Manuscripts, Movies, and Thoughts

Today I went to see the "Imagining the Past in France Exhibit" (see Platonic Psychology) and a companion lecture: "Manuscripts and Movies: From the Medieval to the Modern." The premise of the lecture was that although technology was different in the two media, movies, like manuscripts, are a visual means for artists to reshape the past based on contemporary events and tell a specific story. Through about five examples, Elizabeth Morrison and Kenneth Turan explored the different ways of representing and illustrating the past.

The lecture was fun and interesting, although not art history focused like the other companion lecture for this exhibit. I am especially curious about the version of Richard III from which they showed clips. They used it to illustrate that updating the a concept made foreign by its antiquity, just as the manuscript artists did by putting classical figures in medieval dress, artists and filmmakers can demonstrate the universality of human themes.

Note: My sourdough starters are back to being happy again (the weather here did not initially agree with them) so it may be time to make some more sourdough bread...