THE CONWAY LIBRARY

Introduction to Part 5 - Medieval Arts

This section of the Courtauld archive contains Sculpture, Metalwork, Ivories, Wall and Panel Paintings, Stained glass, Seals and Cameos etc, from Greek through to the end of the 14th century, together with Byzantine Monuments – buildings and sites with their integral decorations and sculpture and Byzantine and East Christian manuscripts.

Sculpture, metalwork, ivories, wall and panel paintings, cameos and seals are generally arranged by century, and then by country, eg. 12th century, English. For some early periods, when objects cannot always be firmly dated, they are often arranged under headings which have looser chronological implications, and which may be essentially geographical or historical, eg, Gallo-Roman, or Carolingian. Shifting political boundaries mean that arrangement by modern “country” would sometimes be meaningless, and alternative headings, which reflect more nearly the political and cultural entities of the time have been used, eg, Crusader State, or Burgundian. Within this division the archive is organised alphabetically by type of object, eg, fonts, screens, tombs, or by named artist where this, as rarely in the Middle Ages, is possible. Objects of a single type are filed alphabetically by country, and then alphabetically by place within countries.

Byzantine and Orthodox panel paintings are filed alphabetically by present location.

Classical architecture is filed alphabetically by place under the headings: Cyprus; Greece; Middle East and N. Africa; Turkey; Yugoslavia.

Byzantine Monuments are filed alphabetically by place under the headings: Armenia; Albania; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Egypt; Georgia; Greece; Israel; Jordan; Lebanon; Roumania; Russia; Syria; Turkey; Yugoslavia.

Included where only part 5 has been acquired, Byzantine and East Christian Manuscripts are arranged by century. Within century, manuscripts are divided firstly into ecclesiastical, and then into secular. Within these divisions, the archive is organised alphabetically by type of manuscript, eg., bibles, octateuchs, psalters. The final level of categorisation, within type of manuscript, is alphabetically by present location.

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