Perceptions of Aging and Old Age: Thresholds and Life-Cycles

Images of old age and aging determine how we handle demographic change. This conference will explore how the stages of the life cycle have been construed throughout history in order to consciously recognise the stereotypes that emanate from these age categories. 

human bodies, different ages,

Image: Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Hans Baldung, Die sieben Lebensalter des Weibes

Reflections on aging in the arts, medical texts, historical sources and literature reveal concepts of age, societal expectations, and stereotypical notions which determine how individuals approach late life, but also how these cultural assumptions of age-appropriate behavior can be subverted, changed, and expanded. By looking at socio-biological thresholds and analyzing how fluctuating models of the stages of human life have circulated in different time periods, our goal is to assess recurring patterns and continuities, new forms of expression and changes as well as complexities that provide a framework through which cultural constructions of age(ing) may be analyzed and understood. Thus the conference seeks to enrich the ongoing discussion on age and aging with new perspectives.

Conference programme

Scientific Organization: Prof. Dr. Andrea von Hülsen-Esch (Krautheimer-fellow, University of Duesseldorf, Germany) and Dr. Laura Cayrol-Bernardo (University of Bergen, Norway). Biblioteca Hertziana, Max Planck Institut für Kunstgeschichte in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute in Rome. 

The venues for the conference:

Tuesday 28 March
Venue: Biblioteca Hertziana, Villino Stroganoff in Via Gregoriana 22, 00187 Rome. Online participation: Vimeo https://vimeo.com/event/2092675
Contact person at the Hertziana: rossi@biblhertz.it

Wednesday 29 March
Venue: The Norwegian Institute in Rome in Viale Trenta Aprile 33, 00153 Rome. Online partipation via zoom: https://uio.zoom.us/s/65576716260
Contact person at The Norwegian Institute in Rome: Prof. Kristin Bliksrud Aavitsland 

Tags: Art History, Demography, History
Published Feb. 14, 2023 1:36 PM - Last modified Feb. 20, 2023 11:22 AM