All posts tagged: Middle Ages

'Voyager au Moyen Âge' exposition', Musée de Cluny, Paris

Exhibition Review: ‘Voyager au Moyen Âge’ exposition’, Musée de Cluny, Paris

The current exhibition at the Musée de Cluny offers a journey through time and space during the Middle Ages. ‘Voyager au Moyen Âge’ (‘Travelling in the Middle Ages’) hosts a variety of key aspects of travel in the Medieval period. As one walks around the exhibition, which is currently on show in the third-century Gallo-Roman thermal bathing hall, you are presented with different types of traveller, from the merchant to the pilgrim, the prince to the artist. Furthermore, the exhibition highlights the diverse reasons for travelling during this time, encompassing specific issues such as the aspiration for knowledge, the need to demonstrate visibility within specific societies and the journey of the afterlife.  On show are a selection of varying objects, including tapestries and reliquaries taken on travel, to illuminated manuscripts illustrating maps of various countries. Probably the most notable artefact is displayed right in the centre of the exhibition – the fragments of a medieval boat which have been recreated to provide a tangible sense of the physical nature of such journeys and what they may have entailed. Overall, …

'Medieval Morocco: An Empire from Africa to Spain', Louvre, Paris

‘Medieval Morocco: An Empire from Africa to Spain’, Louvre, Paris

Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet with a friend who is studying at the Courtauld, with her fellow classmates and professor, to look around the current Medieval exhibition at the Louvre. The exhibition titled, ‘Medieval Morocco: An Empire from Africa to Spain’ offers a glimpse into a period when the Medieval Western Islamic world was at the height of its glory, as much in terms of its artistic production as its place in history. Focusing from the 11th to 15th centuries of Western Islamic dynasties, this exhibition presents over 300 objects that aim to show this culture’s long and complex history, which is crucial to an understanding of Medieval Morocco and Islam. This exhibition shows many beautiful objects, including architectural decoration from various Mosques; textiles and ivory; and it also displays a plethora of illuminated manuscripts and examples of beautiful calligraphy. Many of these objects are extremely rare, not only in historical value, but because many have never been showcased in such a way to the public. Even though I have previously studied various key examples of Medieval …

This week – Alfonso X’s Cantigas

This week in ‘Death and Devotion’ we have moved swiftly from Paris and England, and are now focusing on Castile and Leon. Within this, we are primarily looking at King Alfonso X’s Cantigas! The Cantigas are a collection of poems about the Virgin Mary which would have been performed in the court, and during the feast days of the Virgin. I’m not going to lie, before encountering this week I was a little skeptical as to what the Cantigas would sound like. But after reading more about them, the historical context and political propaganda behind their conception; I actually quite like them! Here are a few for you to enjoy! I think it’s fascinating that people during the medieval period would have listened to these, and would have invested emotional resonance into them. History of Art definitely incorporates pretty much everything you can think of, and I think that this week proves it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwh0m5EzRXg Cantigas 137 is my favourite, it’s just so cheerful! I feel like I am actually back in the Middle Ages listening …