Richard Marks , is a British art historian. He has held a number of curating and academic posts in art history in the United Kingdom and researched and written extensively on medieval religious images in a variety of media, including

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Marks was born on 2 July 1945, the birth recorded in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. Marks' higher education took place at the Courtauld Institute of Art,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where he gained the degrees of B.A., M.A. and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

. His doctoral thesis was entitled ''The stained glass of the collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, Tattershall (Lincs.).''

Working life

Marks commenced his career as a curator at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

before moving north to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

when he was appointed as Keeper of the

Burrell Collection The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of William Burrell, Sir William Burrell and Constance Burrell, Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum opened in 1983 and reopened on ...

. He later returned to the south of England after he was appointed Director of the Royal Pavilion and Museums,

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. An academic career beckoned in 1992 when he was appointed to a personal chair in the History of Art Department at the University of York as Professor in Medieval Stained Glass, a post he held until 2008. In 2006-07 Marks was elected to

Visiting Fellow In academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of ...

ships at Corpus Christi College,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and

Churchill College Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...

and

Fitzwilliam College Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He was later made

Honorary Professor Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of Art History, University of Cambridge and Keeper of Works of Art at Fitzwilliam College in 2008, a position he held until 2012. Marks is

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in the Department of Art History at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

. His primary field of research is

Gothic Art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern Europe, Norther ...

in a variety of media that includes stained glass, sculpture and illuminated manuscripts. In 1977 Marks was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries London, and was later to serve in an honoraray capacity as the organisation's vice president. Marks has also been active with the ''Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi'' project, serving as its International President and contributing to its list of Summary Catalogues of medieval stained glass in the counties of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. Mark's scholarship and experience were in evidence when he was approached by the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

(V&A) to contribute to a future exhibition that was in its very early planning stages in the 1990s. Writing in 2003 in the V&A ''Conservation Journal,'' Paul Williamson, then Keeper of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass at the museum, describes how Marks came to be a key figure in the exhibition 'Art of England 1400-1547' held at the V&A in 2003. Planning for this started as early as 1993 and when, in 1995, soon after Alan Borg became the museum's director, Marks was invited to become the exhibition's guest curator. Marks also co-authored with Williamson the catalogue that accompanied the exhibition.

Photography

Marks' association with Courtauld Institute goes further than his academic studies. Photographs attributed to him appear in the institute's

Conway Library The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

. The collection, which includes film and glass negatives as well as prints, consists mainly of architectural and sculptural images and holds the archives of Paul Laib and Anthony Kersting. The collection is currently being digitised as part of the Courtauld Connects Project.

Selected publications

Marks has published extensively in his main areas of research; western art and mainly English art especially stained glass.

Books

''The Art and Science of the Church Screen in Medieval Europe: Making, Meaning, Preserving'', 2020, Martlesham, Boydell and Brewer ISBN 978-1783275359 (As joint editor with Spike Bucklow and Lucy Wrapson) ''Stained Glass in England During the Middle Ages'', 2014, Abingdon, Routledge ISBN 978-1138009141 ''Studies in Art and Imagery'', 2013, London, Pindar Press ISBN 1 904597 38 6 ''Image and Devotion in Late Medieval England'', 2004, Cheltenham, The History Press ISBN 0750914661 ''The Golden Age of English Manuscript Painting 1200–1500'', London, Chaotto and Windus, ISBN 9780701125394

Articles

"Images of Henry VI", in J. Stratford (ed.), ''The Lancastrian Court'' (Harlaxton Medieval Studies, X) (Stamford, 2003), pp. 111–124 "Medieval Stained Glass: recent and future trends in scholarship", ''The Journal of Stained Glass'' XXIV (2000), pp. 62–79 "Altarpiece, Image and Devotion: Fourteenth-century Sculpture at Cobham, Kent", in P. Binski and W. Noel (eds.), ''New Offerings, Ancient Treasures Studies in Medieval Art for George Henderson'' (Stroud, 2001), pp. 417–444 "The Thirteenth-Century Glazing of Salisbury Cathedral", in L. Keen & T. Cocke (eds.), ''Medieval Art and Architecture at Salisbury Cathedral'' (British Archaeological Assoc. Conference Trans., XVII, 1996), pp. 196–120

Online Article

"The Taylard Family Windows at Gamlingay and Diddlington", ''Vidimus'', Issue 131, April 2020

References

External links

* https://www.cam.ac.uk https://www.york.ac.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Richard 1945 births Living people British art historians Academics of the University of York Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Fellows of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Luton