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 Memorial Union: The Transcendent Tower
Figured in Stone: The Arcade Sculptures of Memorial Tower
Medieval Musicians
This drawing shows two rejected boss sculpture designs. It is not known why the architects’ discarded the imagery. On the left, an angel plays a buzine, a post-Roman era trumpet. The image on the right depicts a man playing a lute. A Middle Eastern string instrument, the lute was popular during the Tudor period (1485–1603) in England. These musicians celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of Mizzou men and it is possible they are performing at a funerary banquet or in Heaven. The architects’ made these drawings, along with a large amount of documents, on vellum (animal skin) because of its water resistant quality. Stored improperly for years, these materials are too fragile to display and are only available in the digital format seen here. In the past few years, MU’s Building and Infrastructures Archives has organized, preserved, and digitized this information.
Medieval Musicians (Drawing Courtesy of MU Building and Infrastructure Archives)
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University of Missouri
