History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons^™

Stourhead In Arcadia Ego: The English Countryside And The Expanding British Empire In Eighteenth-Century, Rachel C. Sherr

Theses and Dissertations

Stourhead Gardens, an emblematic eighteenth-century landscape, reflects Britain's socio-cultural and imperial changes. Owned by the Hoare family, it melds classical influences and Enlightenment ideals. Existing research deciphers its iconography, but this thesis broadens the perspective, placing Stourhead in its era's socio-cultural context. It's a narrative rich in cultural and historical significance, shedding light on identity, art, and culture, past and present.

Simone Martini's St. Louis Altarpiece: Materiality, Franciscan Propaganda, And Sacral Angevin Dynastic Object, Charles Morrow

Theses and Dissertations

Simone Martini makes lavish use of gold, silver, gilt glass, paste pearls and gems in the St. Louis Altarpiece, and these materials carry underlying meanings that support the panel’s sacred, dynastic and Franciscan elements. Actor Network Theory is used to present visualizations of the networks in which the altarpiece participates.

The Lives And Afterlives Of The Arenberg Gospels: Materializing Medieval Oaths, Sarah Ganzel

Theses and Dissertations

The “social life” of the Arenberg Gospels, a gospel book later used as an oath book in ecclesiastical officiation ceremonies, illuminates the impact and meaning of oath books in medieval Europe. This thesis traces the manuscript’s materiality throughout its life, showing why both words and flesh mattered to oath rituals.

Tractatus De Herbis, Botanical Guide To The Universe: A Case Study For Morgan Ms M.873, Darya Badikova

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the development of the late medieval pharmacopoeial treatise Tractatus de herbis illustrated in M.873, a fourteenth-century manuscript from the collection of the Morgan Library in New York. Particularly, the thesis considers the use and reception of this encyclopedic work by elite contemporary audiences of the Venetian Republic through material and medical history.

Laying Out A Space: Spectral Geographies, Fictions Of The Soul, Erin D. Yerby

Theses and Dissertations

Laying out a Space: Spectral Geographies, Fictions of the Soul, arises out of my artistic practice, and thoughts behind my current project and MFA exhibition, Spectral Geographies.

Linking the problem of the world ‘out there’ or external space, to inner experience through painting as both medium and practice, my work expresses what I call inner geographies, spaces where intimate immensities, folding inside and outside, find expression. I think of my paintings as beginning with this gesture of laying out a between-space where the intimacies of waking dreams and visions are opened by, and grow into, actual places, …

Power Dressing: Feather Fans And The Visual Language Of Female Portraiture, Charlotte Svetkey

Theses and Dissertations

Feather fans in sixteenth-century portraiture not only allowed the female sitter to express her own claims to wealth, status, and power but also acted as a visual indicator of changes that were occurring on the global stage. Both fans and sitters will be evaluated through ideas of gender and class.

A Sculpir Qui Cose Divine: The Spiritual Non-Finito In Michelangelo's Pietà, Kaitlin Arbusto

Theses and Dissertations

The evolution of Michelangelo Buonarroti’s faith – rooted in his contemplation of salvation and his own mortality in art and the written word – is explored in this thesis via an investigation of his four surviving Pietà. Each of these artworks, like the nature of his spirituality, is considered in relation to the non-finito.

The Last Horseman: Albrecht Dürer’S Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, Megan L. Crosby

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Albrecht Dürer’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse through comparisons with examples from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, as well as the artist’s own numerous representations of Death. These comparisons will show the way Dürer interpreted and changed the iconography of the Four Horsemen.

Pure And Fresh: A Typology Of Formal Garden Scenes From Private Eighteenth Dynasty Theban Tombs Prior To The Amarna Period, Jayme Rudolf Reichart

Theses and Dissertations

Gardens in ancient Egypt are known from the Early Dynastic Period to the Graeco-Roman Period from archaeological, textual, and pictorial evidence. From this evidence, one can differentiate between simple and formal gardens. This thesis exclusively produces a typology of the S- and Domain of Amun formal garden scenes (the xnty-S-, kAmw-, sS-, at-nt-xt-, and Hrrt-S-formal gardens) represented in the early to mid-late Eighteenth Dynasty Theban private tomb art prior to the Amarna Period (TT E2, TT 39, TT 63, TT 80, TT 81, TT 85, TT 87, TT 90, TT 93, TT 96, TT 100, TT 109, TT 161, and …

Spectacle, Spectatorship, And A New Reading Of The Nine Heroes Tapestries, Katherine L. Rachlin

Theses and Dissertations

This theatrical and performative interpretation of The Nine Heroes tapestries (1390–1410) argues for their connection to civic spectacles, courtly rituals, and enactments of the Nine Worthies in medieval performance traditions such as entry ceremonies. Consideration is given to the tapestries’ materiality, mediality, and their visceral impact on viewers.

