Medieval Art Topic of Final Williams Faculty Lecture
WILLIAMSTOWN - The last lecture of the annual Faculty Lecture Series at Williams College will be given by Peter Low, associate professor of art. He will talk on "Materializing Metaphor: Bodies, Buildings, and Ephesians 2:11-22 in Medieval Art" on Thursday, March 13, at 4 p.m. in Wege Auditorium on the Williams campus.The lecture is open to the public and free; a reception will follow.
Low's lecture will consider the question "What was the point of public religious art in churches in the Middle Ages?" by investigating one episode in the history of a "remarkable pictorial project that was developed at an array of sites across Europe and stretched from the early fifth century through the mid-12th century."
This project, which has gone unrecognized by art historians until now, was rooted in the visualization of a biblical passage full of metaphors that equated human bodies with blocks of stone, to rich theological effect.
Low will demonstrate how these visualizations were designed to activate architecture, in devotional terms, and, at the same time, to unite the people who used this architecture with Christ, the invisible object of their worship.
Low teaches "Introduction to Western Art History," "Romanesque and Gothic Art and Architecture: The Medieval Church in Context" and "Inventing Joan of Arc: The History of a Hero(ine) in Literature, Pictures and Film," among other courses at Williams.
He specializes in Romanesque art and architecture, monastic art, and art and pilgrimage and has published in Art Bulleting and Avista Forum Journal.
His grants and awards include a Getty Foundation postdoctoral fellowship, a Mello postdoctoral fellowship at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship.
Low received his bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto and his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. He did his postdoctoral work at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto.
