Call for Papers
Reconsidering the Artistic Response to the Black Death in Italy

Session at the Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting 2014

In 1951 Millard Meiss published his influential Painting in Florence and
Siena after the Black Death. His thesis, that the black death caused a
change in iconography and style, and his rather negative assessment of
this style, have loomed over all subsequent assessments of the art of
the late trecento in Italy. Despite some recent individual scholarly
challenges, the impression has remained that this period formed a lull
between the rebirth foretold by Giotto and manifested in Masaccio. This
panel is intended as a forum for the re-examination and reassessment of
this oft-neglected period. Topics of special interest include the
historiography of the post-black death period; papers which expand the
geographical range of consideration beyond Tuscany to Northern and
Southern Italy; and those analyzing specific late-trecento monuments or
artists. Through new investigations we hope to move towards a more
nuanced understanding of art after the Black Death.

Please submit a 150-word abstract, along with a list of keywords, and a
one-page CV (max. 300 words) to Sarah Wilkins at
sarah.s.wilkinsgmail.com by May 25, 2013.