KINNEY TO OPEN 'INVENTING ANTIQUITY' EXHIBITION WITH
LECTURE ON MEDIEVAL RESPONSES TO ANCIENT MONUMENTS

On Monday, Sept. 20, "Before Antiquity: The Marvels of Rome," a lecture by art historian and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dale Kinney, will open a new exhibition in the Class of 1912 Rare Book Room on the first floor of Canaday Library. Kinney's lecture, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is intended for a general audience. It will take place in Room B21 of the Rhys Carpenter Library at 4:30 p.m., and is to be followed by a reception in the Rare Book Room at 6 p.m., opening the new exhibition titled "The Invention of Antiquity."

"The general subject of the talk," Kinney said, "is interpretations of the antiquities of Rome during the Middle Ages — before the development of the modern discipline of archaeology beginning in the Renaissance." The lecture will focus on a famous equestrian statue of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius that dates from the second century A.D. In the 15th century, comparisons of the sculpture to portraits on ancient coins identified the man on the horse as the ancient emperor, after centuries of confusion about the sculpture's subject. The primarily oral culture of Europe in the Middle Ages generated a wealth of narratives about what the sculpture represented; Kinney will use medieval texts, particularly a 12th-century guide to ancient monuments titled Mirabilia Urbis Romae (The Marvels of Rome), to examine such medieval stories about the antique past.

Kinney's research specialty is medieval art and architecture from the fourth through 12th centuries, with a focus on Rome. She teaches at all levels of the Bryn Mawr curriculum and has been recognized by the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching at Bryn Mawr (1984) and the College Art Association's Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award (2002).

The exhibition, "The Invention of Antiquity," will look at how Renaissance humanists shaped the contemporary understanding of ancient Greece and Rome. Curated by History of Art Ph.D. candidate Benjamin Anderson, the show will present a wide variety of books and prints from the first five centuries of classical studies. It will be open Monday-Friday 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 1-5 p.m., through Dec. 17.

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