I attended the lecture "HOLY LAND, HOLY BONES, HOLY IMAGE: Byzantine Pilgrimage Art," accompanied by a most diverse group of friends: a bio professor, three poli-sci majors, an ancient art curator, an art history professor, and quite a few art history majors.
To be honest, I was a bit nervous about what kind of lecture this would be and if this varied group of friends would hate me forever for having dragged them to something horrid. My fears were appeased as soon as the speaker, Dr. Gary Vikan, took the stage. His energy and enthusiasm instantly filled the room, and for the next hour we were all completely enthralled by his fascinating presentation about Byzantine Pilgrimage Art. His talk was clear, precise, to the point, and at some times even entertaining!
I don't think I've ever attended an art history lecture where the audience was so responsive. The presentation took an unexpected turn when he began discussing Elvis - but that was rather entertaining as well. All in all, I left the auditorium wishing I could have been a student of his...I also left with quite a solid foundational knowledge of the basic principles of Byzantine pilgrimage art, even after only 40 minutes.
The reception and preview following the talk were equally great (even though I made the mistake of going into the gallery first and THEN to the food... which left me with only three cubes of cheese!) The exhibit "Pilgrimage and Faith" was very well curated and it was truly fascinating to see the ways in which three separate and quite different religions all have pilgrimage in common.
I strongly encourage all of you to go see this exhibit! I'll definitely be going back soon to spend more time in the galleries!
The exhibit runs till May 20th, so don't miss out!
http://museums.richmond.edu/exhibitions/museum-of-art/pilgrimage-and-faith.html
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