A chart describing Hagia Sophia's orientation and "sightings of sun," drawn by Van Nice in 1958. From the Robert L. Van Nice Collection.
The Robert L. Van Nice Collection is a new blog created by the staff at the Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library in Washington, D.C. The blog chronicles the processing of the Robert L. Van Nice collection and offers a fascinating glimpse into the daily work of museum archivists.
The Van Nice collection includes items such as notebooks, research papers, blue prints, drawings and photographs which document the large-scale architectural survey of Hagia Sophia conducted by Van Nice from 1937-1985.
The blog is interesting because it is as much about the process of going through these materials as it is about the materials themselves. Instead of waiting for the 70+ boxes of research materials to be identified, processed and finally put into some sort of exhibition, we get to “open the boxes” so to speak, right alongside the archivists.
Many of the posts include drawings and photographs from the collection, here are some beautiful photographs of a study of light done in Hagia Sophia in 1948.
