Digital Commons Network^™

A Virtual Reality Educational Game For The Ethics Of Cultural Heritage Repatriation, James Hutson, Ben Fulcher

Faculty Scholarship

The technology of virtual reality and the gamification of education has had proven educational benefits and has the ability to immerse students in a participatory learning experience. To capitalize on the strengths of the new digital medium, including immersion, engagement, and presence, a new educational game aims to teach the ethics of cultural heritage repatriation through the lens of art history. The use of games to address current issues and conceptualize a framework for understanding the complexities of geopolitics is not new but aligning these considerations with the pressing need to protect cultural heritage as seen in modern-day Ukraine is. …

Li Pittori Parlano Con L’Opere: Visualizing Poetry In Practice In Early Modern Italian Art, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

The relative sophistication of artists in the early modern era is contested, especially with regards to their educational backgrounds. On one hand, Dempsey-esque intellectual history is vested in touting the structured, literary curricula in art-educational institutions; while on the other, a complete rejection of the “artist-philosopher” as historical fiction seeks to undermine this hegemonic construct. This study argues that the lack of early formal education in the cases of artist like Annibale Carracci and Nicolas Poussin, who, unlike Peter Paul Rubens, did not have a firm foundation in the classics and languages that would allow them to engage directly with …

The Changing Role Of The French Court As Seen In Medieval Millefleurs Tapestry, Kelsey Cook

Student Scholarship

Amongst the chaos of war, plague, and death of the Middle Ages in France, there remained a seemingly untouched class of people: the nobility. These courtesans, although living in the lap of luxury, were not exempt from the anxieties of the time. The Hundred Years’ War left France in a constant state of unrest between the 1300s and 1400s, causing the elite to fall in and out of favor continuously. The price of luxury, it seemed, changed with each political shift. When studying the art made by and for these aristocrats, it becomes apparent that there are veiled indications of …

Byzantine And Islamic Influences On The Art And Architecture Of The Basilica Di San Marco In Venice, Suzie Hanny

Student Scholarship

More than any other building in Venice, the Basilica di San Marco (figure 1) incorporates many Byzantine and Islamic architectural, artistic, and design elements. These stylistic elements were not only intended to glorify God but to promote the Venetian Republic’s political and religious ideologies. The Venetian Republic held the belief that it was divinely ordained to be the rulers of the Adriatic. It was no coincidence that the founding of Venice is said to have occurred on March 25^th, the feast day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. While there are no surviving records of this, Venice …

Female Pharaohs And Divine Advocacy, Stephanie Jost

Theses

This analysis is addressing a form of divine advocacy by looking at the role of the goddess Hathor in the political/religious context of Egypt. Traditionally, pharaohs have used Hathor in Egyptian canonical imagery to convey messages of power- reiterating their own role as the incarnation of the God Horus. Here, we will focus on the role of traditional role of Hathor juxtaposing Royal Women in power during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom. The two female pharaohs, Sobekneferu and Hatshepsut, used their traditional roles as incarnations of Hathor to establish a power base before becoming a “female Horus”. An iconographic …

The Life And Times Of The Berlin Secession Podcast, Chris Kitamura

Theses

This project is a podcast series with five of episodes titled “The Life and Times of the Berlin Secession”. By research and design, the podcast can be used as supplemental material to modern art discussions in art history classes, as well as be entertaining to the public audience. This series presents information and education on how the Berlin Secession helped bridge between earlier genres of German art to the modern art of the Expressionists. It discusses the value of specific artists – Max Liebermann, Käthe Kollwitz, and Max Beckmann – within the Berlin Secession and to the greater history of …

Monstrosity In Religious Art: An Analysis Of Hieronymus Bosch’S Temptation Of Saint Anthony, Jennifer Beaudoin

