T
he generous loan of works of art from the Wyvern Collection, one of the most important active private collections
of medieval art today, has inspired student research and object-driven teaching from the moment it
arrived on Bowdoin’s campus in the spring of 2019. While Covid-19 put a temporary halt to many
in-person classes at Bowdoin, the pandemic was no match for the curiosity and eagerness across campus to
explore and share these amazing works with the public. In the autumn of 2020, the students in the art history
class Building a Virtual Exhibition: A ‘Hands-On’ Experience (ARTH 1710) worked
collaboratively online to research and present some of the outstanding pieces of medieval art from the
Wyvern Collection. Students worked primarily with items included in the BCMA exhibition
New Views of the Middle Ages
curated by Kathryn Gerry, the instructor of the course, in order to rethink and enhance the online presentation
of medieval objects from a preliminary website
launched by the Museum. Over the course of the semester, students explored a variety of new technologies and
digital strategies drawn from the digital humanities and computer sciences, including 3D modelling, Augmented
Reality (AR), and the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF). The results of their innovative
thinking, collaborative exploration, and hard work are presented here, with the aim of offering knowledge and
inspiration to our online community audience.