Divine, Desirable, Deadly: The Middle Ages through Objects

Medieval objects—complex and varied, vibrant and intense—demand to be examined closely, thought about deeply, approached kinesthetically. Taken together, they reveal the extraordinary world of the Middle Ages. Two preeminent medievalists, Elina Gertsman, specialist in art history, and Barbara H. Rosenwein, specialist in history, present a lecture based on their new book, The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Drawn from the extraordinarily wide-ranging medieval collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the objects illuminate a broad chronology and embrace a grand geographical sweep that extends across Eurasia. Mining these objects for the multiple meanings that they harbor and engender, Gertsman and Rosenwein shed light on the history of not only the European Middle Ages but also the Byzantine and Islamic worlds. A book signing will take place after the lecture and during the reception.

Free; no reservation required.