Fragments of Devotion: A Sensory History of Illuminated Manuscript Cuttings
Online exhibition
Launches 30 June 2025
Devotion leaves traces—on parchment, in song, through touch. Across centuries, acts of worship have imprinted themselves on sacred manuscripts, transforming them into deeply personal objects of connection and belief.
Fragments of Devotion invites you to explore the sensory and emotional dimensions of devotion from the medieval to early modern periods. Through illuminated manuscript cuttings and rare Books of Hours, this online exhibition reveals how people expressed their faith—not just through words, but through gesture, music, and intimate interaction with the page.
You’ll encounter worn edges where saints’ images were kissed by generations of believers, and quiet notes scribbled in the margins of sacred songs. These small, powerful details offer a window into the lived experiences of devotion—how it was seen, felt, and heard. The exhibition will explore the later Victorian fascination with manuscript aesthetics, leading to the dissection and dissemination of these intricate illuminations, removed from context and forever fragmented.
Curated by MA Art History and Curating students at the University of Birmingham, the exhibition brings together exquisite manuscript cuttings from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s world-renowned collection, alongside rarely displayed intact Books of Hours from the Barber Institute and the Cadbury Research Library. Each object has been carefully selected for its beauty, craftsmanship, and the sensory stories it tells.
This is the second exhibition in an annual partnership between the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, the V&A, and the University’s Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies. It reflects a shared commitment to making historic collections accessible, engaging, and relevant to new audiences.
To deepen your experience, the exhibition includes interactive and auditory features that bring these manuscripts to life—early music, close-up details, deep-dive videos and a fun family-friendly trail will enable you to connect to these objects in new and unique ways.
Public engagement activities will extend the exhibition beyond the screen, including:
- Bookmark-making at the CocoMAD festival
- An illustrated podcast episode hosted by one of the student curators
Whether you’re a scholar, a student, or simply curious, Fragments of Devotion offers a rare opportunity to connect with the past through the senses—and to discover the enduring power of devotion in material form.
