Dr. Sue Andrew is an independent researcher whose studies at Edinburgh and Plymouth Universities encompassed sociology, anthropology, comparative religion, art history, and architectural conservation.
Dr. Andrew presented a lecture titled: “Three hares: The cross-cultural journey of a medieval motif”.
The intriguing image of three hares running in a circle, and sharing ears which form a triangle at the centre of the design, is found in the sacred places of three major religions between the sixth and eighteenth centuries CE. From painted ceilings in Buddhist cave temples to carved wooden bosses in the roofs of Christian churches to painted panels in Jewish synagogues, the three hares crossed continents and cultures. Yet it is to exquisite works in the Islamic world that this lecture will turn if we are to understand the transmission of the motif in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries CE, for here the three hares were beautifully crafted in ceramic, glass, textile, and metalwork, in precious portable objects which were given, traded, and treasured.