Copyright by Melissa Nicole Demos 2015
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Copyright by Melissa Nicole Demos 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Melissa Nicole Demos certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Time and the Experience of Narrative in Italian Renaissance Art Committee: ____________________________________ Louis Waldman, Supervisor ____________________________________ Douglas Biow ____________________________________ Mirka Benes ____________________________________ Jeffrey C. Smith ____________________________________ Stephen Campbell ____________________________________ Robert Gaston Time and the Experience of Narrative in Italian Renaissance Art by Melissa Nicole Demos, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree(s) of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2015 Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Ted and Bobbie, and to my sister, Krissy. Regardless of how far away from home my interests and studies have taken me over the years, they have always stood by me and supported me. Secondly, I dedicate this work to Maria Huber, my high school Spanish, Italian and Humanities teacher, who opened a door of discovery that changed my life’s trajectory and brought me to where I am today. She has always been, and continues to be, an inspiration. Finally, I dedicate this to my nephews, Hayden and Karson, along with some words of wisdom from Giovanni Pico della Mirandola: Ci invada l'animo una certa sacra ambizione così che non contenti delle cose mediocri aneliamo a quelle elevate, ci sforziamo di conseguirle con tutte le forze (allorché possiamo se lo vogliamo). -Oratio de hominis dignitate, 1486 Let a holy ambition pervade our soul, so that, not satisfied with mediocre things, we strive for the loftiest and apply ourselves with all our strength to pursue them (because we can achieve them, if we want.) -Oration on the dignity of man, 1486 Acknowledgments The idea for this dissertation grew out of two different papers I wrote for graduate courses at UT Austin: one on Dante’s use of art in the Divine Comedy, the other on Leonardo’s Last Supper (much of which became Chapter Four of this dissertation). My studies and interests have always been rooted in the early modern period: not only the art, but the history and literature as well. Thanks to the Italian Studies program at the University of Texas at Austin I was able to pursue both my interests: art history and literature. I feel additionally blessed to have been the part of the inaugural class of the Italian Studies doctoral program at UT Austin, which exists due to the passion and persistence of Daniela Bini. I have had the privilege to see this program grow and prosper. This dissertation is in a large part due to the dedication of my supervisor, Louis Waldman (Art History, UT Austin), who has believed in this project, and in me, from the beginning. He has been truly generous with his time and academic nurturing, and I am very grateful for his guidance and humor—and even for the occasional ‘tough love’ when it was needed. Following the wise advice of William Zinsser, Professor Waldman and I formed the SAEC -Superfluous Adverb Eradication Coalition. Like the Marine’s semper fi, our motto was simplify! It has been wonderful to work with him on this project, and I thank him for his input, for being my advocate, and for helping put together an all-star committee. My committee includes an exceptional group of international scholars to whom I owe much gratitude. To those beyond UT’s forty acres, Stephen Campbell (Johns Hopkins) and Robert Gaston (University of Melbourne), I wish to thank you for your much appreciated insight and feedback. I thank Prof. Campbell for his attentive participation via Skype at my dissertation defense and Prof. Gaston for his detailed report and words of encouragement. I owe many thanks also to Douglas Biow (UT, French and Italian), Mirka Benes (UT, Architecture) and Jeffrey C. Smith (UT, Art History) for taking this journey with me and for all your astute suggestions and comments. To Prof. Biow, I want to say thank you for always ‘keeping it real’ and for your wit. I enjoyed our Ariosto course and I appreciate the chat we had on our way back to the department after the dissertation defense. I have taken to heart what you said. To Professors Benes and Smith: although we did not have the opportunity to work together much at UT, I have really come to appreciate your keen observations and kind words of support and encouragement. Thank you for your valued contributions to my research. v Many thanks to the other professors with whom I have studied and worked over the years; their instruction and guidance have helped shape me and have made me a better teacher and scholar. At the University of Texas at Austin: Daniela Bini, Guy Raffa, Paola Bonifazio, Ann Johns, Allison Frazier and Eva Struhal At the University of Pittsburgh: Dennis Looney, Francesca Savoia, Lina Insana, Kathleen Christian and Rick Donato At the Universita` degli studi di Firenze: Giovanni Cipriani, Cristina de Benedictis, Mina Gregori, Carlo del Bravo, M. Grazia Ciardi Dupré, and Renzo Pecchioli At the California State University at Chico: Eugenio Frongia and Cliff Minor Many thanks to my friends and colleagues who have always being there through all the ups and downs of Grad school, in particular: Matt R., Beatrice M., Ettore M., Paola D., Martino L., Mary S., Paola B., Antonella O., Irene E., Adria F., Catherine J., Elisa V., Stephanie H., Tim A., Lorraine D., Jenny M. They say it takes a village to raise a child; producing a dissertation is no different. Grazie, amici! vi Time and the Experience of Narrative in Italian Renaissance Art by Melissa Nicole Demos, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 SUPERVISOR: Louis Waldman Abstract For many centuries, painting and sculpture translated the written narratives into images for a host of audiences. Unlike the narratives expressed in literature, music, theater, and film, which develop over time, the static nature of painting and sculpture give them the appearance of being temporally frozen. As such, we tend to think of them as having the ability to evoke only a single moment of a given narrative. Such limitations were the product of scholarly debates of the eighteenth-century that argued that the pictorial arts should portray only a single and precise punctum temporis of any given story. Artists and art theorists of the Renaissance do not appear to have placed such stringent restrictions on visual narratives. Quite the contrary, among the art of the Italian Quattrocento and Cinquecento, one can find a variety of temporal expressions: from the split-second precision of a fixed instant, to the sequenced actions of continuous narratives, to the abridgement of collapsed narrative. Through close readings of both paintings and sculptures in relation to their source texts, this dissertation explores how narrative artwork vii suggested duration and the continuity of a storyline. It considers how some artists may have, wittingly or unwittingly, succeeded in lengthening the intrinsic timelines of their visual narratives through polynarrative approaches: for example, by juxtaposing multiple moments of a single narrative or by combining multiple narratives in a visually seamless manner that does not patently jeopardize the unities of space and time. This dissertation explores not only the polynarrative aspects of some works, it also investigates the importance of the role of the viewer and how the spectator’s process of reading and interaction with the image affects how the experience of narrative unfolds before them. The study presents a method of reading art that aims to serve as a critical model for future inquiries regarding the temporal natures of figurative narratives. viii Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................ xi Tables .................................................................................................................. xvii Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 A brief historiography of the temporal “limitations” of pictorial arts ..........10 Modern scholarship regarding temporality in the pictorial arts ....................24 Chapter 1: Visualizing Narrative ..........................................................................43 Medieval allegories .......................................................................................52 Word and image ............................................................................................69 Ghiberti’s evolving narrative in the Commentarii ........................................71 Dante’s ekphrasis of Purgatory 10 ...............................................................77 Chapter Two: The Unfolding Annunciation ..........................................................92 The Annunciation: iconographic traditions ................................................103 The Scrovegni Annunciation.......................................................................109 The Dante/Giotto legacy .............................................................................114 Chapter 3: Combining Narrative Sources to Create Implied Timelines ..............122 Combining narrative in images of the Magi ...............................................135 Ghirlandaio’s