Students from ARTH 498 create exhibition at Webster Library

Undergraduate students from the seminar course ARTH 498 Special Topics in the History of Art and Architecture: Archeoastronomy and Celestial Phenomena created an exhibition at the Webster Library. Taught by one of our Limited Term Appointments, Dr. Laurence Garneau, this seminar explored the importance of astronomy and astrology in the Italian Renaissance, through a trans-historical and interdisciplinary approach.

Through the various objects displayed in the wooden cases, students explore the role between celestial phenomena, art, and architecture. How can buildings, frescoes, pigments, and iconographies be shaped by - or act as agents - of their celestial context? How do natural sky phenomena generate wonder, authority, or even creative force?

The exhibition "Archeoastronomy: Conceptual Constellations and the Sky as Social Philia" is on view March 20 to 30, 2026 on the first floor of the Webster Library.