LECTURE

Thomas Forrest Kelly (FAAR'86)
Professor of Music, Harvard University, and Department of Education Resident in Post-Classical Humanistic Studies, American Academy in Rome

Words, Music and Pictures in the Italian Exultet Scrolls

Thursday, 21 March 2002
Lecture Room - 6 pm

The medieval Exultet scrolls were made for use during the liturgy of the Easter vigil; they contain the text and the music for the blessing of the Easter candle, and often contain beautiful illustrations, sometimes painted upside-down with respect to the text. This talk will consider the interaction of words, music, and pictures, and in particular explore the question of the inverted illustrations, which are usually understood to be viewed while the text is sung, as a sort of medieval cinema.