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SUMMARY:Royal Relics\, Blood and Faith: The Painting of 'Doubting Thomas' 
 in Westminster Abbey - Emily Guerry\, Pembroke College\, Cambridge
DTSTART:20080526T184500Z
DTEND:20080526T200000Z
UID:TALK10767@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Miss Clare Buckley
DESCRIPTION:In 1936\, the sepulchral monuments of Poet's Corner were re-ar
 ranged to\naccommodate new tombs inside of Westminster Abbey. As the great
 \nbaroque stones were lifted from the wall of the south transept\, a\ngiga
 ntic pair of vibrantly coloured Gothic Wall Paintings was revealed.\nThey 
 are in good condition and have survived unbeknownst to art\nhistorians for
  over 700 years. These two paintings\, portraying\n"Doubting Thomas" and "
 St. Christopher Carrying the Christ Child"\, are\nvisual manifestations of
  the cult of relics in thirteenth century\nWestminster. Since this discove
 ry\, this important aspect of these\nworks of art has been overlooked.\nMy
  talk will focus on the Westminster "Doubting Thomas"\, which depicts\nSt.
  Thomas as he nervously plunges his hand into the bloody side of\nthe resu
 rrected Christ. King Henry III\, who built Westminster Abbey in\n1269\, ha
 d a special devotional connection to the arm relic of St.\nThomas. I will 
 explore the extant relationship between the physical\npresence of the sain
 t in the nearby arm relic and this adjacent\npictorial portrayal. As he re
 built Westminster Abbey\, I believe Henry\nexpressed his personal piety by
  visually inserting his personal\ndevotion into the artistic agenda. This 
 Plantagenet king consciously\ncraved a connection to the divine\; he hoped
  to channel this power in\nhis holy relics and project it through ostentat
 ious commissions of\nart. The painting of "Doubting Thomas" demonstrates t
 his desire while\nconfirming that it is attainable.\n\nBIOGRAPHY:\n\nBefor
 e coming to Pembroke to pursue an MPhil in the History Art\, Emily\nGuerry
  double majored in Art History and Medieval History at the\nUniversity of 
 North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she specialized in\nthe gothic iconogr
 aphy of martyrdom in the Sainte-Chapelle of Paris.\nNow\, she is exploring
  the imagery of devotion in Anglo-Norman\nmartyrologies and reliquaries. A
 fter this year\, she will continue as a\nPhD student in Gothic Art History
  with the generous support of a\nCambridge Overseas Research Studentship.
LOCATION:Nihon Room\, Pembroke College
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