Renaissance Society of America (RSA) 2017 Conference
Chicago, 30 March – 1 April 2017
Call for Papers:
The Matter of Sculpture in Southern Italy, Spain and the New World
The history of sculpture has, particularly with regard to the early modern period, been dominated by studies on marble and bronze, materials that are at the core of traditional art literature. Yet, as Michael Baxandall has shown in his Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany, different materials might be related to different geographies and very different discourses. This session aims to explore the material richness of early modern sculpture, focusing in particular on the axis between the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily, Spain and the New World. More specifically, we are interested in the ways in which different materials might tell different stories about artistic developments, patronage, artists and local traditions, uncover different sources, and create new connections between various geographical areas. The wooden sculptures of Spain are a well-known example; one may also think, among others, of Sicilian wax sculptures, the silver sculptures of Naples, Lecce’s sculptures in the local pietra leccese, or the cornstalk-paste sculptures of Latin America.
Please send proposals to Johannes Röll (roell@biblhertz.it) and Joris van Gastel (gastel@biblhertz.it) by Sunday, 5 June 2016.
As per RSA guidelines, proposals must include the following: paper title (15-word maximum), abstract (150-word maximum), keywords, and a very brief curriculum vitae (300-word maximum).
ARTES 