Sacred Blood And Burning Coal: The Garnet Carbuncle In Early Medieval Europe, Sinead L. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations

The social and religious symbolism of garnets are examined in the context of the Merovingian period. Garnet jewelry was worn by early medieval Christians as symbols of their faith, and after death garnets took on additional religious significance.

Projections On Glass: Reconsidering Glass Pilgrim Vessels From Byzantine Jerusalem, Roxanne D. Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations

Taking an object-orientated approach, this paper reconsiders a series of glass pilgrim vessels that survive from Byzantine Jerusalem and argues against the previous studies that focused solely on iconography to determine the vessels' function.

Judith Leyster: A Study Of Extraordinary Expression, Nicole J. Cardinale

Theses and Dissertations

Judith Leyster’s innovative application of expression in her Self Portrait serves as the focus, whereby she is shown to blend conventional painting categories, preserve a sense of innocence, and confidently flaunt her skills. In turn, Leyster challenged the male-centric art market and stood apart from her artistic predecessors and contemporaries.

The Medallion Portraits Of Ariadne And Theodora On The Consular Diptychs Of Clementinus And Justinus: Finding Traces Of Helena, Pulcheria, Verina, And The Theotokos, Marguerite B. Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the 513 Clementinus Diptych and the 540 Justinus Diptych and their disruption of the secular and masculine character of consular diptychs through the inclusion of Christian symbolism, a cross and an image of Christ, and medallion portraits of the empresses Ariadne and Theodora, respectively.

The Chôra Of Dionisy’S Wall-Painting (1500-1502) At The Nativity Of The Mother Of God Sobor, Ferapontovo Monastery, Maria M. Shevelkina

Theses and Dissertations

The structure, spatiality, and wall-paintings of the Nativity church together emulated the Platonist Chôra through transparency, fluidity, circular movement, veils, and Marian imagery. Dionisy’s wall-paintings are studied through a phenomenological lens, considering the process as a reflection of hesychast thought in the post-Byzantine Russian north.

In Present Past: Sun Tunnels And The Historic Reconstruction Of Vision, Patrice M. Capobianchi

Theses and Dissertations

The following study investigates how Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels makes effective use of time and land to reprogram the modern viewer’s eye. By utilizing sculpture that is reminiscent of pre-historic observatories as an observational framing device against the landscape topography, the artwork succeeds in presenting a historic reconstruction of vision.

Disruption And Recovery In The Work Of Botticelli And Piero Di Cosimo, Ellen G. Birger

Theses and Dissertations

Florence underwent major destabilization during the 1490s, creating an extremely stressful time for its citizens. Chief amongst these events were the death of Lorenzo dei Medici and the ascendance, then demise, of the charismatic preacher Girolamo Savonarola. The impact on the work of Botticelli and Piero di Cosimo is evaluated.

Through The Eye And Into My Heart: Scenes Of Embrace In Morgan Ms M.245 And The Tactile Responses They Provoked, Zoe A. Coyle

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines representations of embrace in a Roman de la rose (Morgan Library, M.245). Emphasis is on the reader’s tactile interaction with the manuscript as an object, and the notion of romances as sites for a distinctly physical reading practice, in which miniatures would be kissed, rubbed, or pierced.

The Wild Beasts, Peter Cochrane

Theses and Dissertations

The Wild Beasts springs from my desire to thank my ever-expanding queer chosen family and mentors for their strength. Working through the often violent and othering aspects of the lens and photographic histories I create floral portraits responding to each person’s being and our relationship. Using the 19th century, 8x10 large format view camera—the same used by colonialists and ethnographers to “capture” the divinity of Nature—I erect each as a traditional still life studio setup at the threshold between the natural world and that constructed by humans. These environments speak both to the character of each friend and also to …

Sofonisba Anguissola And Her Early Teachers, Lily Chin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the career of the Cremonese-born Italian Renaissance woman artist Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532-1625) and her training under her teachers Bernardino Campi (c. 1522-1591) and Bernardino Gatti (c. 1495-1576) during the years c. 1546-1549 (Campi) and c. 1549-1552 (Gatti).

