Â鶹AV

Prof. Chriscinda Henry

Pastoral Fellowship and the Performance of Virtuosity in Titian’s Concert Champêtre

Thursday, February 3, 12:30-1:30 EST

Registration:

This talk is held in conjunction with the publication of Prof. Henry's new book "Playful Pictures: Art, Leisure, and Entertainment in the Venetian Renaissance Home". Find out more about the book here:

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This talk places Titian’sÌýConcert ChampêtreÌý(ca. 1509–11) within the context of elite domestic leisure in early sixteenth-century Venice. In particular, it explores the combined role of sociable gathering, theatrical performance, music making, and art collection in the establishment of a new mode of self-fashioning and generational distinction on the part of young Venetian patricians and theÌývirtuosiÌýthey patronized. In his book on the young Titian, Paul Joannides sensibly hypothesized that Titian’s painting registers the allusive portrait likenesses of its patron, to date unidentified, in the figure of the seated lutenist, while Jaynie Anderson and others have observed that this young man wears the uniform of one of theÌýCompagnie della calzaÌý(Companies of the Hose), the hyper-elite fraternal youth societies that distinguished Venetian festive culture during the Renaissance. Through identification of the specific company, this talk more precisely considers the implications of this act of pictorial self-insertion. Following from Jonathan Unglaub’s sensitive delineation of the values and ideals demonstrated by elite patrician youths during the critical early years of the War of Cambrai (1509–1511), I examine the cultural pursuits of theÌýCompagnie della calzaÌýand their social engagement withÌývirtuosiÌýthrough the pastoral mode, including visual artists, musicians, and courtesans. The shepherdÌýmascheraÌýadopted by elites andÌývirtuosiÌýalike provided the ideal vehicle for a liberating, poetic form of self-expression steeped in classical culture, which was enacted at banquets,Ìýfeste, theatrical performances, and likely also in the more intimate context of theÌýridottoÌý(an informal salon-like gathering in the home). Illustrated books and artworks in a variety of media in turn visualized and preserved this pastoral fantasy world and its homosocial bonds within the homes of collectors.

Chriscinda HenryÌýis Associate Professor of Art History at Â鶹AV. Her research focuses onÌýthe relationship between art, recreation, and festivity in Renaissance Italy. Before joining the faculty atÌýÂ鶹AV,ÌýsheÌýwas ACLS/Mellon Postdoctoral fellow at Yale University and Visiting Assistant Professor of Renaissance and Baroque Art History at Oberlin College. Her recent work has been supported by Villa IÌýTattiÌý/ The Harvard UniversityÌýCenterÌýfor Italian Renaissance Studies (Hanna Kiel fellow, 2016-2017), the Fonds de Recherche du Québec, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

This talk is organised by Dr Irene Brooke (The Courtauld).