Jan. 31, 2007 -- Lawrence Nees, medieval art expert and professor of art history at the University of Delaware, will give the first McIntire Department of Art spring lecture on Thursday, Feb. 1. Nees' lecture, "Reading and Seeing: The beginning of book illustration and the modern discourse on ethnicity," will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Campbell Hall, Room 160 at the University of Virginia. A reception in the Fayerweather Lounge will follow the lecture.

Nees, an expert in the art of the Middle Ages in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and Byzantine worlds, teaches at the University of Delaware. He is the author of numerous books including "The Gundohinus Gospels," "From Justinian to Charlemagne: European Art A.D. 565-787," "A Tainted Mantle: Hercules and the Classical Tradition at the Carolingian Court and Early Medieval Art 300-1000." Two forthcoming books are "Frankish Manuscripts 7th-10th Centuries" and "The Coronation Throne from Saint-Remi: Art and Political Legitimacy in the 20th Century."

Nees received his bachelor of arts from the University of Chicago and his master's and doctorate from Harvard.

For information about the lecture contact Sylvia New Strawn at (434) 924-6122 or sns@virginia.edu.