Class dates:   Thursdays, Feb 12, 19, 26, March 5, 12 (5 weeks)

Class time: 10:00 am to 11:30 am

Location: Online (via Zoom)

This course highlights several thorny contemporary issues impacting museums, scholars, collectors, auction houses, and the history of art and architecture. Concerns regarding provenance, attribution and authenticity had been within the private domain of those directly involved in the field of art and art history. However, topics such as who created the art, who owns the art and who should own the art have now entered the public domain and are often headline news. Discussions will include the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum, the Benin Bronzes, the Rembrandt Research Project, and two paintings linked to Leonardo Da Vinci, the Salvator Mundi and Worcester Art Museum’s own predella panel, A Miracle of Saint Donatus of Arezzo .

Instructor: Dr. Barbara Beall is Professor Emerita and former Chair of the Department of Art, Music and Theater at Assumption University. She also served as the President of the Central Mass Chapter of the Archeological Institute of America for a decade. She has a specialty in Medieval Art & Architecture and as a Visiting Professor at Clark University, taught African as well as Islamic Art and Architecture. Dr. Beall completed her doctorate at Brown University in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture and her publications in Art History include articles, reviews and the book, Understanding the Art Museum .