Mary Miller (art historian) facts for kids

Example reproduction of a section of the Bonampak Murals as commissioned by Professor Mary Miller and completed by artists Heather Hurst and Leonard Ashby of the Bonampak Documentation Project. The infrared images captured by this project revealed portions of the murals that were not visible to the naked eye due to erosion or otherwise destroyed by previously botched restoration attempts. In this way, Hurst and Ashby were able to create very detailed reproductions.

Mary Ellen Miller (born December 30, 1952) is an American art historian. She is an expert on Mesoamerica and the ancient Maya civilization.

Mary Miller's Career in Academia

Mary Miller grew up in New York State. She studied at Princeton University and then earned her Ph.D. from Yale in 1981. Her main research was about the amazing wall paintings found in Bonampak, Mexico.

In 1981, Miller started teaching at Yale. Later, she became a special professor of History of Art. From 1999 to 2008, she was the head of Saybrook College, one of Yale's residential colleges.

Leading Yale College

In 2008, Mary Miller became the Dean of Yale College. This was a very important job, as she was the first woman to hold this top position at Yale College. The president of Yale, Richard C. Levin, praised her greatly. He said she was a "magnificent scholar" and a "devoted teacher."

Miller served as dean until 2014. She decided to step down because she wanted to focus more on her research and teaching.

Other Important Roles

During her time at Yale, Miller also led several departments. These included the history of art, Latin American studies, and archaeological studies. She also directed a program for undergraduate students studying art history.

Until 2018, she worked at the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage at Yale. In 2019, she became the director of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. This is a major center for art history research.

Exhibitions and Maya Art

Mary Miller has helped create important art exhibitions. In 2004, she was a guest curator for "The Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya." This popular exhibition showed Maya art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

For this exhibition, she wrote a detailed book called a catalogue. She also co-authored another famous exhibition book, The Blood of Kings, in 1986. This book won an award for its excellent work.

Research and Books

Mary Miller has spent many years studying and documenting the ancient Maya wall paintings at Bonampak, Mexico. She worked with a team of experts and artists to recreate these murals. This project helped reveal parts of the paintings that were hidden or damaged.

Her work on Bonampak led to two important books:

• The Murals of Bonampak (1986)
• The Spectacle of the Late Maya Court; Reflections on the Murals of Bonampak (2013), with Claudia Brittenham

Miller has also written several books for a general audience. These books help people learn about ancient Maya and Mesoamerican art and history. Some of her well-known books include:

• Maya Art and Architecture
• The Art of Mesoamerica
• The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion (with Karl Taube)

She has also written many articles about Aztec and Maya art.

Supporting Ancient Texts

In 2017, Professor Miller supported the authenticity of the Grolier Codex. This is a very old Maya book. She explained that some parts of the manuscript might look imperfect because it was likely made by a local artist.

Awards and Recognition

Mary Miller has received many honors for her work on the Maya civilization. She won a Guggenheim Fellowship, which is a special award for scholars. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 2010, she gave the 59th A. W. Mellon lectures at the National Gallery of Art. She also gave the Slade Lectures at Cambridge University in 2014–2015.

While she was dean at Yale, she helped secure a large grant. This money supported a program for Yale students studying the humanities.

See also

In Spanish: Mary Miller para niños