Specialist to lecture on Islamic art in Jerusalem

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Staff Writer


Dome of the Rock
Lawrence Nees, a professor in the art history department at the University of Delaware, will lecture on his paper, “The Eagle Capitals in the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem,” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 in Pannell Gallery at Sweet Briar College.

The paper attempts to explain and contextualize the eagle capitals atop columns in the inner arcade of the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine built on the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The lecture is the first of two sponsored this year by the Medieval and Renaissance Studies program, a newly offered interdisciplinary minor.

Nees has taught at the University of Delaware since 1978. He is a specialist in medieval art, especially in the earlier medieval period, circa 500 to 1000, including Insular, Frankish, Byzantine and Islamic materials.

He has published several books, including a general volume, “Early Medieval Art” (2002) in the Oxford History of Art series, and is completing books on the beginnings of manuscript illumination, and on early Islamic art in Jerusalem.

He has held fellowships from many sources, most recently as Allen W. Clowes fellow and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow at the National Humanities Center. He currently serves as president of the International Center of Medieval Art.

A reception will follow. For more information, email thamilton@sbc.edu or call (434) 381-6125.