Scholar - Women Also Know History

Participant Info

Keywords: Medieval art, Medieval architecture, Narrative art, Image and text, Ekphrasis, Gothic art, Gothic architecture, Romanesque, Christian art, Church art, Middle ages, Classical reception, Greco-Roman mythology, Scholasticism, Manuscript Illumination, Medieval sculpture, Medieval manuscripts, Heritage, Material Culture, Visual Culture, Green man, Green men, Foliate heads, Foliate masks, Architectonic sculpture, Twelfth century renaissance, Renaissance

About Me: Dr Cassandra Harrington is an art historian specialising in medieval sculpture and manuscript illumination. She has a particular interest in the transmission and reception of ideas, and the dialogue between visual and textual modes in Gothic Europe. Her recent research examines classical reception in the art of the Middle Ages, with a focus on the use of Greco-Roman imagery in Christian contexts, and the so-called ‘Green Man’.

Cassie has worked across a variety of settings, from lecturing and widening participation to historic collections and auction houses. She has taught both Classics and History at The University of Kent, and has recently contributed to projects with Canterbury Cathedral, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, and the OLOG Buildings Preservation Trust.

She completed an AHRC CHASE-funded PhD at Kent’s Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies and, in 2024, was awarded a research grant from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. Her forthcoming book, Foliate Heads and Masks in Gothic Art: A Reappraisal of ‘Green Man’ Iconography, c.1200–1350, will be published next year.

Expertise by Topic: Art & Architectural History, Literary History, Material Culture, Public History