The exhibition Living by the Rule (Sainsbury Centre, Norwich) presents medieval monastic art in dialogue with contemporary works. The aim of these juxtapositions is to shine a strange new light on the rules we live by today. Can anachronism release us from the deadening familiarity of the present, and open up new ways of thinking about the future? The exhibition’s co-curator will be in dialogue with a specialist in medieval spiritual practice.
The seminar on Sacred Traditions and the Arts is a joint venture between the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s and the Courtauld Institute. It seeks to place researchers in dialogue who are working on any aspect of the sacred and visual culture. It is open to all scholars and students who have an interest in exploring the intersections of religion and art regardless of period, geography, or tradition.
Organised by Dr Caroline Levitt (Courtauld Institute) and Professor Ben Quash (King’s College London).
Speakers:
Dr Jessica Barker is a senior lecturer in medieval art at the Courtauld Institute, with a particular interest in sculpture. Her prize-winning monograph, Stone Fidelity: Marriage and Emotion in Medieval Tomb Sculpture (2020), explores the intersection of love and death in funerary art. Other publications explore ideas of inventiveness in medieval art; scale and viewing experience; and histories of care.
Dr Claire Gilbert is an author, visiting professor at King’s College, London and lay canon of Norwich Cathedral. She was formerly founding director of Westminster Abbey Institute for ethics in public life. Her books include I, Julian (Hodder, 2023) and Julian of Norwich and the Ecological Crisis: restoring porosity (Routledge, 2024).
