Super-splendid: Medieval Marian Art
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Begins: Friday 8 January 2027
Until: Friday 5 February 2027
(11am-1pm every Friday) - Lettsom House & as Post Event Online Recording, First Floor, 11 Chandos Street, London W1G 9EB (NB: There is no lift in this building)
- Lecturer: Sally Dormer
This course is available as both an in person and a recording only event. The recording will be made available to ALL attendees on the Monday following each weekly lecture and will be available for 4 weeks.
Described by Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1190), as “super-splendid, super gracious and super glorious”, Mary, the mother of Christ, was arguably one of the most revered figures in medieval Christendom. She features in abundant images, carved, painted, stitched, woven, and sculpted, displayed in public and private contexts, from the 4th to the 15th centuries. Marian relics, including her maphorion (veil), camisa, the gown she wore giving birth to Christ, her breast milk, and girdle, were deemed inestimably precious. Known affectionately by epithets including, the Second Eve and Queen of Heaven, she was renowned for her physical and spiritual purity, venerated as the mother of Christ and esteemed as mediatrix or intercessor par excellence between mankind and Christ, and for her ability to perform miracles. This course will explore various medieval Marian visual themes influenced by evolving theological precepts: her Old Testament links, her biography, her relationship with Christ as infant and adult, her physical appearance and attributes, and her connection with dragons, lions and unicorns.
Lectures
Week 1 – 8th January Mary’s life and death
Week 2 – 15th January Mary and the Old Testament
Week 3 – 22nd January Mary as Mother
Week 4 – 29th January Mary as Mediatrix
Week 5 – 5th February Mary’s Attributes
Lecturer
Dr Sally Dormer is a specialist medieval art historian with an MA in Medieval Art History and PhD on Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the Courtauld Institute, London University. Sally founded the ongoing V&A Late Medieval Europe and Early Renaissance Year Course 1250-1500 in 1993, and in 2009 devised the V&A Early Medieval Year Course 300-1250; she is Course Director for both courses. She has lectured for Gresham College, teaches for the Arts Society and ARTscapades and was, between 1999-2019, Dean of European Studies, a semester of study abroad in Europe, sponsored by two universities in Tennessee, USA.