Theses

This paper analyzes the artist Hieronymus Bosch and his triptych The Temptation of St Anthony in an attempt to elucidate the creative adoption of medieval tropes to invent new forms of monstrosity in his art and exciting imagery. Throughout this paper, I will review how historians have viewed Bosch’s art and an understanding of the ideas surrounding why Bosch chooses to take on the task of telling the stories of creation and St Anthony’s torment. The Middle Ages saw a spike of creative freedoms and visual interpretations of exotic, otherworldly beasts, from dragon-like beings to inhabitants of far-off lands. Bosch …

Isabella D’Este's Evolution Of Art Patronage: A Study Of A Renaissance Woman Through Iconographic And Feminist Perspectives, Katie Reinkemeyer

Theses

This thesis is based on how Isabella d'Este (1474-1539) cultivated her extensive collection of rare antiques and art, given the parallel evolution of her art commissions and political concerns as it pertains to iconography and feminism. Instead of discussing what previous scholars have researched concerning Isabella d’Este, this thesis will incorporate the iconography as it pertains to her commissions in a historiographical sense, as well as argue why this iconography would eventually become a beacon for feminist discussion. This will primarily examine Isabella’s commissions from 1494 to 1507, including her earliest portraits and the first four paintings of her studiolo. …

Catch Me If You Can: Henri Matisse’S Chase For Symbolic Capital In The New York Art Market Of The Early Twentieth Century, Monica M. Mitchell-Werp

Theses

This paper analyzes how the development and consequence of symbolic capital influences an art market. This comprehensive, qualitative analysis examines the early twentieth century New York modern art market activated by French artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and the 1913 Armory Show. This examination derived from the French sociologist, philosopher, and anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu’s (1930-2002) theories provides evidence of the use of symbolic capital by Matisse. The evidence points to the twofold function that symbolic capital holds within the emerging modern art market. The first function of symbolic capital manifests through the nonmonetary value Matisse received from the intangible qualities of …

Native Activism And Materiality Through The Work Of Cannupa Hanska Luger: A 21st Century Indigenous Artist, Rachel Daniela Vera

Theses

This thesis focuses on a specific work by Cannupa Hanska Luger called This is Not a Snake. This project examines the materiality of the artwork, including beads, crochet, sewing, ceramics, and non-traditional materials. The materials used in this work address 21st-century indigenous issues while also promoting activism from the Water is Life movement, which is centered at Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota. The materials of this work are relative to Luger’s 21st-century contemporary style. The use of repurposed heavily merchandized inorganic materials refers to the protests in Standing Rock. This is Not a Snake was inspired by these events, activism …

Art As Alchemy: The Meaning Of Bartholomeus Spranger's Hermaphroditus And The Nymph Salmacis And Scylla And Glaucus, Peter Kos

Theses

The subject of this study is two paintings by Bartholomeus Spranger titled Glaucus and Scylla (Fig. 1) and Hermaphroditus and the Nymph Salmacis (Fig. 2). Building upon the work of scholars who have argued for a possible alchemical interpretation of at least one of the paintings in the context of its execution for Emperor Rudolf II, this study goes beyond merely suggesting an alchemical connection, and argues that the two paintings, forming a pendant pair, depict two attempts at the alchemist’s magnum opus—one a failure, the other a success. This study further argues that the paintings are not merely inert …

Painting And Prosody: Robert Browning's (Re)Presentation Of Fra Lippo Lippi And Andrea Del Sarto, Ana Schnellmann

Theses

This paper examines the ways in which all art interpretation is revising and re-presenting the art and artists in question. When Robert Browning wrote Fra Lippo Lippi and Andrea del Sarto as part of his collection Men and Women, he drew on the histories provided of them by Giorgio Vasari. Browning used Vasari’s stories as a base from which to personify the artists and use them in a sense as synecdoches representing the ways religious art is received and viewed. Religious art is meant to elevate the soul. That elevation may take place through the artist’s rendering religious figures as …

