Technical Knowledge in Human History

Technical Knowledge
in Human History

Text, Image, and Re-Creation

24-25 November 2025

Organised by

Imri Lavi
Gabriele Torcoletti
Marco Vespa

Speakers

Elena Bellini, Katie Burstein, Laura Carlevaris, Michele Corti, Jean-Christophe Courtil, Andrea Gondos, Sivan Gottlieb, Shahrzad Irannejad, Sarah Lang, Gideon Manelis, Francesca Marchetti, Francesca Masiero, Taylor McCall, Katarzyna Pękacka-Falkowska, Danuta Raj, Nathalie Rousseau, Jakub Węglorz, Sarah Yeomans

Click to download the poster

Conference Themes

Visual Representations and Material Culture in Technical Knowledge

Text-Image Interaction in the History of Technai.

Experimental Re-Enactments of Ancient Technical Practices.

Digital Tools for Analyzing and Reconstructing Ancient Knowledge.

Methodological Challenges in Reproducing Historical Knowledge.

Digital Interfaces for Research, Visualization, and Dissemination.

Programme

Click here to download the draft programme

Abstracts

Forthcoming

Acknowledgement

ATLOMY is funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (GA 852550, PI: Orly Lewis)
The soul never thinks without an image.
Aristotle, On the Soul, III.7, 431a16–17

ATLOMY (Anatomy in Ancient Greece and Rome: An Interactive Visual and Textual Atlas) and the Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance invite scholars to join an international conference dedicated to the history of medicine and science at the intersection of text, image, and digital humanities.

Conference Description

The history of medicine and science in the Greco-Roman world has long been studied mainly through texts – ancient writings and their modern interpretations. Yet these writings were never independent from images and material objects and practices: the human body, its organs and fluids, votives, surgical tools, and illustrations all formed part of a shared epistemic culture.

This conference seeks to highlight the interplay of textual, visual, and practical dimensions in the transmission of technical knowledge (technai). It also aims to foster dialogue between disciplines such as philology, archaeology, art history, 3D modelling, and digital scholarship.

Building on five years of the ATLOMY project – dedicated to the study of ancient anatomy through classical philology, re-enacting ancient dissections and developing digital platforms for interactive multimodal research – the conference will address three thematic axes: Illustrations and Visualizations, Re-enactments and Replications, Digital Interfaces.

Themes

1. Illustrations and Visualizations

      • The relationship between text and image in papyri, manuscripts, and early modern books.
      • Material culture: votives, sculptures, reliefs, and painted scenes depicting the body.
      • Modern visualizations as research tools for historical technai.

2. Re-Enactments and Replications

      • The methodological and conceptual challenges of reproducing ancient practices.
      • Reconstructions as gateways to new avenues of research and experimental history.
      • Standards of scholarly rigor, accreditation, and publication of data arising from reenactments.

3. Digital Interfaces

      • Interactive platforms for disseminating 3D models and digital tools.
      • Scholarly standards, peer review, and sustainability of digital research outputs.
      • Insights from ATLOMY’s own interactive atlas and dissections platform.
Dates: 24-25 November 2025
Venue: Domus Comeliana
Format: Hybrid
Deadlines
Regular in presence: 11 November
Regular online: 22 November
Queries
Registration Fees
In Person: Free 
Online: 50 (free for members)
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Credits
Scientific Direction:
Imri Lavi, Marco Vespa, Gabriele Torcoletti, Orly Lewis
General Coordination:
Fabrizio Bigotti, Tomaso M. Pedrotti Dell’Acqua, Samuele Filippi