Grad student awarded first Biggs thesis grant

Teresa Nevins, an art history doctoral candidate

10:02 a.m., July 25, 2005--Teresa Nevins, an art history doctoral candidate completing her thesis on an early Ninth-Century illuminated manuscript, recently received UD’s first Sewell C. Biggs fellowship.

The grant of $6,000, named after a UD alumnus, benefactor and collector of American art who died in January 2003, was awarded to Nevins for her strong thesis topic and dedicated research on the Valenciennes 99 manuscript--an early ninth-Century document that previously has been overlooked by medievalist scholars.

“Illuminated manuscripts are not that common, and any documents that were made around the year 800 tended to get ignored, because of the influence of Charlemagne,” Nevins said, “but why this particular manuscript--a really beautiful piece containing 39 full-color illustrations--has never been studied is a point I’m exploring in my thesis.”

Nevins, who explained that another unusual aspect of the manuscript is its dedication to images from the Bible’s book of Revelation, said that her thesis also will examine how Valenciennes 99 was used.

“This is a very interesting manuscript, because it shows how to interpret the book of Revelation via images,” she said. “It connects the text of the Bible to outside text, and for that reason, it seems to have been made for the express purpose of teaching readers the theological meaning of the book of Revelation.”

And, the book was not for ordinary lay readers, Nevins emphasized, but serious theological scholars.

“When you are unlocking the mysteries of the Bible, and sharing this knowledge with other scholars, you’re going to see the results in the next generations,” she said. “For this reason, I believe the manuscript was used as a window into higher education, and I think I can make a case for that.”

Research to prove this point in her dissertation has already taken Nevins to many lectures, museums and libraries, including the municipal library in Valenciennes, the city in northern France near the Saint Amand Monastery, where the manuscript is believed to have been used.

“A lot of the study of early manuscripts involves following threads, doing sleuth work and actually traveling to the places where these works are kept,” Nevins said. “Because all early manuscripts are on parchment and can’t be moved, travel can get to be expensive, so that’s one reason why this grant is such a privilege.”

Nevins said that with much of her travel over until the spring, she will use the grant money primarily to obtain high-quality color reproductions of the manuscript, which are essential to her dissertation.

According to Tom Apple, dean of UD’s College of Arts and Sciences, Nevins’ exemplary scholarship made her an outstanding candidate for the fellowship.

“Graduate work like this is the kind of scholarship we want to encourage,” Apple said. “It reflects the opportunities offered at the University for graduate students as they prepare for the next stage of life.”

Ann Ardis, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that when administrators from the college and faculty from the Department of Art History met to determine the inaugural recipient, Nevins’ work stood out.

“We wanted the grant to go to a really strong dissertation, and we wanted the dissertation to be finished in the [academic] year in which the grant was awarded,” Ardis said.

Nevins, who has been an art history graduate student at UD since 1994, received her master’s degree in 1999. Her adviser is Lawrence Nees, professor of art history.

Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photo by Kathy Atkinson

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