Exhibitions

The exhibition "Crown and Veil" is the first exhibition dedicated to all forms of female religiosity from the early Middle Ages until the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Approximately five hundred outstanding objects from 150 international collections will be on exhibit for three months, among them many ensembles that will be reunited for the first time since the dissolution of the monasteries from which they originate. The exhibition results from a cooperation of the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn and the Ruhrlandmuseum in Essen. It has been prepared by an international team of experts over many years. The exhibition will take place simultaneously at two sites. At the Ruhrlandmuseum Essen the scope will be pan-European, with the emphasis on monasteries and foundations from 500 to 1200. At the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn the focus will be on the religious orders of the later Middle Ages (1200 - 1500) in all their variety. The exhibition was jointly developed by both institutions in conjunction with an international team of scholars. In the Middle Ages, female monasteries offered an attractive and respected alternative in a society that was dominated by men. The exhibition demonstrates the extent to which the day-to-day and spiritual experience of nuns was shaped by images. The works of art from female monastic communities reflect the power respect of these convents, and embody the social, economic and religious aspirations and ideals attached to them. The exhibition makes palpable the forms of female religious life and experience in the Middle Ages in all its splendid variety.

Text from http://www.krone-und-schleier.de/en/exhibition.htm

July 26 –December 10, 2005. The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West. Cambridge is among the world's richest treasuries of medieval illuminated manuscripts. It is also unique in having its star objects distributed among its numerous repositories, rather than concentrated in a single institution. Collectively, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the University Library, and the Colleges of Cambridge can write the history of manuscript production from the sixth to the sixteenth century, representing all major schools of European illumination. Despite frequent requests for the loan of individual manuscripts to exhibitions outside Cambridge and several thematic Cambridge displays in the past, this wealth of material has never been presented to the public in its entirety. Since the series of catalogues published by M.R. James a century ago, no systematic study of the collections has been undertaken. The 2005 major exhibition of illuminated manuscripts from the all Cambridge collections will be the first event of this scope. It will have two venues, the University Library and the Fitzwilliam Museum. It will include over 150 manuscripts from all of the major centres of manuscript production and will cover the full range of religious and secular texts, in Latin and the vernacular, from the sixth to the sixteenth century. Its main purpose will be to give delight and make the results of past and present research available to scholars steeped in their field, to students at the beginning of their careers, and to book lovers from all walks of life.

Tree of Affinity in Gratian, Decretum;
Bartholomew of Brescia, Glossa ordinaria
France or England, c. 1300-1310
Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 262, fol.71v

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