Stories of art Module 2 : Renaissance painting 1500-1600

First session in a six week course at the National Gallery on Renaissance painting. This is module 2 of a new series which began in the autumn called “Stories of Art”. I wasn’t able to do the first module but have made time for this one.

This first session looked at power and patronage and was led by the course tutor Sian Walters and picking examples from the galleries own collection.  The first lecture was an overview of the period picking out the main themes with an emphasis on patronage. This is a period I know well but along with being a reminder for me it did also introduce new things such as an important patron from Sienna, Pandolfo Petrucci, who I had not come across before.

The second lecture looked at Vasari and his lives of the painters examining why he was biased towards Florentine artists and what effect this has had on art history. It also looked at what a good source it is on contemporary works. San took as an example Pontormo’s Joseph paintings for the Borgherini family. It was then rather magical to go and look at these in the gallery after the talk. I am really looking forward to next week.

 

 

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