The Limbourg Brothers, Coronation of the Virgin, ca. 1455–60, tempera and gold leaf on parchment, Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/460342
Thursdays, February 15, 22 & 29, 2024
7:30 PM
“Art is a mirror held up to the society which birthed it, a whisper from long ago history. It is a code message sent to a timeless future: this is who we were; what we believed; what we valued.”
Dreams and Enchantment is a three-week lecture series designed to transport us beyond upcoming elections, international challenges, and foreign tragedies to an otherworldly realm of noble knights, richly caparisoned steeds, and gleaming white castles—in short, to 15th century Burgundy, and the last glow—the brilliant culmination—of late medieval art.
The medieval centuries had run their course, upended by the rise of cities, growth of a merchant class, and technical advances in art. In Renaissance Italy, medieval art forms were forced to yield to the secularism and humanism of the rediscovered Classical world, whereas north of the Alps, the medieval dream lingered . . . and was brought to perfection. A perfection that took place in one of Europe’s loveliest and most historic cities, Bruges, itself worthy of viewing along with the art it produced.
The Duchy of Burgundy: a sliver of land running from Dijon northward to Bruges that fashioned all our reveries of the medieval knightly dream—courtly ritual, rich costuming, brilliant architecture, and, especially, art. The Dukes of Burgundy based their power not on armies, nor grand alliances, but on the persuasive power of brilliant role-playing in their magnificent courts and great art. Art that celebrates beauty and grace and the tensile strength of deep piety.
The series will concentrate on two artists in particular, Jan van Eyck and the Limbourg Brothers. Van Eyck was uniquely able to merge the natural world with the spiritual realm. His luminous paintings present a tangible, convincingly real, world, yet one that glows with holiness due to his injection of religious symbols. The Limbourg Brothers’ illuminated manuscripts provide intimate records of medieval life, its great lords and anonymous peasants, its grandeur and its lowly humor.
About Linda Blair:
Linda Blair has taught art history for many years, at the La Jolla Athenaeum and UC San Diego Osher; she was a docent at The Cloisters. She holds a BA from Mills College and an MA from USD. She is an active volunteer at UC San Diego, dedicated to raising scholarship funds.
Tickets: $42/57
The lectures will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. These events will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of the lectures.
Masks optional. If you have a fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms, please stay home.