Fragmented Devotion: Medieval Objects from the Schnütgen Museum Cologne

The exhibition “Fragmented Devotion” explored modes of collecting, displaying and interpreting fragments of medieval devotional art using objects from the collection assembled in the end of the 19th century by Alexander Schnütgen, a Catholic priest and collector in Cologne. The exhibition was divided into three parts: the first part displayed objects in settings that evoked the original settings medieval viewers would have experienced; the second part simulated the crowded, ahistorical display typical for a 19th-century art collection with objects taken out of their original context; the third part was a clean, white, Bauhaus-like setting, where viewers experienced fragments from larger medieval settings as objects of art. The design challenge was to reflect the exhibition’s concept and structure in the catalogue design.

The concept of the exhibition is conveyed through the use of three distinct typefaces—blackletter, 19th-century German typeface and sans serif. They represent the three time periods and the three modes of collecting and displaying the objects. The idea of fragmentation is reflected in the exhibition’s logo, in the subtle reference to a crucifix on the title page and on the part openers and in the “incomplete cross” appearing between the duotone images. The typographic structure is based on the tension and dialogue between historical and contemporary typographic elements in the framework of a modern book. In a similar fashion, the medieval objects relate to the modern museum’s environment. Brown duotones evoke the look of 19th-century printing and also happen to render rather accurately the current, weathered appearances of the objects.