Complutense University of Madrid

Faculty Member, Historia del Arte (Medieval)

Ramón y Cajal Professor

About

PhD. Harvard University, 2002

Francisco Prado-Vilar is Ramón y Cajal Professor in the History of Art at the Complutense University in Madrid and co-director of the International Scientific Committee supervising the project of restoration and preventive conservation of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. He also leads the international research project “HA2010-20357: Spanish Art and European Culture: Classical Heritage and Impact on the Discourses of Modernity,” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The other senior scholars participating in this project are Herbert L. Kessler (Johns Hopkins University), Leonard Barkan (Princeton University), and Jas Elsner (Oxford University). The first public symposium of the project, titled "Perpetual Contemporariness: Reflections on Time and Survival in the History of Art," will be held at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid in June 8-9, 2012.

He is especially interested in exploring thematic and theoretical issues across different historical periods and cultural milieux, in the imbrications between art and literature (particularly ‘ekphrasis’), as well as the role of medieval and early modern cultures in the context of modernity. His research and publications focus on diverse aspects of the arts and cultures of Europe, covering topics of wide chronological, thematic, and methodological range: the discourse of the gift in Islamic Spain, and the social and political significance of courtly portable objects as agents of diplomatic and cultural exchange in the Medieval Mediterranean; the survival of classical art and culture in the Middle Ages and its thematic and formal influence in Romanesque sculpture; the intercultural relations among Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Gothic period; the interface between private suffering, devotional painting and national trauma in early modern Spain; the interconnections between medievalism and modernity in the context of the artistic and literary avant-garde of the 1930’s in France and Spain, etc.

He is the curator of "The Virtual Portico", an exhibition produced by the Barrié Foundation showcasing the project of restoration of the Pórtico de la Gloria (Portal of Glory) of the Cathedral of Santiago, in which the latest in information and communication technology opens up new perspectives in the fields of Heritage education, awareness-raising and the didactics of art history. It opened in Santiago de Compostela, where it has its permanent venue, in August 2010, and has also traveled to Berlin (Cervantes Institute, June 2011) and Palmela (Portugal). New international venues are scheduled for 2012, including the Cervantes Institute in Dublin, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Conde Duque Cultural Centre in Madrid.
The exhibition features several state-of-the-art audio-visual resources:
- The video documentary "Iacobus: Sea, Stone, Spirit" (written and directed by F. Prado-Vilar) which explains the historical origin of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, the construction of the Romanesque cathedral, and its art historical significance.
- A 20-minute documentary showing the Portico de la Gloria in 3D as a way to visualize a “digital ekphrasis” written by F. Prado-Vilar.
- A display of large-scale photographs of the Portico de la Gloria showing aspects of the restoration.

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