Stanley Denys Trevor Spittle OBE, MA, FSA, (

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

1920 – 7 December 2003) was an English archaeologist.

Biography

Spittle studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

, and in 1935 became a member of the “Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum”. Spittle was involved in the 1951

Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki; , ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long, in size and has a population of 2,596 (2021 census). Its main industries ...

Expedition of the New York University Institute of Fine Arts which unearthed two ancient Greek structures - a hall for votive gifts of the sixth century B.C. and a great altar court. Spittle also contributed to the reports on the preceding excavations, published in 1964 and 1982. He was Editor (in charge), Cambridge office,

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

, involved in studying the wall paintings at Pembroke College, of the archaeological sites of Cambridgeshire, the archaeological sites of Northamptonshire, as well as the historic town of

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber ...

. He also produced illustrations. He was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1956. He served as president of the Royal Archaeological Institute, 1981–1984. Spittle was an important collector of art with an extensive collection including 25

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

s; these manuscripts originally belonged to Sir Thomas Watson, and when Watson died in 1921 he left 25 volumes, which eventually ended up in the hands of Spittle. Shortly before his own death in 2003 Spittle helped devise the (2007) exhibition at the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

, Cambridge, entitled "Private Pleasures: Illuminated manuscripts from Persia to Paris", which showcased his collection of manuscripts dating from the 10th to the 20th centuries. Highlights included a Byzantine Gospel, a Flemish Book of Hours, an Ottoman Koran and a Venetian copy of Cicero. Dr Stella Panayotova, Keeper of Manuscripts and Printed Books at the Fitzwilliam Museum and the curator of Private Pleasures, said "This exhibition celebrates the passion for medieval manuscripts, the pleasure of collecting them and the excitement of sharing them with others. We are delighted to have the opportunity to display this selection of treasures from so personal a collection."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spittle, Denys 20th-century English architects English art collectors English archaeologists Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge 2003 deaths 1920 births People of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Presidents of the Royal Archaeological Institute Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire