Scholar Presentation: Dr. Sandra Hindman, “Illuminated Manuscripts" at the Figge Art Museum -- August 1.

Thursday, August 1, 6:30 p.m.

Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA

Showcasing exquisite examples of manuscripts from her gallery, Les Enluminures, along with period jewelry, renowned professor, scholar, and gallerist Dr. Sandra Hindman will participate in an August 1 Scholar Presentation at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, providing a rich, historical context for her remarkable artifacts, and delivering an insightful presentation in celebration of the venue's exhibit Illumination: Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts from the Figge Collection.

Dr. Sandra Hindman is a leading expert on Medieval and Renaissance manuscript illumination. Professor Emerita of Art History at Northwestern University, and Owner of Les Enluminures, Paris, Chicago, and New York, Professor Hindman is author, coauthor, or editor of more than a dozen books, as well as numerous articles on the history and reception of illuminated manuscripts and on medieval rings. These publications include The Robert Lehman Collection. IV. Illuminations (New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997); Manuscript Illumination in the Modern Age: Recovery and Reconstruction (Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 2001); and Toward an Art History of Medieval Rings: A Private Collection (Paris, 2007). Dr. Hindman is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America, the National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America, the Syndicat National de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne, and the Syndicat National des Antiquaires.

The Figge’s collection of works in the Illumination exhibition includes examples of musical notation for Gregorian chants, a page from a Benedictine Psalter, and several examples of pages from a book of hours, as well as illustrations of Indian battle scenes. The text on these pages includes inscriptions in Latin, Devanagari script, and Arabic. Translations of each page will be included with the label information for each work, as will recordings of the songs indicated in the musical notation. Meanwhile, the decorations in the margins of Illumination's featured books include beautifully intricate paintings which illustrate the text written on the page. These illustrations were often created from pigments sourced from semi-precious materials such as lapis lazuli, and were often highlighted with gold leaf. “In today’s terms, these manuscripts are the Ferrari of the Medieval world,” said Senior Co-Curator Joshua Johnson. “They were crafted by hand and were very expensive to produce since it was before the creation of the printing press.”

The Scholar Presentation with Dr. Sandra Hindman will take place on August 1, participation in the 6:30 p.m. event is free, and the Illumination: Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts from the Figge Collection exhibition will be on display in the museum's Lewis Gallery through August 11. For more information, call (563)326-7804 and visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.

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