Jennifer Feltman
- Title: Associate Professor
- Department: Art & Art History
- College: Arts & Sciences
Bio
Dr. Jennifer Feltman is a specialist in the art and architecture of medieval Europe whose research focuses on Gothic sculptural programs. She is especially interested in the question of how we can understand the development of complex image programs in architectural sculpture in the absence of primary textual sources. To engage this question, she works across the disciplines of religious studies, the history of the clergy, manuscript studies, and technical studies of construction.
Her forthcoming book, Moral Theology and the Cathedral: Sculptural Programs of the Last Judgment in France, c.1200-1240 (Brepols), provides new insight into the design and development of major Last Judgment sculptural programs at the Cathedrals of Chartres, Paris, Reims, and Amiens. The book and its companion website were supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Previous publications have considered the development of medieval art and architecture over time, including her edited book, The North Transept of Reims Cathedral: Design, Construction, and Visual Programs (Routledge, 2016), and co-edited book, The Long Lives of Medieval Art and Architecture (Routledge, 2019).
Feltman’s current research uses 3D modeling to examine the layers of paint (polychromy) on the sculptures of the Last Judgment portal of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. She is conducting this work as a member of the Chantier scientifique de Notre Dame, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), a team of scientists and historians authorized by the Ministère de la Culture to study the fire-ravaged cathedral as it is being restored. With a seed grant from the Whiting Foundation, Feltman is currently directing the development of a Virtual Reality app for the Oculus Quest. Designed for ages 13 and up, this app will allow individuals to discover elements of Gothic architecture through exploration and make it possible to experience the scale of Gothic architecture no matter where one lives. Read more news about Dr. Feltman here.
Her research and teaching have been supported by the NEH, the Whiting Foundation, the Kress Foundation, the Medieval Academy of America, the International Center for Medieval Art, and the Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Technology, Science, and Art (AVISTA).