2023 Charles de Chassiron Memorial Lecture
After a brief introducution to Giulio Romano’s artistic production in Mantua, this talk will focus on his practice as a designer of objects for the Gonzaga in Mantua. Building on his antiquarian knowledge and on Raphael’s design drawings, Giulio Romano used this field of his activity as a springboard for creative license. In most of his inventions for objects he manipulated natural elements to devise hybrid forms that could be read at different levels: as manifestations of his power of invention, as witty conceits stimulating conversation, and as celebrative references to his patrons. In this way, his pieces of silverware can be seen as animating the table and turning it into a space for the communication of intellectual, cultural and political contents. As designer of buildings, frescoes, stage sets, and even costumes, through his design of domestic objects Giulio Romano aimed at creating a “total work of art” which became a paradigm of civility and an example to follow for the European courts of the sixteenth century.
Guido Rebecchini is Reader in Sixteenth-Century Southern European Art at The Courtauld. His research focuses on sixteenth-century Italy, and has published on the arts at Mantua, Florence and Rome, including patronage, collecting, and artistic practices. His last book, The Rome of Paul III: Art, Ritual and Urban Development (Harvey Miller), was published in 2020.
A DRINKS RECEPTION WILL FOLLOW THE TALK
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