A Window on to Everyday Life

While many museums remain shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Apollo’s usual weekly pick of exhibitions will include shows at institutions that are now reopening as well as digital projects providing virtual access to art and culture.

With toys and games, cutlery, clocks, furniture and much more besides – all drawn from the Musée du Cluny’s collection– this exhibition shines a light on daily life in the Middle Ages in Europe. The display considers what the functional objects with which people of different means surrounded themselves might reveal about how they lived, from personal hygiene to private religious practices. It is suggested that artisanal craftspeople were as important as artists in terms of their contributions to medieval culture. Find out more about the exhibition, which runs until 28 September, from the Cluny’s website (open to the public from 1 July).

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Polychrome wooden carving of a Virgin and Child with the Trinity inside (c. 1400), eastern Prussia. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais (musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge)/Michel Urtado

Knife (15th century), France. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais (musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge)/Michel Urtado

Playing card (second half of 16th century), northern Italy. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais (musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge)/Michèle Bellot

Double-sided comb with religious scenes (15th century), possibly central Netherlands. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais (musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge)/Jean-Gilles Berizz