The question of origins has fascinated and provoked speculations like no other major question in the history of western thought. The possibility of revealing and illuminating what happened at the beginning of time and of reconstructing an uninterrupted chain of events relating the present to an immemorial past continues to challenge and inspire scholars. From the end of the 14th century to the beginning of the 17th century, a pronounced interest in origins emerged across multiple fields of knowledge. The 15th and 16th centuries, witnessed the revival of great fresco cycles devoted to the creation of the world, inspired by sources ranging from the bible to Hesiod’s Theogony, Ovid, Pimander (attributed to Hermes Trismegistus) and Boccaccio. Other cycles revolved around the origins of humanity and the first human beings (focusing in particular on the figure of the "wild man.”) Pictorial cycles depicting time and the interactions of the elements that reflect the life of the cosmos as well as the power of nature were incorporated into the artificial grottos and gardens of the 16th century.

The seminar will host a series of scholars from different fields, as archeologists, astronomers, historians of religious thought as well as prominent art historians from France (Elinor Miara Kelif and Philippe Morel from the Sorbonne). It will take place a few months before an international conference dedicated to the subject will be held in Paris I University and Tel Aviv University.