More fun than a circus!

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." - Edgar Degas, French painter (1834-1917)


What do you do when your mind is full to the brim and you can't take in another thought? You fill it to overflowing with more goodies! Such is the case of following the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference with a visit to the Ringling Museum of Art adjacent to the campus of New College. Like going for the whole cheesecake after you've already had your fill of the chocolate cake. Way too much, but you can't just pass it by, can you?!

Founded in the early 19th century by John and Mabel Ringling (yes, of Ringling circus fame) who were among the bon vivants and art collectors extraordinaire of their day. Their museum rivals the best in Europe, both in terms of the collections -- works by Rubens, Titian, Velazquez, Gainsborough and treasures from antiquity among them -- and in terms of the beautiful buildings and grounds. Picture Renaissance Florence meets semi-tropical paradise and you get the picture.

We attended a special exhibit entitled "Gothic Art in the Gilded Age: Medieval and Renaissance Treasures in The Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling Collection" that displayed paintings, sculpture, and decorative articles from these periods as they might have adorned the homes of Ringling and his fellow elites.


A return (and lengthier) visit to the Ringling Museum is on my summer agenda!

Sarasota: palm trees, sandy beaches, and the random medievalist or two

"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity." - Cicero, Roman philosopher and statesman (106-43 BC)

An online "classmate" and I attended the recent Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference hosted by New College of Florida in Sarasota. How ironic that a relatively "new" college (the Florida system's liberal arts honors college) be the locus of dozens of medieval historians from around the world, all concerned with events that happened centuries ago!

For Rachel and me, it was our first exposure to the world of historical scholarship personnified in the scholars around us who've devoted their lives to the study and teaching of things medieval and Renaissance -- art, architecture, political and social and intellectual history.

Besides the sessions themselves, I enjoyed the whole experience of witnessing the "scholarly conversation" I'd heard about. A few observations:

• The "conversation" can be a lively back-and-forth, but always respectful and good humored even when one disagrees;


• The "conversation" never ends -- each question answered begs a further question for future research;


• The scholarly microscope dictates a narrow focus. No one admits to having all the answers, or having expertise beyond their area;


• Presentation is everything! Seemingly dull topics were brought to life with engaging, animated delivery; the most intriguing looking topics were not immune from the ill effects of lifeless, mumbled delivery;


• Most startling of all -- tutti parlano italiano! As an admitted language nerd who'd studied Italian, I expected to be among the few in one session to understand the presenter's reading passages from primary sources in Italian. To my amazement the entire room appeared to understand the gist of the reading! Another awestruck moment when I appreciated the lengths a true historian will go to -- learning another language -- to unlock the secrets of their research.

It was difficult to choose from the varied menu of sessions, but I found myself learning about the role of medieval women as wives and mothers in "From Annunciation to Visitation at Reims Cathedral", figures of Eve in Renaissance Italy ("The Naked, the Nude, and Downright Unfeminine"), and the depth of meaning conveyed by the depiction of fabric in Renaissance painting ("Savoldo's Magdalen and the Veil"), among others.

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

"Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks." - Samuel Johnson, English writer (1709-1784)

I don't normally equate where I live in central Florida -- orange groves, a world-famous mouse, grazing cattle, and the errant alligator or two -- with Old World culture or art. But in a wonderful slice of lagniappe*, a co-worker recently tipped me off to a temporary exhibit of Russian icons at nearby Florida Southern College. Entitled "Sacred Visions: Masterworks from the Museum of Russian Icons", the exhibit consists of 25 works from the private collection of Gordon Lankton, an entrepreneur whose business dealings took him to Russia and the discovery of religious icons surfacing again post-glastnost after decades of hiding from Bolshevics and Communists.

The icons on exhibit are as old as the 17th century and as recent as the early 21st century. Some of them feature favorite Russian saints (such as Paraskevi and Nicholas), others feature patriarchs from the Old Testament, one depicts a liturgical calendar, but most of them center around the Virgin Mary in the mode typical of Byzantine art -- stiff, one-dimensional frontal poses, solemn dark eyes, and holding the Child Jesus on a non-existent lap against a heavenly background. Like the Gothic art and architecture I've been studying, the symbolism and uniformity of subject matter of these pieces make it easy to understand icons as objects of instruction as well as veneration.

But beyond subject matter or motif, it's their sheer illumination that strikes you as enter the room (the afternoon I visited, I was the only one in the small gallery, and the icons stood in stark contrast to the bare white walls behind them). They seem to glow from within, and you can easily imagine how the family icon would become a captivating presence in a humble Russian home. The gallery provides the visitor with a magnifying glass, inviting you to get up close and examine the careful tempera brush strokes that bring this "gold" to life. So the obsession with light as representative of the heavenly realm continues long after the completion of the last Gothic cathedral!

Now back in the light after nearly a century of hiding in darkness, it's clear these treasures have not lost their shine nor their power!

(* lagniappe -- term originating in New Orleans referring to an unexpected blessing, something extra, a serendipitous gift such as the thirteenth beignet in a "baker's dozen")