Sound in medieval art

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What has a hole in the wall of a medieval church got to do with art? When you talk to Joanna Olchawa,you discover: quite a lot, actually, if there is a vessel in it. “These are so-called acoustic jars. And when found in the choir of a church, for example, the sound of the singing there is in fact altered. For me as an art historian, however, things become interesting when these holes are incorporated into visual programs.” There might be an image of a head with an open mouth where the hole is, for instance, or a depiction of a trumpet with the hole forming the bell.

Joanna Olchawa has been Professor of Medieval Art History, with a special interest in sound, since 2024. In her research, she investigates how the interaction of the visual and the auditory influence how we perceive art. Such effects were skillfully exploited in medieval times. “The art of the Middle Ages doesn’t just work visually, but very much involves the other senses,” says Olchawa.

Excursions to see pre-modern objects

To do justice to the complexity of medieval art, Joanna Olchawa travels to see the objects she is studying in situ. For her project “European pulpits around 1500 and their sonic dimensions,” for example, the results of which she submitted for her habilitation thesis, she crisscrossed Europe to understand how pulpits function within their church.

She investigated, among other things, what devices were fitted to pulpits to channel the sound and optimize the preacher’s voice and its effect on the audience. Measurements have shown, for instance, that the voice obtains the optimal effect when the church is half full.

In those days, the audience gathered right in front of the pulpit, as not all churches were fitted out with pews like today. Olchawa identified several features on pulpits that directed people to concentrate on the sermon: “I discovered various strategies, integrated into the pulpit itself, for warning people not to fall sleep or to chatter – expedients that were all the more necessary as sermons could last up to eight hours,” recounts Olchawa. “There were depictions of the devil writing down all the sins he hears about at the pulpit, and there were figures that mimic the act of listening to remind the audience to pay attention.”

From contemporary art to the Middle Ages

Joanna Olchawa studied art history, science of religion, and classical archeology at the University of Cologne and FU Berlin from 2002 to 2009. Initially, she was more interested in contemporary art, but the more she learned about “the complexity and the aspirations of art in the Middle Ages,” the more she wanted to know. “My enthusiasm was sparked,” Olchawa recalls and appreciates the part excursions played in kindling the flame.

After her undergraduate studies, the art historian did an internship in the Center for Medieval Exhibitions at the Museum of Cultural History in Magdeburg from 2013 to 2014. She also obtained her doctorate in 2014 with a dissertation on aquamanilia – cast-bronze jug-like vessels for the washing of hands. From 2015 to 2018, she was a postdoc at Osnabrück University and also spent a postdoc semester at LMU in 2018, where she worked in the “Pre-Modern Objects. An Archeology of Experience” research group. From 2018 to 2024, she was a Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History at Goethe University Frankfurt, before moving to the Institute of Art History at LMU.

“I’m still on cloud nine that I got this position and have the opportunity to work here,” says Olchawa. “This institute pulses with energy. A lot of new things are going on – in terms of digital art history, for instance, or Islamic art history. I really appreciate it that people here are thinking about the future of art history and about what is going on in society and politics, and where art history can make a contribution – as regards visual literacy, for instance. There’s a great awareness here of the wider world and the role of art history in it. Being part of it all is incredibly enriching.”

LMU and the city of Munich are full of possible connections for Olchawa to explore, which was another reason for taking up the appointment. First of all, sound plays a role in various disciplines at LMU, from physics to theater studies. “And then there is the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Technical University, the museums, the libraries, the churches, and the Central Institute for Art History. This is all very attractive for me.” Currently, the art historian is in the process of founding the Munich Working Group for Medieval Art History, which will bring together representatives from a wide variety of institutions.

Inspiring encounters

Joanna Olchawa is part of a German Research Foundation (DFG) network called “Sound Spheres of the Middle Ages,” which is comprised of scholars from various disciplines. “It’s incredibly productive. We all benefit from each other.” In addition, she brought a DFG project entitled “Sound Art History” with her to LMU and will start the research phase shortly.

Olchawa also derives inspiration from connections with researchers from the natural sciences. A recent research residency at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton was a case in point. “With fresh ideas from neuroscience, I realized that it makes sense to pay greater attention to audiovisuality and to assess all the medieval art I observe in that light.” This insight led her “away from pulpits to larger dimensions. It struck me that sound can be conceptualized in much broader terms.”

She will now be conveying these perspectives to her students at LMU, ideally in the course of excursions, which of course were what kindled her passion for medieval art as a student. “Now I’m trying to pass the flame on to others.”