Research and Experience - Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery at the V&A

Lecture – Glyn Davies

3 May 2017
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Paul Mellon Centre

Respondent: Paul Binski (Professor of the History of Medieval Art, Cambridge University)

This seminar explores the experience of mounting the exhibition Opus Anglicanum at the V&A in 2016, as well as the wider associated (and ongoing) research project from which it emerged. One of the aims of the exhibition was to bring the study of English medieval embroideries back into the mainstream of discussions about English medieval art more generally, and both the exhibition and the catalogue used a variety of strategies to this end. Glyn Davies, one of the exhibition co-curators, will offer his thoughts on the experience, followed by a respondent.

Image credit: Chasuble, Opus Anglicanum, ca. 1330–50. Fletcher Fund, 1927.

About the speaker

Glyn Davies is the curator responsible for medieval sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He was the lead medieval curator for the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries at the V&A in 2009. He has been involved in organising a number of exhibitions, including Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery (V&A, 2016) and Depth of Field: the Place of Relief in the Time of Donatello (Leeds, 2004). He has published widely on medieval topics, including sculpture, goldsmiths’ work and textiles.