Medievalist enthusiast Alexandra Beresford, who is taking our Archaeology Studentship at York University, will be investigating artefacts in the Yorkshire Museum’s medieval collection in preparation for the new medieval exhibition for 2012, as she writes here:
12th Century statues from St Mary's Abbey
The exhibition entitled 1212: The Making of the City will commemorate the 800-year anniversary of York’s independence from the Crown revealing the stories of medieval York and its people as it rose to power.
The objects on display will be at the heart of the exhibition, brought to life through colour, sound and film and (here comes my contribution) accurate interpretive text. In the coming months before the exhibition launches on 7 April 2012 I will be studying in great depth the artefacts that are central to the heritage of medieval York.
Although this will require sifting through documents to find out the origin, date and function of an object where possible, I also intend to get up close to the objects themselves. Research that incorporates first-hand observation adds an important dimension to the understanding of an artefact; the material qualities and the skill of the craftsman, for example, can be better appreciated.
Artefacts that are likely to receive my technical and aesthetic scrutiny during this project will include the famous 12th century column-figures of St Mary’s Abbey and the tantalisingly fragmentary remains of the medieval shrines of St William originally in York Minster, amongst many more.
Who commissioned this piece? What was the political and cultural context at the time? What was it used for? Was it purely aesthetic? Where was it originally and how did it relate to its surroundings? These are the types of questions that I will be asking.
The exhibition will raise huge topics of interest regarding politics, power, religion and civic life and by researching key pieces I hope to contextualise the objects to uncover their purpose and significance in medieval York. As an art historian, I am excited to be part of this project and will enjoy discovering the treasures of the Yorkshire Museum’s medieval collection as research gets underway.
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