Fiat Lux: Art, Religion, and Science in Early Modern Italy

Light is essential to the visual arts and, indeed, to vision itself. Over seventy years ago, Millard Meiss drew our attention to the ethereal, often overlooked representation of light in some fifteenth-century paintings, eventually arguing that it “could become a major pictorial theme.” As we now know, Renaissance artists engaged with notions of divinity, sacred wisdom, and visual experience—all through the effects of light. But how does one talk, in any serious manner, about something that is fundamentally intangible? The ethereal nature of light presents a challenge for the artist who attempts to depict it, the beholder who attempts to appreciate it, and the art historian who attempts to study it.

These panels serve as a forum for scholars who explore light’s formal, symbolic, metaphoric, and scientific dimensions. We seek participants who take innovative approaches to pictorial light and to theories of sight. Presenters are welcome to consider works of art produced in any of Italy’s locales and at any point in the early modern period, so long as the works are religious in nature. Papers that adopt an interdisciplinary focus are especially encouraged. It is our hope that, through these conversations, we will be able to reconstruct the rich context in which art, religion, and science found a common language in light.

Proposal Instructions:

Please send proposals and direct any queries to both Eric Hupe (erh4vvvirginia.edu) and Steven Cody (codyspfw.edu). Proposals must be submitted by 1 August and include the following items:
- The presenter’s name, affiliation, and email address
- The paper’s title
- An abstract (150-word maximum)
- Keywords
- A brief CV
- PhD completion date (past or expected)