Background
She was born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, and was educated at the Lady Eleanor Holles School and the University of Edinburgh.
She was born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, and was educated at the Lady Eleanor Holles School and the University of Edinburgh.
University of Edinburgh.
Hicks worked at the British Museum researching the Sutton Hoo ship burial, before becoming a research fellow at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and then curator of the Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral. She became a fellow at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she taught until her death. Angela Thirlwell describes Hicks as a "glamorous academic and a serious populariser of art," who "swept the dust off old masterpieces, explained their cultural contexts and infused them with life for a new public."
Hicks wrote several books:
Animals in Early Medieval Art (1993)
Improper Pursuits: The Scandalous Life of Lady Di Beauclerk (2001), about Lady Diana Beauclerk
The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story of a Masterpiece (2006), in which she suggested Edith of Wessex as the author of the Bayeux Tapestry
The King"s Glass: A Story of Tudor Power and Secret Art (2007), about the stained-glass windows of King"s College Chapel
Girl in a Green Gown: The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait (2011), about January van Eyck"s Arnolfini Portrait.