MURRAY SEMINAR:
GILDED SUNS AND PEACOCK ANGELS: THEATRICAL MATERIALITY AND ART IN FIFTEENTH-CENTURY FLORENCE
LAURA STEFANESCU
13 December 2022
16:45 — 18:30 GMT (11:45-13:30 ET) Online
Birbeck University of London
In fifteenth-century Florence, the phenomenon of religious theatre and ritual performance, promoted by adult and youth confraternities throughout the city, reached an unparalleled popularity, transitioning from the realm of devotion to that of the spectacular. The highlight of these performances was the materialisation of a multi-sensory heaven on stage and the appearance of its living angels (young Florentine boys) in their dazzling costumes. Painters living in the Santo Spirito quarter, where most of these activities took place, were actively involved in the creation of the apparatus for sacred plays. They were sometimes even members of the confraternities that produced the plays, as was, for example, Neri di Bicci, one of the most successful Florentine painters of the period.
Contact name: Laura Jacobus
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