Naomi Billingsley

Overview

My research interests lie at the intersection of the history of art and the history of Christianity in Britain, especially in the Romantic period. In other words, my work is concerned with how Christianity and art influenced each other in Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

My current project, funded by a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the John Rylands Research Institute, focuses on the Macklin Bible – an exhibition and publication project that resulted in the publication of an ambitious illustrated Bible between 1791 and 1800. My project investigates the formation and reception of the Bible in the context of religious visual culture in the Romantic period. The project makes extensive use of the Bible Collection at the John Rylands Library, which includes three first editions of the Macklin Bible, a copy of the reissue of 1824, and numerous eighteenth-century illustrated Bibles to contextualise the Macklin. The research will also draw on other collections at the John Rylands Library, including visual collections and the papers of William Artaud (one of the contributing artists), as well as other collections in Greater Manchester, including the Whitworth, and Bolton Library and Museums.

I am one of the project team for the network ''Lives and Afterlives of Letters'', funded by a JRRI Collaboration Grant and the SALC Networking Fund, which will run a series of seminars and workshops in 2017-18 relating to using correspondence in research.

I am also developing a network about visionary artists post-1800 with Lieke Wijnia (Groningen). Its inaugural meeting will be in Manchester in February 2018, funded by the SALC Networking Fund.

In March 2018 I will be a visiting fellow at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin.

I am coordinating a panel%20(1).pdf) at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies on biblical painting in eighteenth century Britain.

William Blake is another continuing research interest: a monograph and three related essays emerging from my doctoral research on Blake’s depictions of Christ are forthcoming. Another forthcoming article examines figurings of Blake’s religious ideas by early twentieth century critics.

Biography

I joined the John Rylands Research Institute as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in January 2017.

Before my current role, I worked in a research role for the Diocese of Chichester in partnership with the Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King''s College London, where I remain a Visiting Research Fellow. I have also lectured in Art History for Birkbeck, University of London (Autumn 2016), and worked as a picture researcher for King''s College London''s Visual Commentary on Scripture project (Autumn 2015).

My PhD, awarded by the University of Manchester in January 2016, was entitled ‘The Visual Christology of William Blake.’ It was funded by the AHRC and a Presidential Doctoral Scholar''s Award from the University of Manchester. I also held a visiting fellowship at the Yale Center for British Art during my doctoral research.

I previously studied Theology and Religious Studies (BA) at the University of Cambridge, and Christianity and the Arts (MA) at King’s College London.

I enjoy sharing my research with a variety of audiences, and have worked on research-led widening participation and public engagement initiatives with the Big Blake Project, the Brilliant Club, the Diocese of Chichester, the John Rylands Library, West Sussex Record Office and the Whitworth.