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You are cordially invited to the following free event which is part of the #ItalianUnimelb
seminar series:
Associate Professor Timothy McCall (Villanova University) will talk on
Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of a Milanese courtesan: new light on Cecilia Gallerani, the Girl
with an Ermine.
When:
Monday 29 July 2019
6.15pm
Where:
Forum Theatre, level 1 - Arts West, The University of Melbourne
Map: https://maps.unimelb.edu.au/parkville/building/148a/153
Seats are limited. Please register here:
http://alumni.online.unimelb.edu.au/LeonardodaVinci
Abstract
This talk focuses our attention anew on Leonardo da Vinci's famous Girl with an Ermine, a depiction of Cecilia Gallerani, mistress of the duke of Milan, Ludovico
Sforza. Timothy McCall examines Cecilia's artistic representation within conventions surrounding Renaissance mistresses at court, and in relation to visual imagery celebrating both her identity and that of her lord Ludovico. New evidence presented here - from
an overlooked letter, recent technical analysis of the painting, and fashion history alike - reveals that the relationship between the two began earlier than scholars have presumed (when Cecilia was barely in her teens). This provides a new, and crucial perspective
on the ways that Cecilia operated from a young age in Milan, and will allow us to rethink both Gallerani's connections with Leonardo da Vinci and her advertisement of these connections with the artist throughout her life.
Timothy McCall is Associate Professor of Art History, and director of the Art History Program, at Villanova University. His research centers on Italian Renaissance
court art and society, and on visual intersections of power and gender (particularly masculinity) more broadly, in addition to histories of fashion and material culture.
Contact:
Andrea Rizzi | Cassamarca Associate Professor in Italian Studies
School of Languages and Linguistics
The University of Melbourne