Photo by Dale Rothenberg. In the spring of , Aimee Caya had a decision to make. But with other highly regarded schools courting her as well, she was still uncommitted. She met current students and faculty members and had a long conversation with her likely advisor, Professor Elina Gertsman , a specialist in late medieval art. A CMA curator would present several guest lectures, and the students would contribute to an actual exhibition, writing descriptive wall labels and entries for an illustrated catalogue.
By the end of her visit, Caya was sold. She enrolled at CWRU that fall, and by spring she was taking the seminar Gertsman had told her about. The privileges that came with this experience—direct access to rare objects and research materials, involvement in mounting an exhibition at a world-class museum, a chance to write for publication while still in graduate school—are not typically available to art history students elsewhere.
Table Fountain, c. France, Paris. Gilt-silver, translucent enamel on basse-taille, and opaque enamel; Wade One impetus for enhancing the program came from The Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in the Humanities, says that the program redesign has been to the advantage of both institutions.
She wanted to include both sacred and secular art, emphasizing precious objects associated with piety and leisure in medieval Europe from to They discussed religious carvings and devotional books, ivories illustrating scenes from courtly romances, even a mirror case that once belonged to an aristocratic patron. On the second of its three tiers, enameled plaques depict grotesque creatures—part animal, part human—as well as musicians with instruments in hand.
In its day, it was also a source of entertainment and a technological wonder. When it was in operation, rosewater piped to its summit issued forth in jets and streams, turning wheels attached to bells, spouting from gargoyle-headed drains and filling the surrounding room or courtyard with scent.