Gender And Fluid: A Reconsideration Of The Stain In The Painting Of Helen Frankenthaler, Michael F. Hogan

Theses

This paper explores the stain technique of Helen Frankenthaler through a reconsideration of its novelty and innovation. Recent scholarship has assessed the technique and its critical acceptance through a primarily feminist lens, focused on either assessment of the gendered language utilized by critics or application of a uniquely feminist approach in determining its meaning. The singular focus applied in recent criticism is consistent with past approaches that have typically isolated a particular methodology – formalistic, technical, comparative, or historical – to the exclusion of broader consideration of other methodologies. Moreover, prior critical efforts frequently limited analytical consideration to her groundbreaking …

Building Her Own Brand: Angelica Kauffman And Angelic Entrepreneurship, Katelyn Beach

Theses

This thesis focuses on Angelica Kauffman’s efforts to create an artistic brand during her time in Great Britain. While a creative entrepreneur is a contemporary idea, Kauffman made conscious decisions regarding her art and its use on various mediums. Her feminine figures and stylization became a popular aesthetic in Georgian England on paintings, prints, and other decorative schemes. Her decisions to implement the latest technologies as well as develop relationships with British engravers allowed her to take advantage of a growing art market and culture in Britain and create her own brand.

The Feminine Renaissance: Examining The Implications Of Disegno, Kim Pokorny

Theses

This paper analyzes the concept of disegno in its effect on the success of the female artist in the early modern era. Achieving disegno effectively meant that an artist had reached a renowned level of intelligence and artistic mastery. Formulating this principle in one's art was taught in studios and academies by use of gradual monitored practice and the study of the human figure. Disegno elevated the social status of the artist, as wealthy patrons understood the talent behind the work of an artist that could display it in their paintings. As women were not admitted into most academies and …

Gallucci's Commentary On Dürer’S 'Four Books On Human Proportion': Renaissance Proportion Theory, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

In 1591, Giovanni Paolo Gallucci published his Della simmetria dei corpi humani, an Italian translation of Albrecht Dürer’s Four Books on Human Proportion. While Dürer’s treatise had been translated earlier in the sixteenth-century into French and Latin, it was Gallucci’s Italian translation that endured in popularity as the most cited version of the text in later Baroque treatises, covering topics that were seen as central to arts education, connoisseurship, patronage, and the wider appreciation of the studia humanitatis in general.

The text centres on the relationships between beauty and proportion, macrocosm and microcosm: relationships that were not only essential to …

Doorways To Divinity And Function In The Form: Icons And Ecclesiastical Enforcement, Ana Schnellmann

Student Scholarship

It is always fascinating to explore the development of cultures and cultural art and to see how one evolves from and into the next. In classical antiquity, the veneration of the cult statue was common; the cult statue occupied a niche in the temple to which only priests and guests of the priests had direct access. The statues were not simply symbolic· they were instead holy objects, manifesting a direct path the the cult deity they depicted. The image itself, in other words, was the authority; the image itself had power. The forms and authority of the cult deities and …

A Tale Of Two Queens: Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun And Marie Antoinette, Bailey Compton

Student Scholarship

What started as an unlikely partnership would blossom into a powerful and close friendship between artist Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun and Queen Ma1ie Antoinette. The former was able to enjoy increased career success and esteem with many thanks owed to the patronage of the latter who would expc1·ience a decline in general popularity. The working friendship of the two powerful women is shown under the guise of Vigee Le Brun' s famed portraiture. Vigee Le Brun's gentle, soft, and dew-like detailing and treatment of her subjects enabled her to portray Marie Antoinette in a fresh light. However, the artist's …

