A group of 15 people crowded into the Hood Museum's Harrington Gallery yesterday to listen to a talk given by Professor of Art History and curator, Joy Kenseth.
The exhibition "Books in Art/Art in Books," is Kenseth's creation.
As a seminar professor during the fall term of the same name, Kenseth guided her class through the process of curating an exhibit, from selecting pieces, deciding on the color of the walls and composing explanatory labels that accompany the works on display.
Further fulfilling the Harrington Gallery's mission to provide only educational exhibitions, Kenseth spoke to a congregation comprised almost wholly of community members.
The Harrington Gallery was designated in 1989 as a teaching gallery and is now used solely for teaching purposes.
With a dynamic voice and animated character Kenseth effectively attracted and secured the attention of her audience.
The aim of the exhibition is to illustrate "how works of art take as their subject matter books and scrolls, and how books themselves become showcases of art," explained Kenseth.
A large portion of the talk consisted of Kenseth's description of the arrangement of the pieces, modeled after the Vatican's Stanza della Segnatura and Pope Julius the Second's library and thinking room.
'The Room of the Seal,' as the translation reads, was primarily used as a thinking and policy making room for the Pope, as its name suggests.
It featured frescoes painted by Raphael meant to reflect the four disciplines of human knowledge: theology, philosophy, law and the arts.
"[Pope Julius II] wasn't a very scholarly man, he only had about 250 books in his possession -- not many for a man of his stature," Kenseth joked.
The latter portion of the talk was dedicated to the discussion of individual pieces.
Every piece was touched upon; the origin, historical importance and reasons for selection, among other things, were described.
Of particular interest to the listeners was the description of "Cosmographia," one volume in a series of Dutch Atlases printed in 1533.
"Dartmouth is fortunate to own the volumes," Kenseth said. She said only 2,500 were printed in the first place.
Different versions of the set of atlases, varying in washes and bindings were made, depending on the wealth of the owner.
One special set, highlighted in gold, and covered in purple velvet was bought by the king of France, however Dartmouth's set is pseudo-extravagantly painted with watercolors.
Kenseth's intimate knowledge of the pieces and their histories made the talk not only interesting, but entertaining as well.
Presentation of the 'Books in Art/Art in Books' is made possible through support of the Harrington Gallery Fund and the Andrew W. Mellon Fund.
