Animal painting in the Italian Renaissance and in China

The realistic depiction of Nature is a new phenomenon in the Italian Renaissance from Pisanello to Leonardo da Vinci. The same phenomenon occurs much earlier in China, reaching its apex in the 10th and 11th Century in Court Art. The major representatives of this new attitude in animal painting are Huang Quan and Cui Bai who both served several emperors of the Western Shu Kingdom and Northern Song Dynasty.
Although there was no material contact in this matter between the Italian Renaissance and the period of Neo Confucianism in China, what the panel is trying to find out is the similarity of cultural approach. Papers should focus as well on technical questions in the representation of nature as on the philosophical background.

KEY WORDS: animal painting, zoology, natural science, cultural transfer, painting techniques, philosophy

Please send a brief abstract (150 words); keywords; and a brief curriculum vitae (300-word maximum) to

Hu, Wei (huweiartgmail.com) and
Norberto Gramaccini (gramacciikg.unibe.ch)

by June 10th.