http://hdl.handle.net/1974/117 Art History program of the Queen's Art Department 2013-05-25T02:26:15Z http://hdl.handle.net/1974/7994 Title: Francesco Salviati Ritrattista: Experiments in Cinquecento Portraiture Authors: Huang, Xiaoyin Abstract: This dissertation aims to provide a comprehensive study of Francesco Salviati’s portraits, analyzed within a chronological framework. Traditional attributions are re-examined and recent discoveries included to establish a reliable core group of the artist’s portraits, one exhibiting a stylistic coherence. Salviati’s activities as a portraitist are placed in the historical, political, cultural and artistic context of his time, with particular emphasis on patronage. Versatile and well-connected, Francesco served a number of top-ranking patrons of his time, including Cardinal Giovanni Salviati, Pier Luigi and Alessandro Farnese (in Rome), Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (in Florence), the Grimani family (in Venice), King Henri II, and the Cardinal of Lorraine in France. This study intends to navigate portraiture’s role in the relationships between the courtier-artist and his princely patrons. Characterized by innovation and experimentation, Salviati’s portraits vary in composition, media and supports. As one of the earliest artists to produce portrait miniatures in Italy, Francesco evidently introduced the genre to Cosimo I de’ Medici’s court to create an aura of a royal court equal to that in France and England. His experiments with the use of various stone supports for portraits are discussed in relation to his status as the leading painter in Rome after the death of Sebastiano del Piombo in 1547. Lastly, the artist’s career as a book illustrator is explored to shed light on his interactions with well-known literati of his time, such as Pietro Aretino, Anton Francesco Doni and Giambattista Gelli. The designs Salviati provided for their author portraits are not only testimony to their acquaintance, but also evidence of the artist’s participation in their intellectual communities. Description: Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-29 15:59:52.863 2013-04-30T04:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1974/7993 Title: The Emergence and Evolution of Images of Ancient Roman Architecture in Renaissance and Early Baroque Rome Authors: Knight, Janina M. Abstract: This dissertation is a comprehensive and analytical study of drawings and prints produced by artists and architects between the fifteenth and early seventeenth centuries showing Roman ruins. The unprecedented interest in classical antiquity that emerged in the fifteenth century, which came to define the artistic, architectural, and cultural evolution of the Renaissance, was the catalyst for the production of such ruin-based images, of which thousands of examples survive. Because these drawings and prints were all inspired by and depict Roman ruins, they have often been treated as a single, cohesive genre of image. In this dissertation, however, these ruin-based images are categorized as architectural or archaeological studies, vedute of ruinous land- or cityscapes, architectural treatise and guidebook illustrations, topographical maps, and imaginative reconstructions of antique monuments. They are examined according to distinct criteria such as media, methods of representation, and the different purposes for the creation of said works. As a result, a better understanding of the complexities of early modern antiquarian interests is revealed, especially in regards to the contributions of artists and architects to the early study of ancient architecture. This dissertation addresses how artists and architects were innately fascinated with the architectural remains of ancient Rome, and how the medium of drawing proved to be the ideal method for studying, understanding, and interpreting ruins. The reciprocal relationship between artists, architects, and antiquarians is also addressed with the result that many extant ruin-based images found in museums and art collections throughout the world can now be understood as an integral part of a widespread antiquarian movement that shaped the Renaissance and early Baroque periods, especially in Rome. Description: Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-29 15:23:15.07 2013-04-30T04:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1974/7979 Title: Ladies-in-Waiting: Art, Sex and Politics at the Early Georgian Court Authors: Weichel, ERIC Abstract: This thesis discusses the cultural contributions – artistic patronage, art theory, art satire - of four Ladies-in-Waiting employed at the early eighteenth-century century British court: Mary, Countess Cowper; Charlotte Clayton, Baroness Sundon; Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk; and Mary Hervey, Baroness Hervey of Ickworth. Through a close reading of archival manuscripts, published correspondences and art historical treatises, I explore the cultural milieu, historical legacy and historiographic reception of these individuals. I argue that their writing reveals fresh insight on the switch from Baroque to Rococo modes of portraiture in Britain, as it does critical attitudes to sex, religion and politics among aristocratic women. Through the use of satire, these courtiers comment on extramarital affairs, rape, homosexuality and divorce among their peer group. They also show an interest in issues of feminist education, literature, political and religious patronage, and contemporary news events, which they reference through allusions to painting, architecture, sculpture, engravings, ceramics, textiles and book illustrations. Many of the artists patronized by the court in this period were foreign-born, peripatetic, and stylistically unusual. Partly due to the transnational nature of these artist’s careers, and partly due to the reluctance of later historians to admit the extent of foreign socio-cultural influence, biased judgements about the quality of these émigré painters’ work continue to predominate in art historical scholarship. While little-studied themselves, these Ladies-in-waiting were at the center of political, social and cultural life in Britain. Their letters therefore have much of value in reclaiming, not only their own contributions to the development of British cultural life, but those of the French or Francophile émigré artists patronized at court. By studying the work of these artists and the lives of their patrons, I examine the intersection between biography and artistic practice at the early eighteenth-century British court. Description: Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-29 03:14:47.731 2013-04-29T04:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1974/7879 Title: Artistic Interest in the Life of Alexander the Great During the Italian Renaissance Authors: Fisher, ALLISON Abstract: Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) was the king of Macedon and one of the greatest military commanders in the ancient world. Before his death at the age of thirty-three, Alexander had conquered Greece, the Persian Empire, and northern India. Alexander provided a model of a secular ruler for leaders in medieval and Renaissance Europe. Furthermore, with the revival of antique culture during the Renaissance, the life of Alexander became a favourite classical subject in art and literature. My thesis seeks to examine the artistic interest in the life of Alexander during the Italian Renaissance. During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, artists portrayed episodes from the life of Alexander for elite patrons, who commissioned monumental frescoes and panel-paintings, along with pieces of maiolica pottery, tapestry and sculpture for use in the rituals of court life. While Alexander represented a model of secular authority for the patron, he was also intrinsically linked with art. Alexander's court artists, particularly Apelles, had a legacy that was eagerly emulated by modern artists. This thesis begins by tracing the long literary tradition of Alexander. Accounts by ancient authors, medieval romances, and new humanist texts all informed the production of images of the ancient king. I will explore the earliest representations of Alexander influenced by the humanist themes of uomini famosi and Petrarch's I Trionfi, followed by the reception and the appeal of portraits of Alexander created by Andrea del Verrocchio, Valerio Belli, and Giulio Romano. I will argue that, based on evidence in the form of drawings, Raphael had life-long artistic interest in Alexander, and many of his designs were adapted by other artists, including a fresco by Sodoma at the Villa Farnesina, and finely decorated maiolica pottery. Finally, I will consider the monumental cycles of frescoes executed by artists for patrons, who had a profound personal connection to the ancient monarch. While the artistic interest in the life of Alexander seems to derive from the fact that he was an all'antica subject, as I will demonstrate throughout this thesis, this interest took many forms for patrons, artists, and viewers. Description: Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-17 11:47:31.549 2013-04-17T04:00:00Z