Department of Art History  |  Sweet Briar College



















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EXHIBITION CATEGORIES




Decorated Pottery




ILLUSTRATION




Prints




Drawing




Photography




Sculpture




Painting






















   


 
What is Art .... ?
                     .... What is an Artist ?
  






An exhibition exploring the perception of ART     

and the identity of the ARTIST     

through HISTORY     
 
and in CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY     
























ILLUSTRATION....

essays by
 
Bobbie Jo Hedrick and Jane Kwak













Medieval Illuminated Manuscript page

Italian

Choir Book, Feast of Corpus Christi page

15th century

ink on vellum


click here for a LARGE image








               Illumination is one of the oldest art forms.  Only truly skilled artisans are skilled in illumination.  Few artisans have proven to be more skilled in the art of illumination than the medieval monks that worked on manuscripts during the medieval period.  
 

               Medieval manuscripts were treasured by the artisans and monks who created them as well as their proud owners.  In this exhibition, a choir book page used during the medieval period by monks illustrates the beauty and careful technique that was needed to produce the work.
 

               This page is quite large, a necessary feature so it could be easily read at a distance by all the members of the choir.  Unlike most choirs today where each member has his/her own book, during the medieval period there was often only one book. 
 

               This page features a Latin hymn that would be sung at the Feast of Corpus Christi. The huge decorated initial begins the lyrics of the song.
     





  Illustration












The objects and material in this exhibition were gathered together, researched and largely written about by students in the seminar "Art and Artists" conducted in the Fall semester, 1997, by Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, 24595 USA. Invaluable assistance was provided by Rebecca Massie Lane, Director of Galleries and the Arts Management Program, who in turn was assisted by Dana Lee Bordvick '98.