Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons^™

Golden Temptresses: The Petrifying Beauty Of Pre-Raphaelite Women, Zoe Julienne Claire Manwiller

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

This project considers the tension between fear and desire, a tension that makes Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and the women they depict, dangerously powerful and alluring. Chapter One focuses in particular on the inner nature of these women using visual signs that suggest complexity beneath the surface. I use the term hybridity to think through the tension of fear and desire. Chapter Two shifts to look at the outer environments and the way in which the danger and fear are mediated by solitude, weaving, reflections, and the expectation of piety.

Greco-Roman Paganism And Women Leaders: The Foundation Of Early Christian Art, Rowan Murry

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I explore the impact of Greco-Roman pagan motifs as well as women leaders and officials on the development of Early Christian art by analyzing catacomb paintings, sarcophagi, and minor arts such as finger rings and carved gemstones. I also discuss surviving primary sources written by Tertullian, Eusebius, St. Jerome, and Clement of Alexandria, to gain a better understanding of anti-art views in the first few centuries of the Church’s rise to power. These anti-art sentiments were often rooted in attempts to disassociate themselves from pagan practices while Early Christian art was emerging amongst the lower classes who …

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.

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.

Old Masterpieces, New Mistress-Pieces: Cindy Sherman's Reinterpretations Of Renaissance Portraits Of Women, Caitlyn D. Marianacci

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines a selection of eight photographs in the History Portraits series by American photographer, Cindy Sherman, produced from 1989 to 1990. The photographs are based on Renaissance paintings of biblical and secular women painted by old master artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Raphael. Sherman focused on the female types of Biblical mother and femme fatale, as well as wives and models. These types are defined in their relation to men and are depicted by men. In Sherman’s reinterpretations of their portraits, she retells the stories of these women in ways that reaffirm their independence …