Third Edition of the Annual International Conference on European Sculpture and Decorative Arts.

A combined effort of the Centre de Recherches Historiques sur les Maîtres Ébénistes and the Low Countries Sculpture Society, whose libraries and archives have merged and are housed in the Hôtel de la  Roche (1750) at Mons, the Annual International Conference had its inaugural edition in July 2025. This edition, dedicated to European gilt bronze, aims to address issues relating to all types of gilt bronze, from furniture ornaments to figurative sculpture in the round, via relief sculpture and fully functional works of art, like candelabra. 

The design and manufacture of gilt bronze has always been a complex and expensive process, requiring a wide range of skills and specialisms, whether it be the casting of brass, chasing and finishing, gilding or any other form of embellishment, or assembly methods. Disentangling these has proven to be particularly strenuous and few art historians, conservators and material technicians have attempted to study this field – a field that has often suffered from inappropriate methodologies taken from the world  of the history of painting or sculpture. All this despite the fact that a number of precursors paved the way to an enriched – or even holistic – approach to the subject, for  instance Jennifer Montagu’s Roman Baroque Sculpture, The Industry of Art and her subsequent works on  bronze and gilt bronze.

It is the present conference organizers’ belief that a proper history of European gilt bronze needs to be rooted both in extremely diligent archival research, combined with a deep knowledge of material practices. It is thus only the combined efforts of art historians and material scientists that can yield a truthful view of the design, production, consumption, collecting and display of gilt bronzes.

Their conference proposes to study cases that can shed light on this reality, throughout Europe and North America, from the Renaissance to the present day. Issues of design history, collaborations between creators and producers, artists and artisans, as well as the relations with any other people involved in the production of gilt bronze may be studied.  

The rich tradition of Parisian gilt bronze will be taken as a practical starting point during the excursion in Paris before the conference, while it is hoped that the conference itself will study the whole range of production centers in Europe and beyond. 

Committee

2027 Committee of Honor

• Dr Alan Darr, Detroit Institute of Art
• Dr Jennifer Montagu, The Warburg Institute, London
• Prof em Dr Hans Ottomeyer, München

2027 Scientific Committee

• Jean-Dominique Augarde, Centre de Recherches Historiques sur les Maîtres Ebénistes, Paris / Mons Christian Baulez, formerly Château de Versailles
• Rufus Bird, Rufus Bird Art Advisory
• Enrico Colle, Museo Stibbert, Firenze
• Dr Arlen Heginbotham, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
• Dr Robert van Langh, Drents Museum, Assen (NL)
• Dr Arie Pappot, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
• Luca Raschèr, Zürich
• Prof em Dr Volker Seiberth, University of Heidelberg / The Low Countries Sculpture Society

2027 Organizing Committee

• Lionel Arsac, Château de Versailles
• Dr Katia Berseneva, Ecole du Louvre, Paris
• Tobias Desmet, Gallery Desmet, Brussels
• Me Guillaume Hambye, notary, Mons
• Dr Léon Lock, The Low Countries Sculpture Society, Brussels / Mons
• Grégory Maugé, Centre de Recherches Historiques sur les Maîtres Ébénistes, Paris / Mons Sylvie Millasseau-Wengraf, art historian, Switzerland
• Thierry Naveaux, The Low Countries Sculpture Society, Brussels / Mons
• Dr Bertrand de Royere, Roma
• Renaud Serrette, Mobilier National, Paris
• Jenny Tondreau, Collegiate church of Sainte-Waudru, Mons

Publication

The conference will take place without an audience (apart from the speakers, moderators and a few  benefactors), but it will be filmed and broadcast live on YouTube for free, on their dedicated channel, The Low Countries Sculpture Society.

The conference proceedings will be published in 2028 in a new academic journal dedicated to European sculpture and decorative arts, based on the annual international conferences. 

Program as planned

Friday 9 July 2027

before 14.00 Individual travel to Paris
14.00-19.00 Optional excursion in Paris
20.00 Group dinner
Night in Paris 

Saturday 10 July 2027

10.00-17.00 Optional excursion in Paris
19.22-21.42 Paris Nord > Mons in OUIGO train
22.00 Welcome drink in Mons
Night in Mons 

Sunday 11 July 2027

9.30-17.00 Entire day of conference
Night in Mons 

Monday 12 July 2027

9.00-13.00 Half day of conference
13.00 Closing lunch
(14.19-15.13 Mons > Brussels Central by SNCB train)
(14.19-15.31 Mons > Brussels Airport Zaventem by SNCB train)
(Flights from Brussels Airport Zaventem after 17.30)
(14.22-16.45 Mons > Paris Nord by OUIGO train)
(14.45-15.15 Mons > Maubeuge by taxi + 15.42-17.42 Maubeuge > Paris Nord by TER train)
(Flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle or Paris Orly after 20.30)
(14.00-14.50 tbc. Mons > Airport Brussels South Charleroi by FLIBCO coach)
(Flights from Brussels South Charleroi Airport after 17.30) 

The above program is indicative, non-contractual and subject to change without notice.

Practical Aspects

The conference has an international and multidisciplinary orientation. As such, the organizers hope to attract lively  participation from junior and senior scholars in the history of bronze, sculpture, archaeology, as well as practitioners of scientific technical analyses and restoration-conservation in the same and other relevant  fields. Short papers (maximum 30 minutes) of new research or work in progress may be presented in English or French. A minimal passive knowledge of English and French are highly recommended to enable full participation in the ensuing discussions, which form the core of the conference.

The Society covers accommodation expenses in Mons for foreign speakers at the conference, as well as group meals and the optional excursions (but not accommodation in Paris). On the other hand, travel arrangements to and from Mons are the responsibility of the individual participants and their travel expenses will not be reimbursed.  

CALL FOR PAPERS: The deadline for submitting proposals is 5 October 2026 at noon. Please send participation proposals with a 200-word abstract of the intended paper and a 200-word CV  by email to: info@lcsculpture.art. The organizers prefer to receive your abstract written in your mother tongue. They will then have it professionally translated into English and French for their Scientific Committee. They will inform of the Scientific Committee’s decision in July. 

Timing as planned

5 October 2026 at noon
Deadline for submission of paper proposals 

End of October 2026
Scientific Committee’s decision 

Until 15 March 2027
Writing of papers by the speakers, in their mother tongue 

15 March 2027 at noon
Deadline for submission of full papers, with their accompanying PowerPoint presentation

April 2027
Final paper acceptance by the Scientific Committee 

May 2027
Professional translation of the papers and PowerPoint presentations, in English and French

15 May 2027
Publication of the conference program 

11-12 July 2027
Conference at Mons 

July-October 2027
After the conference, potential changes and corrections to the papers done by the speakers

31 October 2027
Deadline for submission of papers in their final version to be published, together with the images