotland, where the angel Gabriel seems to actually touch the Virgin and with an almost arrogant face. I started to read and realized that the Annunciation is quite a challenge for the artists since the story in the Bible records a scene where the Virgin does not see Gabriel, the dialogue between the angel and the Virgin is silent with the exception of the Virgin's positive answer and the miracle itself - the Incarnation - is invisible. Now this motif is part of a wider research project I am involved in on the depictions of the Virgin, but I want to recommend Mia Åkestam's brilliant thesis on Swedish medieval Annunciations Bebådelsebilder. Om bildbruk under medeltiden [The Annunciation. On the use of imagery during the Middle Ages] from 2010. She presents the Annuciation in a historical context, does close iconographic readings and explains how the images were used rhetorically.

Thinking about sustainability is required by my employer both in research and education. Important, but for some reason it sometimes feels as a difficult task being an art historian - at least if focussing on content (I can of course use less resources and travel more environmental etc.). The structure of the courses are by tradition chronological, but a strand of environmental themes could be highlighted in more contemporary art alongside the already existing perspectives like gender and post-colonialism. That would in fact not be hard at all since artists expresses these issues in their works as part of a continuing debate. One example of this I can see everyday at work, Atti Johansson's Hot om liv (Threat of life) from the 1970s. It is a contribution to the debate on the use of poison in forestry at the time. In short - I have no excuse not trying to include more thoughts on sustainability in my work.

This past week I have been thinking a lot of reproductions of art works. In many ways my work would not be possible without them (even though the thought of traveling to important collections around the world with students is tempting). Research is also a lot easier with reproductions, but you cannot leave the actual objects out completely since you would miss out too much of important context. To think of the impact of technical reproductions is of course not new at all, to use copies has always been the basis of art historical education, but the reason I am giving it attention is the variety of different digital possibilities that are available today. My own digital photos that can be enlarged and make me come closer than I can do in situ (so I can discover details like all the colors in the illustration above), and online digital platforms with large collections of really good quality images are just two simple but meaningful examples. When I was a student of art history most of the illustrations in the books we read were black and white photos, just a few were selected to be printed in color. It was during lectures we saw color reproductions of art works and through slides available for students when studying to an exam. I turned out an ok art historian during these conditions, but how can I make optimal use of the possibilities available today for my students? That is the exciting question.

During the weekend I have been in contact with public art in different ways. On Saturday I guided a walk to ten artworks in public places in Umeå (an arrangement of Umeå public library). It is actually an honor to do this since it creates discussions of art in general, why we have public art and what these artworks do to the places we visit, use or just pass by. People attending usually gets a new experience of their home town and may look at art differently afterwards. See new relations between art and space, how this can interact and perhaps make us revalue a situation. 

Yesterday I was in a car between Bjurholm and Vännäs when this amazing sculpture appeared. It is by the artist Kent Karlsson and is called Hägring (Mirage), and because of the speed you travel in it truly becomes like its title. You're not really sure that it was for real. Last time I saw it was on a bus travelling to Östersund in the middle of February and everything surrounding it was bright white. Now all the colors of the early autumn reflected on its surface — so amazing! 

What is this? Well, this might serve as a some kind of illustration of what is on my mind right now. I am happily in the middle of an inter-diciplinary research project called Imitatio Mariae: Virgin Mary as a virtuous model in medieval Sweden, hence the blog title. Besides dwelling into a medieval past I have started to explore the digital possibilities in expanding my (and others) knowledge of art historic material. This is part of that investigation but also a place for me to generally discuss art - one of my great passions.