Visual artist, poet and art historian

Carol Barbour is currently working on a research project that studies the iconography of the Tabula Cebetis, an ekphrastic text from the first century CE that was re-examined by humanist scholars in the Renaissance. Artists created illustrations, paintings and prints of the subject, and in doing so developed a unique iconography.

In addition to studying the Tabula Cebetis, Carol has been making drawings and paintings inspired by the research. An artist book on the subject will be launched later in 2023.

Recently a chapter titled “The Artist’s Frame of Reference in Antoine Sucquet’s Via Vita Aeternae” was published in Ekphrastic Image-Making in Early Modern Europe, 1500 – 1700, edited by Art diFuria and Walter S. Melion. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004462069_004

Throughout her life, Carol has worked as an artist, creating drawings, paintings, sculptures, and artist books. Her work has been exhibited at galleries, libraries, and books fairs in Canada, USA, and Europe. Recent books include the poetry collection Infrangible (2018) and the artist book Alter Pieces (2019). Poems and essays are published by Scintilla, Canthius, The Fiddlehead, Sein und Werden, among others.

Carol Barbour. Tabula Cebetis (after de Hooghe). Oil on wood and plaster, 2018.