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

Clothing, Comportment, And Court Femininity In Domenico Ghirlandaio's Portraits Of Elite Florentine Women (C. 1475-1490), Emmerson Stephens

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines a focused group of Domenico Ghirlandaio’s portraits of women from the Medici–Tornabuoni–Sassetti circle in Florence (c. 1475–1490), arguing that these works construct, rather than simply represent, an ideal of courtly femininity. Situating portraiture within systems of social regulation, it demonstrates how comportment, dress, and visual conventions disciplined the female body. Clothing functioned as a material technology that structured posture, gesture, and movement, shaping how women appeared both socially and pictorially.

Through analysis of panel portraits and fresco cycles, particularly in the Tornabuoni Chapel, the study shows how controlled formats, gestures, and surfaces produced figures that embody modesty, …

Building The Egyptian Canon In Early 20th-Century Germany: The Case Study Of Georg Steindorff’S Excavations, Darby Linn

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a historiographic study of Germany Egyptology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular focus on how the different stakeholders involved in that academic environment – scholars, curators, donors and financiers, the German museum-going public, as well as Egyptian people who worked on archaeological excavations – influenced the development of the scholarly canon of ancient Egyptian art. The “canon” is an art historical concept from designating certain objects, styles, and forms as representative of a culture, time period, or artistic movement. Consequently, the canon establishes an artistic hierarchy according to European aesthetic standards that excludes …

The Art Of Patron Sainthood: St. Teresa, Santiago, And The Early Modern Spanish Empire, Laura Martin

Art History Theses and Dissertations

In 1618 and 1626, the Castilian Cortes, supported by the Spanish Crown, named Spaniard St. Teresa of Ávila as Spain’s co-patron saint. This declaration, supported by many cities in the empire, including Ávila, Salamanca, Valladolid, and Mexico City, was still opposed by many who saw this as an insult to the standing patron, St. James, called Santiago in Spanish. Historians have studied this period because it helps explain social, cultural, and political conflicts within the empire. However, the art of this period has not been studied in depth. This thesis examines the artistic production related to the so-called co-patronage, including …

As Above, So Below: Italian Amuletic Practices Following The Black Death, Danielle Pigeon

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the production of amuletic rings in the Italian peninsula following the arrival of Yersinia pestis during the mid-fourteenth century. By examining patterns of ornamentation on a selection of Italian rings, I establish connections to the trauma experienced by individuals left in the wake of the plague and argue that these objects offered a sacralized model of protective adornment to counteract the threat of a fatal and seemingly unstoppable illness. Italian amuletic rings can thereby be read as a material response to the anxieties of mass death and bodily horrors that accompanied outbreaks of the Black Death.

The …

Colonialism, Cohabitation, And Charismatic Llamas: Representations Of Animals In Felipe Guaman Poma De Ayala's El Primer Nueva Corónica Y Buen Gobierno, Laura Varela Mejia

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the role of animals, specifically llamas, in El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno, a manuscript that dates to 1615-16, and was hand-written and illustrated by the Andean author Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala. Through the lens of animal studies, I analyze the manner in which Poma represented llamas to convey greater ideas surrounding the nature of colonial life under the Spanish empire, as well as the nostalgic remembrance of Inca practices before the conquest.

My study focuses on three of the Corónica’s drawings: “The second age of the world: Noah,” and how its reinterpretation …

Painting And Performing The Past: Representation Of A Historical Marriage In Eighteenth-Century Peru, Xena Fitzgerald

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis establishes the connection between painting and performance as crucial for understanding eighteenth-century representations of the historic marriage of the Inca ñusta (princess) Beatriz Clara Sairitupac and her Spanish husband Martín García Óñez de Loyola. During the eighteenth-century, the marriage was repeatedly commemorated through both paint and theatrical performance as part of the mythologization of the early history of the Viceroyalty of Peru. My study addresses the only two paintings known to remain in their original locations: the Compañía de Jesús in Cuzco and the Beaterio de Nuestra Señora de Copacabana in Lima. I analyze both paintings in conjunction …