Earnestine Qiu

Lecture Series: Lives of the Desert Fathers and the history of Armenian manuscript production with Earnestine Qiu                                                                                   

Thursday, November 7, 2019 6:30pm reception, 7pm lecture
Adele & Haig Der Manuelian galleries, 3rd floor                                                                                     

NOTE: The Museum’s elevator is in the process of being upgraded and is currently out of service. 

Free to the public                                                                                                                

Join us as we welcome Ph.D. candidate, Earnestine Qiu and her discussion of The illuminated fifteenth-century manuscript of the Lives of the Desert Fathers (Jerusalem, Armenian Patriarchate, MS 285). This work was produced in Crimea and belongs to a long textual tradition. However, despite its significance as a rare and early example of an illustrated version of the text, Jerusalem 285 has received very little art historical attention. In addition to its aesthetic value, the quality and production of this manuscript  provide a glimpse into the vibrant Armenian community present in fifteenth-century Crimea. Furthermore, the afterlife of Jerusalem 285 testifies to the rich and complex history of Armenian manuscript production.                                                                                                                                    

Earnestine Qiu is a Ph.D. student in the Art & Archaeology Department at Princeton University. She received her M.A. in Art History from Tufts University and her B.A. in Art History and Linguistics from Rutgers University. In 2018, Earnestine worked as a research associate at the Armenian Museum of America. She also has fieldwork experience in Cappadocia and Istanbul, and contributed to the Armenia! exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.