Strong hold: the Castle in Imagination and Culture

CMRC are pleased to announce the 'Strong Hold: the Castle in Imagination and Culture' series of events running from January to June 2017. Timed to coincide with Southampton City Art Gallery's Capture the Castle exhibition, there will be a Symposium with invited speakers, our annual Reuter Lecture, and a Lifelong Learning Study Day.

Background

The twelfth-century keep at Castle Rising in Norfolk, with its three massive earthworks, is one of the most evocative medieval castles in the country. But its Romanesque arcading, corbels, broad staircase, built-in throne niche, extensive deer chase and rabbit warren point to ceremonial, domestic, and playful, as much as defensive, uses. Whether in building or in decay, the castle is a representation of where power lies, and also a powerful evocation of past times.

The idea of the castle has exerted a strong hold on elite and popular imaginations for a thousand years. The University of Southampton’s Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture now announces a series of research and public engagement events in association with Southampton City Art Gallery’s major new exhibition Capture the Castle. This exhibition of important works from the City Gallery’s own collection, as well as many loaned from other national collections, will cover five hundred years of art depicting more than a thousand years of castle buildings—from hill forts to Disney.