School of Culture and Communication - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/396

Filters

2020 - 2021 3
3
Reset filters

Settings
Statistics
Citations
Start date: 2020 × End date: 2022 × Subject: Art History ×

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    No Preview Available
    Rococo Film Aesthetics
    Harvey, Samuel ( 2021)
    This thesis conceives of film design as an art of surface that is rococo in nature. I analyse the films of Sofia Coppola as decorative rococo spaces that present emotional topographies. I then further argue that the surface of film design sparks the imagination, and its moving forms activate perceptual journeys.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Art, Faith and Place Re-contextualising Devotion in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence
    Helme, Alice Louise Victoria ( 2021)
    This thesis examines the museological and exhibitionary history of the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence. Founded in 1891, the Museum displays art objects of sacral and artistic significance to Florence’s cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. It has undergone multiple redevelopments since its foundation. Each successive re-curation of the collection sought to increasingly connect the artworks to their original locations in the Cathedral’s sites. This culminated in a major renovation in 2015, which expanded the exhibition spaces and introduced a devotional themed layout. This new layout mirrored a journey through the Cathedral complex, re-contextualising the collection as religiously significant and functioning objects inextricably tied to the centre of Florentine devotional culture at Santa Maria del Fiore. The thesis studies the museum’s evolving exhibitionary contexts, from the 1891 opening to the 2015 redevelopment through three key exhibits: the cantorie by Luca della Robbia and Donatello; the sculptures from the Cathedral facade in the Piazza del Paradiso; and Michelangelo’s Pieta. By using artworks and spaces as internal studies of the Museum, this thesis focuses on the museological methods and history of museum practice in addressing the Opera del Duomo’s collection. These internal studies examine the original or intended locations of the artworks at the Cathedral sites, their transition into the Museum, and the evolving museological treatment applied to them. This thesis underscores the museum’s progressively refined methodology that has resulted in a unique and innovative approach to contextualising and communicating the civic and devotional meaning encoded in its collection. It suggests that the contextualisation of the artefacts in the Museum has allowed for greater understanding of historical and devotional concepts unique to the Florentine faith and the Cathedral. This thesis concludes that the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo demonstrates the ability of contemporary museums to re-contextualise devotion and connect past and present in the mind of the viewer.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    "These Moving Stones of France": The Cloisters Museum and the Movement of Medieval Architectural Heritage During the Twentieth Century
    Chadbourne, Susanne Emma ( 2020)
    This thesis investigates the foundation and early development of The Cloisters museum in New York, from its genesis as a private museum maintained by the American sculptor George Grey Barnard in 1914, through to its foundation as a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and up to the present day. The evolution of The Cloisters design project is examined, from its inception in 1914 to its reopening in May 1938. This period witnessed a radical reconsideration of The Cloisters as it transformed itself from its initial model as a deliberately personal and evocative Gothic Revivalist museum to a modern public institution, founded on the latest developments in international museum design and education. Research focuses on archival documents which detail the formation of the collection and the museum and provide a more critical understanding of the transatlantic medieval art market during the early twentieth century. This study also considers the economic and cultural exchanges that enabled a unique opportunity for collecting and exporting large-scale medieval artworks out of Europe to the United States of America during the first decades of the twentieth century. This thesis is the first to focus on the ramifications that the international translocation of medieval artworks had on the legal protection of heritage in Europe. It also considers the resulting ethical debates conducted in both Europe and America regarding the purchase and transatlantic transference of medieval monumental complexes to the United States. An examination is undertaken on how the formation and expansion of this collection altered French heritage protection laws together with the architectural and museological discussions surrounding The Cloisters’ incorporation into the philanthropic programme of its institutional founder, John D Rockefeller Jr, and the more recent issues surrounding the ongoing role and identity of The Cloisters in the current museological environment.