Gateway Galleries
Discover the treasures of Scotland's oldest University in our exhibition spaces in the Gateway Building.
Current Exhibitions:
Image and Word: the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation
The University of St Andrews is marking the 450th anniversary of the Reformation in Scotland through an exhibition exploring the local and national impact of this formative event in Scottish history. A series of talks and a guided tour of Reformation St Andrews are also being run in association with the exhibition.
The Reformation of 1560 transformed Scotland from a Catholic country owing allegiance to the Pope in Rome to a Protestant one with a church and theology derived from the Geneva of John Calvin. As Scotland’s ecclesiastical capital, St Andrews was the spiritual heart of the Catholic Scottish kingdom as well as a key battleground in the struggle to establish the new Protestant religion.
This exhibition, drawing together material from the University Library’s Special Collections and Museum Collections, together with rarely seen artefacts from Holy Trinity Church in St Andrews, provides insights into both the world of pre-Reformation Scottish Catholicism and the new Protestant church. At the same time, it reveals how the Reformation has shaped Scottish society and culture over the past 450 years.
A series of events accompany this exhibition:
Lunchtime talks:
The University of St Andrews and the Reformation, 1560 - 1625
Wednesday 15 September 2010
Steven Reid’s gallery talk will focus on the role played by the University of St Andrews in the Reformation.
‘Monuments of Idolatry’: Shrines, Altars and Images in 16th Century St Andrews
Wednesday 22 September 2010
St Andrews’ churches were once filled with shrines, altars and statues. Almost all were destroyed during the Reformation. Bess Rhodes will discuss what we know about these lost works of art, and the part they played in burgh life.
The Reformation in St Andrews and the villages of Fife
Wednesday 10 November 2010
John McCallum’s talk will look at the experience of the Reformation in the local area.
All lunchtime talks will take place in the Gateway Galleries between 12.30pm and 1.30pm and will include the opportunity for questions from the audience. Light refreshments will be provided.
A walking tour of St Andrews
A walk through history: the Reformation in St Andrews
Saturday 2 October, 10.00am – 12.30pm
Join medieval historian, Simon Taylor, for a walking tour of St Andrews and encounter with him some of the stories from the Reformation, as experienced in St Andrews. Refreshments will be served at the Gateway after the walk.
All events are free, but booking is required. To book a place at an event, please contact Rhona Ramsay, Learning and Access Curator on 01334 462396 or email rhona.ramsay@st-andrews.ac.uk
Curator's Choice
Throughout 2010
Intriguing, inspiring, exotic, artistic, enlightening, scientific, thought-provoking: there are probably nearly as many ways to describe the items in the Museum Collections of the University of St Andrews as there are objects themselves. These amount to over 120,000 artefacts and specimens, ranging from archaeological finds, ethnographic material and zoological, anatomical and geological specimens, to furniture, artworks, silver, coins and medals, textiles and scientific instruments.
The curators and departmental experts were invited to select objects for this exhibition which appealed to them personally: not necessarily the most valuable or beautiful items in the collections, but ones which had spoken to them with their own unique, intriguing stories. The resulting display provides snapshots of the collections, selected by some of the people who know them best. Stop, look and wonder: do they fascinate you too?
Gateway Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 09.00-17.30
Saturday: 10.00-17.00
North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9ST View a map here - Gateway map (PDF, 172 KB)
Gateway reception Tel. 01334 467400
Museum Collections Unit Tel: 01334 462417
