2023-24 Distinguished WAI Lecture Series on Renaissance Art and Culture.

Established in 2020, the World Art History Institute (WAI) at Shanghai International Studies University has firmly established itself as a leading research institution closely affiliated with the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA). Its primary mission is to promote World Art Studies in China and foster collaboration within the global network of art history institutions, museums, archives, and libraries. In commemoration of its founding, WAI Shanghai will inaugurate the Distinguished WAI Lecture Series in September 2023.
The annual program for the 2023-24 academic year will focus on Renaissance art and culture, featuring twelve world-leading scholars who have made significant contributions to various fields of Renaissance studies. These contributions will be presented through a variety of academic activities, including public lectures, roundtable discussions, collaborative workshops, book launch events, translation initiatives, and publication projects. The lecture series will take place in multiple Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shenyang.
Individuals residing outside mainland China are cordially invited to register for virtual participation in the lecture series: https://forms.gle/LAj5SkGCuy7Pgu1x9
Registered attendees will receive timely email notifications containing Zoom links before each scheduled event.

When?
7.30 to 9.30 pm (incl. reception) UTC+8 Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, on each scheduled date.
12.30 to 2.30 pm UTC+1, London
1.30 to 3.30 pm, UTC+2, Berlin
7.30 to 9.30 am, UTC-4, New York, Washington D.C.
* The above-mentioned times are given in summer daylight saving time (DST). When DST ends, please adjust your time according to your time zone.

Where? The lecture series will be held on-site at various locations in Shanghai and will also be accessible through live streaming or via Zoom.

Friday, 15. September 2023
Frank Fehrenbach, University of Hamburg
Enlivening Eyes in Early Modern European Art [hybrid]

Friday, 27 October 2023
Caroline van Eck, University of Cambridge
Groaning Statues and Weeping Paintings: How to Understand the Attribution of Emotions and Life to Artworks [online]

Friday, 15 December 2023
Marzia Faietti, Università di Bologna & Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz
Leonardo 1473, 1481 circa. La natura e la storia in punta di penna [hybrid]

Friday, 26 January 2024
Johannes Grave, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
Wandering Contemplation. A New Venetian Pictorial Concept and Its Roots in Late Medieval Piety [online]

Friday, 23 February 2024
Ulrich Pfisterer, Ludwig-Maximilians-University and Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich
Raphael’s Gift: Friendship and Painted Art Theory in the Renaissance [hybrid]

Friday, 26 April 2024
Maryan Ainsworth, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Jan van Eyck’s Crucifixion and Last Judgment: Solving a Conundrum [hybrid]

Friday, 24 May 2024
Alison Wright, University College of London
Praised to the Skies: Elevation, Framing and Sacred Space in the Renaissance Pala [hybrid]

Friday, 21 June, 2024
Jeanette Kohl, University of California, Riverside
A Murder, a Mummy, and a Bust – Forensics of a Portrait Sculpture [hybrid]

Friday, 26 July 2024
Damian Dombrowski, University of Würzburg & Martin von Wagner Museum
“Intellligenter amare”: Botticelli’s Saint Augustine [hybrid]

Friday, 23 August 2024
Maria Loh, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Titian’s Touch [online]

Friday, 6 September 2024
Caspar Pearson, The Warburg Institute, University of London
Building and Thinking: Leon Battista Alberti on Architecture and Urbanism [hybrid]

Friday, 20 September 2024
Andreas Beyer, University of Basel
Donatello. And What We Know About Him [online or hybrid]

Lecture Series Chief Organizer:
LaoZhu (Zhu Qingsheng), Peking University & WAI Shanghai

2023-24 Guest Convener:
Wang Lianming, City University of Hong Kong

Organization & Coordination:
Liao Wenqi, WAI Shanghai

World Art History Institute
Shanghai International Studies University
No. 31 Villa, Wenxiang Road 1550
Songjiang District, Shanghai, China
Website: www.wai.shisu.edu.cn
E-Mail: waishisu.edu.cn

Institutional Collaborators & Sponsors:
Advanced School of Arts and Humanities, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou
College of Humanities, Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, Shenyang
Peking University Image Lab
Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts, Beijing
The Commercial Press, Ltd., Shanghai – China Publishing Group Co., Ltd.