Patronage And It's Impact On The Roman Art World, Colbei Sakuma

Student Scholarship

In 1623 artists in Italy witnessed the return of " tl1e golden age of painting." Fifty-five year old Maffeo Barberini had just been elected as the nev Pope, and claimed the name Urban VIII . Shortly after bis election the new Pope set out on a process of"beautifyin11 Rome," essential! continuing the path set b the popes that had preceded him; Urban VIII, perhaps feeling the pre ·ure to con ince the orld that Rome wa the spiritual capitol of the Catholic community, saw these building projects as a way to "stitle doubts within Italy itself," and saw the Baroque …

Polykleitos: A Canon Of Beauty And Perfection, Amy Schuman

Student Scholarship

When one uses the term ‘antiquity’ they usually think of ancient Rome and ancient Greece. This usually comes to mind since they are the most referenced ancient cultures from history. The ancient Greeks are thought of as great innovators in all academic fields, making advances far beyond their own time. Ancient Romans, although, were a great influence but they borrowed from the Greeks. The surviving knowledge of the ancient Greeks is attributed to the Romans, for without their faithful copying and studies of prized Grecian sculpture most would have been lost to time. Most Greek ‘originals’ were lost but Roman …

Manet's Olympia: Changing The Way People View The Nude, Esther Mizel

Student Scholarship

The nude was the epitome of art in the late 1800s in France. They had to follow set rules in order to be considered " art'' and not, as the subject depicted courtesans. Nudes typically were represented as either goddesses or women in historical stories. Modernists were known for seeing things differently than the rest of the artistic community including when considering nude paintings. Edouard Manet( l832-1883) the "Father of Modernism" was not interested in idealizing the female form. He is known for challenging ideas that the bourgeoisie thought to be fact. He showed the nude for what she really …

Persephone And Hades: A Study Of Representation In Art And Culture, Sara Buckley

Student Scholarship

Ancient artworks which represent classical Greek myths most commonly depict the story's climax. Their subjects reveal that the ancient Greeks' taste for dramatic storytelling matched their reverence for each divine entity's embodiment, whether it was a natural phenomenon or an abstract concept. The former of these traits dominate the visual portrayals of the Pluto and Persephone myth, as can be seen in many artworks where the ancient Greeks chose to depict the moment where Pluto theatrically abducts Persephone and sweeps her away to the underworld. In fact, in visual art, it was characteristic of the Greeks to stress the exciting …

Un Modo Più Chiaro: Francesco Scannelli, Guercino And The Physiology Of Style, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

The mid-seicento in Italy witnessed a sustained proliferation of writers on art scattered throughout more regions than had been common in the previous century, leading to an era defined by arguments over the qualities and values of style.1 In the Preface for his Vite de 'pittori, scultori ed architetti of ca.1673-79, Giovanni Battista Passeri lamented the fact that: «Today it is fashionable for painters to do nothing but squabble among themselves about manner, taste, and style, and this arose because the reasoning is not established according to solid principles ».2 The querulous nature of the age has made it difficult …

Ceci N'Est Pas Un David, Andrea Roberts

Student Scholarship

It is a peculiar fact that almost every piece of artwork ever created has attached to it a piece of text.' Originally, at least, most works are given a title for the purpose of referring to what it is. Later, this body of text begins to grow as critical work is written and attached to it by the use of the title. A consequence of this is that text connected to a piece of artwork becomes significant to the piece itself and can even be reinterpreted and critiqued as though it were part of the original work. For example, there …

Renaissance Proportion Theory And Cosmology: Giovanni Paolo Gallucci’S Della Simmetria And Dürerian Neoplatonism, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

In 1591 Giovan Paolo Gallucci (1538-1621) published his Della simmetria def carpi humani (FIG. I), an Italian translation of the Four Books on Human Proportion, or Proportionslehre (1528), by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528).1 Though passed over in modem scholarship, and not as well-known as other publications from the last two decades of the Cinquecento, the encyclopedic treatment on human proportion theory in the new edition was widely read by artists and writers on art. A. Blunt demonstrated that Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665) made extensive use of Chapter LVII in the Libra quinto of Gallucci 's publication in his Osservazioni sopra la pittura …