Shimmering Death: Golden Bodies and Representing the Dead in Medieval Europe c. 1100-1400
Supervised by Dr Jessica Barker
Advised by Dr Tom Nickson
Funded by CHASE/AHRC
My project explores the golden bodies of saintly and non-saintly dead in medieval metalwork, looking at figural reliquaries and gilt-metal effigies produced in Germany, Switzerland, France and England. United by their commemorative function as sculptures of the dead, it offers a re-evaluation of these objects in light of their shared materiality and spatial dialogues. I seek to challenge restrictive categorisations of these object types (sacred vs non-sacred) in favour of a more inclusive corpus of sculptures of the dead. Key concepts that guide my research include materiality, identity and embodied experience.
Education:
2021-2022: Warburg Institute, MA (first class) in Art History, Curatorship and Renaissance Culture (in collaboration with National Gallery, London), Thesis: Experiencing Medieval Limousin Gilt-Copper Effigies: Implications of Material, Visual and Spatial Links with Head Reliquaries.
2018-2021: Northeastern University (New College of the Humanities), BA (first class) in Art History and Philosophy, Thesis: Reliquary Busts of the Ursula Virgins from the mid-14th century and their Significance for Women in Medieval Cologne.
Publications:
- Exhibition catalogue review ‘Barbarossa: Die Kunst der Herrschaft’, Burlington Magazine, Sept 2023, pp. 1025 – 1027.
- Exhibition introductory essay for ‘Iconoclasm: Censorship, Destruction and Reuse in the European Middle Ages’, Sam Fogg Gallery, 3 Nov – 2 Dec 2022, pp. 1-7.
Research Interests:
- Medieval sculpture (especially metalwork)
- Cult of saints & devotional practices
- Reliquaries & relics
- Materiality
- Curatorship
