Calls for papers
61st Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, Berlin,
March 26 - 28, 2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Italian Renaissance Art and Artifacts: Restorations, Alterations,
Transformations
During periods when sacred art and ecclesiastical embellishment served
important liturgical roles, alterations were sometimes deemed essential
to the didactic and spiritual functioning of the work, for example, the
"modernization" by an early Trecento Ducciesque master of Guido da
Siena's c. 1270 Madonna and Child in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena.
Changing tastes sometimes impelled updating, as occurred when Giotto's
Baroncelli altarpiece in Sta. Croce had its offending Gothic frame
truncated and was enclosed within a classicizing surround. Vasari, as
Counter-Reformation architect, destroyed or altered many Gothic objects
in Florentine churches, while the 19th century, in turn. replaced
Vasari's interventions with neo-Gothic elements. During the Ottocento,
in fact, restorations were frequently effected to transform unmarketable
objects into saleable merchandise or, as importantly, to bring works in
line with the Romantic ideal of the Golden Age of Renaissance Italy.
Until the 1870s, Tre- and Quattrocento paintings, furnishings and
sculptures were readily available and inexpensive. By enhancing their
visual appeal and displaying them in evocative venues such as the
Bardini, Hibbert, and Horne house-museums, their market value was
greatly heightened at the very moment of diminishing supply. Papers
should address changes to the physical and visual properties of
Renaissance art and artifacts, and the motivations for these
interventions, focusing on individual objects, the practices of specific
restorers, and/or the desires of particular dealers or collectors.
Speakers might attempt to distinguish between a fantasy Lost Golden Age
from a more authentic appraisal of objects dating from this crucial
moment of the Early Modern period.
Please send 150-word abstracts, a CV, key words, and full contact
information by May 20 to the session organizer:
[log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Understanding artist migration: immigrant and itinerant artists
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
Early modern artists were remarkably mobile. Despite political and
economic turmoil, artists managed to traverse great distances and cross
regional boundaries with considerable frequency. Such unprecedented
mobility cultivated artistic exchange and innovation, encouraging on the
one hand the exploration of new materials, motifs, and techniques while
also fostering far-reaching stylistic connections. While the effect of
travel on an artist's subsequent career after his return has received
considerable attention from scholars, the process of migration remains
less understood.
This panel will consider the dynamics of artist migration and its
artistic, cultural, economic, and even psychological implications. In
particular, this session seeks to explore how migration impacted and was
manifested in artistic production and social and professional behavior
(relationships, networks, communities, etc.). Artists living and working
in a foreign center often were challenged to mediate their individual
cultural and artistic identity with that of their new environment. Their
strategies in response to these challenges varied. For example, some
immigrant-artists tried to adapt to local artistic developments, others
opted for differentiation or specialization or searched for additional
sources of income. The success of artistic strategies also depended on
social factors, including integration, the formation of foreign
colonies, opportunities for local patronage and artistic collaboration.
We welcome papers that approach artist migration and its visual
expression with case studies or conceptually/theoretically. Please send
your paper title, abstract (max. 150 words), and CV (max. 300) to Erin
Downey ([log in to unmask]) and Marije Osnabrugge
([log in to unmask]). The deadline for submissions is 30 May 2014.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|