Students from the Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art and Williams’ Art Department will lead a series of short talks engaging objects and themes highlighted in the exhibition Embodied Words: Reading in Medieval Visual Christian Visual Culture. They will guide visitors beyond the gallery walls through discussion and StoryMaps, an online tool that permits you to read stories about art.

The event will feature presentations by Talia Abrahams, Nick Beischer, Eva Dailey, Jordan David, Delaney Keenan, Elijah Sueuga, Maria Minuesa Sicilia, Sia Owens, and Anthony Ortega.

The program will illuminate diverse aspects of the exhibition—from the history of book theft, to the invention of punctuation as we know it, the role of text and reading within visual works, and the conception of libraries themselves. We hope that the breadth of discussion topics will enlighten visitors about how reading practices and books have changed since the Middle Ages, as well as the ways we still continue these practices today.

The feast will be served in the Rotunda following the talks, featuring a wide spread of period dishes and drinks. Vegetarian and vegan options will be available.