Renaissance Humanism was an important driving force behind the ideal of bringing antiquity back to life, or restoring the ancient gods to their former glory. Was this resurrection of non-Christian gods merely an intellectual game or should we call it religious practice?

This symposium examines the role of artists in bringing about the ideals of Renaissance humanism. Many Renaissance artists were active in identifying and physically examining antiquities. Treatises of art theory - often written by artists themselves - contributed to both detailed and overview knowledge about antiquity. In this process Renaissance artists may have gained more than textual and visual information alone, that could be described as ‘tacit’ or ‘embodied’ knowledge. One could argue, that artistic research played a pivotal role in the process of reintegration of classical textual sources and visual and material culture, which was typical for the Renaissance movement.

Program

Thursday, October 20
10.00 Coffee/Tea
10.15 Michael W. Kwakkelstein, Director’s Welcome
Marieke van den Doel (University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht), Introduction

Session 1 Visual Humanism and Paganism
(chair: Gert-Jan van der Sman, NIKI)

10.30 Susanna de Beer (University of Leiden, Royal Netherlands Institute Rome)
Who is Best at Restoring Ancient Rome? Collaboration and Rivalry between Humanist Writers and Visual Arists
10.55 Han Lamers (University of Oslo)
The Dotti Greci of Italian Humanism: An Alternative Introduction
11.20 Discussion
11.30 Marieke van den Doel (University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht)
Visual Humanism and Paganism: The Case of the Tempio Malatestiano
11.55 Matthijs Jonker (University of Utrecht, Royal Netherlands Institute Rome)
Transcultural Visual Humanism: Understanding New World Antiquities through Images
12.20 Discussion
12.30 Lunch

Session 2 The experiment of the Renaissance artist
(chair: Joachim Duyndam, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht)

13.30 Joost Keizer (University of Groningen)
What Is a Renaissance Allegory?
13.55 Elsje van Kessel (University of St. Andrews)
Visual Humanisms out to Sea
14.20 Sergius Kodera (University of Vienna)
Giovan Battista della Porta's Physiognomics and the Pagan Gods
14.45 Discussion
15.00 Afternoon Tea

Session 3 The Ancient Gods
(chair: Anja Machielse, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht)

15.30 Kocku von Stuckrad (University of Groningen), keynote lecture
Agential Entanglements in Renaissance Art: Locating Ancient Gods in Religious Discourse
16.20 Discussion
16.30 Reception

Friday October, 21
10.00 Coffee/Tea

Session 5 Botticelli Revisited
(chair: Valery Rees, London School of Philosophy and Economic Science)

10.15 Alessandro Cecchi (Casa Buonarroti)
Letture Botticelliane. La Primavera e una proposta per la Villa dell'Ospedaletto
10.40 Ingrid Rowland (University of Notre Dame School of Architecture)
Botticelli, Vasari, and the Medici Revival of Etruscan Art
11.05 Gert Jan van der Sman (NIKI)
The Visual Language of Botticelli's Primavera
11.30 Discussion
11.40 Coffee/Tea

Session 6 Harmony of Concurrent Alternatives
(chair: Anja Machielse, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht)

12.00 Jacomien Prins (Utrecht University)
Seeing, Hearing, Beauty and Love in Ficino’s Commentary on Plato’s Symposium
12.25 Valery Rees (London School of Economic Science)
Reframing the ‘Twilight of the Gods’
12.50 Discussion
13.00 Lunch

14.00 Book presentation Marieke van den Doel, Ficino and Fantasy. Imagination in Art and Theory from Botticelli to Michelangelo with Valery Rees and Anja Machielse
15.00 Concluding remarks

There is no participation fee, but it is required to register in advance with regard to seating. Please register per mail at Marieke van den Doel, University of Humanistics, Utrecht: m.vandendoeluvh.nl