From Fragment to Floor: A Digital Reconstruction of the Chertsey Combat Series Tiles (English, c. 1250) and Their Lost Texts
Prof. Amanda Luyster, College of the Holy Cross
13 May 2021
The thirteenth-century Chertsey tiles, held and displayed at the British Museum, rank among the most well-known and elaborate medieval floor tiles in England. Probably originally intended for the royal palace at Westminster under Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, the two-color inlaid Chertsey tiles displayed Latin texts surrounding images of combats, including that of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. This project undertook a full digital reconstruction of the tiles as laid as a floor. Our current attempt to reconstruct this royal floor enables new and significant conclusions regarding the historical role of the floor, but also raises some issues which may be common to other digital projects.
This presentation was delivered at the (en)coding Heritage Seminar Series, which brought together researchers working at the cutting edge of digital technologies, humanities and heritage science. The session was dedicated to Digital Reconstructions and Reactions. The full programme can be found here.
Organised and chaired by Dr Lia Costiner (University of Oxford) and Dr Leonardo Impett (Durham University) for the Oxford (en)coding Heritage Network.
(en)coding Heritage Network, TORCH Networks
