A Pilgrimage to St. Catherine’s Monastery
A Pilgrimage to St. Catherine’s Monastery
Lecturer: Dr. Helen Rufus-Ward
St Catherine’s Monastery, at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt was founded in the sixth century by Byzantine emperor Justinian I – the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments, the location of the legend of the Burning Bush and the resting place of the martyred body of St Catherine. The Greek Orthodox monastery is packed full of precious religious art – a splendid basilica with exquisite little chapels, intricately carved wooden doors and breathtaking mosaics, an amazing collection of the rarest early icons to survive, and a library of rare and beautiful religious manuscripts.
Dr Helen Rufus-Ward is an art historian with a BA (1st class), an MA with distinction, and a doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Sussex. She has published on late Antique and Byzantine ivory carvings, plaster casting of art works and 19th century collecting. As well as holding a Higher Education Academy teaching qualification, Helen is a member of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies, the Society of Jewellery Historians, and is the Chairman of Eastbourne Arts Circle that has raised significant sums of money for the Towner Art Gallery Eastbourne.