Online Conference – April 9-10, 2021
Hosted by Vassar College, Department of Art
April 6, 2020 marked the quincentenary of the death of Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), one of the most brilliant and consequential artists in the western tradition. Praised during his lifetime as “Prince of Painters” (pictorum princeps), a description rendered indelible by Giorgio Vasari, this characterization long served to obscure Raphael’s artistic achievements in other modes. He was in reality an impresario in many media: revered in his own day as Rome’s chief architect, Raphael was also an urbanist and a designer of landscape, as well as of sculpture, silver, prints, and tapestries. A series of international conferences and exhibitions held in 1983-84, the quincentenary of the artist’s birth, was a watershed in Raphael studies, and in the intervening years, building on those events and publications, new understandings of Raphael have begun to take form, not only as a designer in an array of media, but also in terms of his collaboration with other artists, patrons, advisors, and literati. This conference dedicated to Raphael brings together established and emerging scholars to take stock of what has been accomplished in the past 37 years, to assess current approaches to his astonishingly innovative, diverse, and influential body of work, to present new research, and to chart directions for further study. Expanding upon well-established lines of inquiry, the program reflects new approaches to the quintessential old master.
For the program, and to register, please see the event page here.