Carola Hicks (7 November 1941 – 23 June 2010) was a British art historian. She was born Carola Brown in

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, and educated at the

Lady Eleanor Holles School Lady Eleanor Holles School (often abbreviated to LEH or LEHS) is an independent day school for girls in Hampton, London. It consists of a small junior school and a larger senior school, which operate from different buildings on the same site. It ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where she took a first in archaeology in 1964. Carola returned to Edinburgh and gained her PhD, in 1967, on "Origins of the animal style in English Romanesque art". Hicks worked at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

researching the Sutton Hoo

ship burial A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as the tomb for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was p ...

, before becoming a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college is named in honour of Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925), who campaigned for the reform of women's education. History The college was founded in 1965 by fe ...

, and then

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral. She became a fellow at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, where she taught until her early death. Angela Thirlwell describes Hicks as a "glamorous academic and a serious populariser of art", who "swept the dust off old masterpieces, explained their cultural contexts and infused them with life for a new public". Hicks wrote and edited several books: *''England in the Eleventh Century'' (editor, 1992), from the "Harlaxton Medieval Studies" series (vol. II) *''Animals in Early Medieval Art'' (1993) *''Cambridgeshire Churches'' (editor, 1997) *''Discovering Stained Glass'' (2005), by John Harries and revised by Carola Hicks, from the Shire series *''Improper Pursuits: The Scandalous Life of Lady Di Beauclerk'' (2001), about

Lady Diana Beauclerk Lady Diana Beauclerk (''née'' Lady Diana Spencer; other married name Diana St John, Viscountess Bolingbroke; 24 March 1734 – 1 August 1808) was an English noblewoman and artist. Early life Beauclerk was born into the Spencer family as the da ...

*''The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story of a Masterpiece'' (2006), in which she suggested

Edith of Wessex Edith of Wessex ( 1025 – 18 December 1075) was Queen of England from her marriage to Edward the Confessor in 1045 until Edward died in 1066. Unlike most English queens in the 10th and 11th centuries, she was crowned. The principal source on h ...

as the author of the Bayeux Tapestry *''The King's Glass: A Story of Tudor Power and Secret Art'' (2007), about the stained-glass windows of

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan ...

*''Girl in a Green Gown: The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait'' (2011), about Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Carola 1941 births 2010 deaths British art historians Women art historians Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge British curators People educated at Lady Eleanor Holles School People from Bognor Regis British women historians British women curators