The Conception, Function, and Perception of Images in Medieval Navarre: Reexamining the Cloister and Dependencies of the Cathedral of Pamplona
Supervised by Dr Tom Nickson
Funded by the Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica
Pamplona boasts a wealth of high-quality gothic sculpture, and an abundance of intriguing textual evidence that speaks to medieval engagement with these images. Though much has been written about individual aspects of the cloister and its dependencies, particularly in Navarrese scholarship, a thorough investigation into the conception, use, and perception of the decorative program is long overdue. This thesis will discuss the cloister’s images in their visual, political, and liturgical contexts, beginning with a biography of the cloister that traces its physical transformation and history from the late-thirteenth century to the present day. I will then focus on the people and power dynamics connected to the visual program, and explore how different images in the cloister functioned liturgically. Finally, I will consider the cloister and its dependencies as a whole, investigating how the individual elements work together to create a certain experience of the space and to construct a certain message. This thesis will put Pamplona in conversation with other examples from Navarre, Iberia, and the rest of Europe, enriching our understanding of engagement with images in cathedral cloisters in the Middle Ages.
Education
PhD Candidate, The Courtauld Institute of Art (2019 – present)
MA, History of Art, The Courtauld Institute of Art (2017-2018)
Special Option: ‘Arts of Intimacy? Jews, Christians and Muslims in Medieval Spain‘, Dr Tom Nickson
Dissertation: ‘Crossing Borders: The Visual, Social, and Political Context of the Marginal Imagery of the Cervera Bible’
BA, History of Art and French Studies, Macaulay Honors College, CUNY (2012-2016)
Dissertation: ‘Constructing Unity in a Divided World: The Sociopolitical Context for the Cathedrals of Chartres and Reims’
Research Interests
- Spanish gothic architecture
- Artistic transmission between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Medieval Europe
- Sensory perception and art in the Middle Ages
- The relationship between sculpture, architecture, wall painting, manuscript illumination, and other media
- The queens of Navarre and female patronage
- Miniature and monumental marginalia
- Illuminated Hebrew manuscripts
Conference Papers
18-19 February 2021, 26th Annual Courtauld Medieval Postgraduate Colloquium, Display and Displacement in Medieval Art and Architecture, ‘Set in Stone? The displacement and shifting display of sculpture and wall paintings in the cloister of Pamplona Cathedral‘
Other Activities
Social Media Officer, ARTES: Iberian & Latin American Visual Culture Group
Organizer, Student Work in Progress Seminars for Medieval/Byzantine/Renaissance Postgraduates at the Courtauld
Associate Editor, Immediations 2020
Guide and research volunteer, Paris Historique – Association pour la sauvegarde et mise en valeur du patrimoine parisien