Experiencing Medieval Art with Herbert Kessler

Sensory studies and the immersive experience of art is a budding topic among contemporary scholars. Herbert Kessler’s recent publication Experiencing Medieval Art offers readers of all levels easy entry to the most complex topics in current medieval art history. An unusual exploration of the triumphs and the faults of the traditional Medieval survey text, Kessler’s revised edition of Seeing Medieval Art goes beyond the complex material arguments presented there and delves into questions of objecthood, aesthetics, and performative materials. With host Sandra Hindman, Herbert Kessler contemplates his most influential relationships in the scholastic world, his motivation for producing a revised version of his 2004 publication, as well as some of the most unusual additions to the text’s proposed cannon.

This conversation was recorded in New York on February 1, 2020.