In the late 14thÌýcentury, the kings of France and the princes of the blood constructed, commissioned,ÌýÌýpurchased, gave, appropriated,ÌýÌýpawned and liquidated some of the most extraordinary and magnificent objects of the late medieval period, in a dizzying range of forms and material, from metalwork, manuscripts, textilesÌýÌýand panel paintings to cameos, talismanic stones and giants teeth. Our knowledge of them today relies in large part on the extraordinarily loquacious, often ad vivam inventories made of these possessions, termed, collectively, ‘joyaux’.ÌýÌýThese inventories are arguablyÌýthe largest body ofÌýÌýdescriptive responses to objects that we have from the late medieval period, often demonstrating, and demanding,ÌýÌýan intimate and sustained attention to, and engagement with, visual form.ÌýThis lecture will consider some of ³Ù³ó±ðÌýways in which the language, order and structure of these texts might provide insights into late medieval ways of assessing, judging and grasping things, ofÌýÌý‘reading’ objects, or what has been termed by Michael Baxandall, famously, the ‘period eye’. But it will alsoÌýexplore these inventoriesÌý as objects in their own right: their often remarkable physical properties can be as revealing as the texts they contain.
Organised by Professor Deborah Swallow (Märit Rausing Director, 91ÖÆƬ³§) and Dr Alixe Bovey (Head of Research, 91ÖÆƬ³§).Ìý