Directory

Dr. 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 FACE Foundation, 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).

Courses Taught

ARH 252 Survey of Art I
ARH 350 Roman Art
ARH 351 Ancient Art
ARH 352 Early Christian and Byzantine Art
ARH 360 Early Medieval
ARH 361 Late Medieval Art
ARH 461 Special Topics in Medieval Art (topics include: Gothic Cathedrals; Medieval Sculpture; Arts of the Medieval Book)
ARH 560 Graduate Seminars in Medieval Art (topics include: Visual Thinking in Medieval Art; Medieval Sculpture)
ARH 550 Literature of Art (i.e., Methods)

Select Publications

• Forthcoming: Moral Theology and the Cathedral: Sculptural Programs of the Last Judgment in France, c.1200-1240 (Brepols).
• “The Afflicted Body of Job and the Aesthetic of Wholeness in Gothic Sculpture.” In The Routledge Companion to Art and Disability, edited by Timothy Hiles and Keri Watson, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 149-167.
• “Tradition and Innovation in the Life of John Sculptural Cycle at Reims Cathedral.” In Crossing Medieval Disciplines: Tributes in Honor of Richard K. Emmerson, edited by Deirdre Carter, Elina Gertsman, and Karlyn Griffith. Turnhout: Harvey Milller / Brepols, 2021, pp. 155-172.
• “Dating Reuse: The Statue Columns of the Last Judgment Portal of Reims Cathedral.” In La Città Palinsesto. Tracce, sguardi e narrazioni sulla complessità dei contesti urbani storici. Memorie, storie, immagini, 2 vols., edited by Francesca Capano and Massimo Visone. Napoli: CIRICE-FED OA Press, 2020, pp. 1:1403-1410.
• “Aligning Word and Deed: The Emergence of ‘Confessor’ as a Priest Who Hears Confession.” In Les Mots au Moyen Âge / Words in the Middle Ages, edited by Vincent Debiais and Victoria Turner. Turnhout: Brepols, 2020, pp. 109-130.
• Jennifer M. Feltman and Sarah Thompson eds., The Long Lives of Medieval Art and Architecture (Routledge, 2019) with contribution: “Why the Long Lives of Medieval Art and Architecture?: An Introduction,” pp. 1-14.
• “The Last Judgement Porch at Lincoln Cathedral Over the Longue Durée: Iconography, Interaction, and Religious Thought” in Devotional Interaction in Medieval Britain and its Afterlives, edited by Elisa A. Foster, Julia Perratorre, and Steven Rosenski. Leiden: Brill, 2018, pp. 103-126.
• “Imagining the Sorrows of Death and the Pains of Hell in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” In  Binding the Absent Body in Medieval and Modern Art: Abject, Virtual, and Alternate Bodies, edited by Emily Kelley and Elizabeth Richards Rivenbark. New York: Routledge, 2017, pp. 111-132.
• Jennifer M. Feltman, ed. The North Transept of Reims Cathedral: Design, Construction, and Visual Programs (Routledge, 2016) with contributions: “Introduction,” pp. 1-11; and “Royal and Clerical Iconography and the Chronology of the Last Judgment Portal at Reims Cathedral,” pp. 115-39.
• “Charlemagne’s Sin, the Last Judgment, and the New Theology of Penance at Chartres.” Studies in Iconography 35 (2014): 121-64.
• “Inscribing Order: The Didactic Function of The Walters Art Museum MS 73.” Athanor 25 (2007): 7-15.

To download certain publications, visit https://crimson.academia.edu/JenniferFeltman

Digital Projects

VR Cathedral for Education
http://vrcathedral.org/

The Lordship and Commune Project, A Collaboratory
http://www.medievalart.org/lordship-and-commune

Portals of the Last Judgment
https://www.jenniferfeltman.com/lastjudgment/

Recent and Upcoming Presentations

“Collecting the Fragments of Notre Dame de Paris,” lecture for the Alliance Française de Birmingham, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, September 8, 2023

“Digital Twin Technologies, Notre Dame and Beyond: Current Challenges, Possible Futures,” Keynote lecture, Medieval Association of the Pacific Annual Conference, University of Oregon, Eugene, April 20, 2023

“Technologies of Restoration: Notre Dame and Beyond with VR demo,” Moorehead State University, Moorehead, Kentucky, September 26, 2022

“Restoring the Great Cathedrals of France,” lecture for the Alliance Française de Birmingham, Samford University, September 8, 2022

“The Post-Medieval Life of the Last Judgment Portal Sculptures at Reims Cathedral,” International Medieval Congress 2022, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, July 4-7, 2022

“Visualizing Time: Analyzing and Documenting Layers of Polychromy on the Last Judgment Portal of Notre-Dame,” 57th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 9-14, 2022

Recent Grants and Awards

UA President’s Research Award – Mid-Career Scholar, Arts and Humanities 2023
UA Office of Research and Economic Development, RGC Grant 2023
FACE Foundation Transatlantic Research Partnership 2022
ICMA-Kress Research and Publication Grant 2021
Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Seed Grant 2020
UA Office of Research and Development Small Grant 2020
UA College of Arts and Sciences CARSCA Grant 2018
SEC Faculty Travel Grant 2017-2018
UA Research and Grants Committee – Level 1 Grant 2017
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend 2015
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar (York, UK) 2014
Medieval Academy of America Travel Grant 2013

Service to the Profession

International Center of Medieval Art, The Cloisters: Board of Directors (2019-2022); Chair, Advocacy Committee (2021-2024)
Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Technology, Science and Art (AVISTA): Board of Directors (2014- ); Publications Director (2016- )
Series Editor, AVISTA Studies in the History of Science, Technology and Art, Brill Publishing, Leiden, The Netherlands