The Shrine System: Votive Culture And Cult Sculpture, Enshrining Space In 11th To 13th Century France, Kristen N. Racaniello

Theses and Dissertations

Possible relationships between northern and southern French shrines are examined in this paper through case studies of the shrines at Chartres and Conques. The materiality of cult statues and votive objects, the body as performative tool, and institutional motivations are considered for their bearing on the shrine as a system.

Homage To The Florentine Tondo, Geraldine Karnbach

Theses and Dissertations

Tondi were circular paintings or relief carvings, popular in fifteenth-century Florence. They were placed in households and predominantly devotional, featuring the Madonna and Child. By uncovering dual meanings from religious/gender perspectives, I will confirm the importance women and Marian devotion played in the popularity and disappearance of the tondo.

Hell In Hand: Fear And Hope In The Hellmouths Of The Hours Of Catherine Of Cleves, Stephanie Lish

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is an attempt to investigate how well the borders and miniatures of The Hours of Catherine of Cleves facilitated the method of meditation recommended by Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen and therefore was a useful tool in Catherine’s search for eternal salvation.

The Presence Of The Church: Morgan Library Ms M. 287, Danielle A. Fallon

Theses and Dissertations

A discussion of the interwoven presence of the church within the fifteenth century Book of Hours, MS M. 287. This manuscript is argued as a multi-layered object, as a result of the context of its production, unique imagery, and use within the private and public sectors of the patron.

A Fearsome Beauty: Material And Cultural Exchange Between Venice And The Islamic Near East, Tahera H. Tajbhai

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will explore the relationship between Venice and the Islamic Near East. By examining works from various media, this paper argues that Venetians viewed the Islamic Near East as being ‘awesome,’ and that this view was twofold, as Venetians were both enamored with and fearful of this rising power.

Crescendo, Jeffery A. Pabotoy

Theses and Dissertations

Artist Statement

I have always found comfort and warmth in my family. When I am not with them, I find myself clinging to the objects they leave behind as a substitute in their absence. As I began to re-create these objects through paintings and ceramics, I realized that I was creating symbolic portraits of my family. These portraits are tangible family moments preserved in pigment and clay.

In recent years, my siblings were deployed to war and I began to represent them as various instruments. These instruments, both musical and tools of war, chronicle who they were and who they …

How To Look At Monsters: Staging Female Bodies From The Periphery Of The Seventeenth-Century Spanish World In Baroque Portraiture And Hapsburg Collections, Risa A. Puleo

Theses and Dissertations

This inquiry examines portraits of “monsters”—an early modern term describing those whose bodies challenged socially-constructed categories by deviating from the social norm through differences of race, gender and physical or mental capacity, painted for Hapsburg royals across Europe, who collected specimens, including people, representing the scope of their territories.

Performing Conquest And Resistance In The Streets Of Eighteenth Century Potosí: Identity And Artifice In The Cityscapes Of Gaspar Miguel De Berrío And Melchor Pérez De Holguín, Agnieszka A. Ficek

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the ways in which Potosí's two most influential colonial artists represented the urban dynamics of race, class and labor in their depictions of the Andean 'City of Silver' during the eighteenth century, when silver production, profits and population were dramatically declining.

The Triumphs Of Alexander Farnese: A Contextual Analysis Of The Series Of Paintings In Santiago, Chile, Michael J. Panbehchi

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines a series of nine paintings depicting the battles of Alexander Farnese in Flanders created by the Cuzco School of Painters in eighteenth-century Peru. This research asks why and how paintings depicting sixteenth-century European battles were meaningful in the eighteenth century. Due to an absence of archival documentation on the authorship, production and patronage of the series, the research method is contextual. Starting with a formal and iconographic analysis of the paintings centered on a comparison between the paintings and the engravings upon which they are based, differences in the use of space and the conspicuousness of individual …