New Views of the Middle Ages: Highlights from the Wyvern Collection

Museum of Art Museum of Art

Exhibition: New Views of the Middle Ages: Highlights from the Wyvern Collection

Dates:

Location:

Boyd Gallery, Shaw Ruddock Gallery
Bringing together objects from the renowned Wyvern Collection and the BCMA, the exhibition showcases many of the important ways in which a new look at medieval works of art provides insight into the past while also enabling us to re-envision the histories shaping our own era.

Wyvern Venetian Enamel Plate

Enjoy the online version of the exhibition

 

This online exhibition, New Views of the Middle Ages: Highlights from the Wyvern Collection, presents the work of Kathryn Gerry, Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History. Critical research has been contributed by members of Professor Gerry’s Fall 2019 seminar, ARTH 3370, Medieval Art and the Modern Viewer: Building an Exhibition with the Wyvern Collection—Amanda Banasiak ’20, Claudine Chartouni ’20, Maria McCarthy ’20, Olivia Muro ’20, Camila Papadopoulo ’20, and Brooke Wrubel ’21.

Selected Objects

A "chasse" made in 1185 with saints and the Lamb of God illustrated.
"Vermicular Chasse with Saints and the Lamb of God," ca . 1185, present-day France (Limoges), copper, gilt copper, champlevé enamel, wood core. On loan from the Wyvern Collection.
A 13th century bishops staff, made from copper, gilt copper, and champleve enamel.
"Crosier (Bishop’s or Abbot’s Staff) with the Presentation in the Temple", 13th century, present-day France (Limoges), copper, gilt copper, champlevé enamel. On loan from the Wyvern Collection.

About

Bringing together over fifty objects from the renowned Wyvern Collection and the holdings of the BCMA, New Views of the Middle Ages showcases many of the important ways in which a new look at medieval works of art provides new insight into the past while also enabling us to re-envision the histories shaping our own era. Including works ranging from the sixth century to the sixteenth and juxtaposing objects from Ethiopia and Persia with others from France, England, Spain, and Italy, this exhibition explores the artistic materials and techniques used in this period, the global networks that enabled and encouraged artistic development across the medieval world, and the ways in which medieval artists and viewers used images to explore important concepts related to spiritual beliefs and personal identity.