Genevieve Verdigel

This PhD thesis was submitted to the Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, in February 2020. The research was conducted under the supervision of Michelle O'Malley and David Freedberg and benefited from a fellowship at the Morgan Drawing Institute and a grant from the Delmas Foundation. The viva took place in January 2020 with Hugo Chapman and Catherine Whistler.

Full thesis available to consult on request or at The Warburg Institute.

This article challenges the opinion that color was not widely used in drawing practices in the Veneto prior to the early 1500s. It draws on examples of surviving drawings produced in Venice, Padua and Vicenza and considers the various purposes that these works served.

Free and open to all. Advanced booking required via: http://newartdialogues.eventbrite.co.uk

This one day conference brings together the next generation of art history scholars to present and discuss their ongoing research. Papers will predominately focus on Italian and Northern Renaissance Art (c.1400–1600) and will encompass diverse media including tapestry, painting, engraving and stained glass. The conference will comprise five sessions. In the first four, two PhD students (or recent graduates) will present on topics that are united by common themes such as patronage, attribution and materiality. The final session, entitled ‘Opening New Dialogues’, will feature a paper by Professor Michelle O’Malley (Deputy Director and former PhD student at The Warburg). In order to foster the intellectual exchange central to ‘New Dialogues in Art History’ , the key paper(s) of each session will be followed by 20 minutes discussion.

All enquires should be addressed to Genevieve Verdigel and Lydia Goodson at: NewArtDialogues@gmail.com

Giornata di Studi, Online, 16 October 2020
Benedetto Montagna fu indubbiamente uno dei personaggi più significativi attivi sulla scena dell’incisione veneta attorno al 1500. Pur essendo, cronologicamente, il ‘primo incisore a Vicenza’ – come spesso si dice –, Benedetto legò strettamente la sua attività incisoria alla produzione pittorica del padre Bartolomeo. L’uso dei disegni all’interno della bottega dei Montagna indica che le stampe di Benedetto erano un tassello all’interno di un mosaico di attività su Bartolomeo esercitava un controllo imprenditoriale. All’interno di questo contesto, si aprono dunque domande sull’uso e acquisizione dei materiali per la stampa all’interno di quella che era, in fondo, una bottega di pittori, e su come in particolare Benedetto abbia imparato a produrre incisioni. A complicare ulteriormente il problema, rimane da chiarire il ruolo, a Vicenza, di un gran numero di incisori attivi in città nel primo Cinquecento, da Giulio Campagnola a Girolamo Mocetto, passando per Nicoletto da Modena e Marcello Fogolino: documentati o meno in città, per tutti si registra un passaggio culturale da Vicenza e, più in particolare, dalla bottega montagnesca. Gli scambi che ne risultarono non ebbero solo un impatto tecnico o stilistico sulle rispettive attività incisorie: cambiarono la geografia della disponibilità dei materiali di stampa nella terraferma. Benedetto Montagna assume, dunque, un ruolo cardine nella riconsiderazione dell’importanza di Vicenza negli sviluppi della stampa veneta a inizio Cinquecento.

A reconsideration of the renowned copperplate preserved in the Collezione Malaspina at Pavia. On one side of the plate is Benedetto's Virgin and Child, which is in turn based on a composition painted by Bartolomeo Montagna (now in Williamstown). On the other is an 'anonymous' copy of Marcantonio's Venus Leaving Her Bath, with the addition of a Dürerian landscape. The plate therefore brings to the fore questions of authorship, authenticity and collaboration. The poster addresses issues including the number of states, plate trade and the late pulling of impressions.

Saint Jerome's popularity in the Veneto in the decades surrounding 1500 and his contemporaneous depiction by artists including Giovanni Bellini and Cima has not gone unnoticed nor unstudied. The general consensus is that erudite humanists often commissioned renowned artists to produce 'Jerome-images' for their studioli, with pictorial variety subject to the individual demands of the patron. Yet a survey of contemporary prints and bronze plaquettes reveals that Jerome was an equally popular subject; the reproductive nature of these two media facilitating the circulation of hundreds of identical images. This paper will address this phenomenon by focussing on artistic interactions between prints, plaquettes and paintings, and the consequential impact on the notion of 'variety' . A particular focus will be placed on images of Jerome produced in the Montagna workshop in Vicenza.
Further conference details: http://courtauld.ac.uk/event/recasting-reproduction-1500-1800

Exhibition and catalogue review of the Marcantonio Raimondi exhibition (Whitworth, 2016–17) which charts a trajectory of Marcantonio's career, from his training in the workshop of Francesco Francia to his collaboration with Raphael and the afterlife of his oeuvre. The catalogue's essays and entries provide a means to comprehend Marcantonio's proficiency as an engraver – beyond 'Raphael' –.

Review of the 2012 monograph of the Bangladeshi printmaker, Safiuddin Ahmed (1922–2012). Trained as a lithographer, Ahmed experimented with varied mediums of print production throughout his life, including wood-engraving, etching and aquatint. The catalogue comprises over 200 illustrations, an artist interview and various essays which illuminate how Ahmed's work responded to the social and political climate of his nation.

Two catalogue entries for 'Renaissance Modern', an exhibition held at The Courtauld Gallery (22 April–5 June 2015), curated by Guido Rebecchini and Ed Wouk. These entries focus on two drawings by Parmigianino – one in black chalk, the other in pen and ink – which are generally considered to be preparatory studies for Parmigianino's 'Conversion of Saul' (Vienna).
Further information on the exhibition: http://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/what-on/exhibitions-displays/archive/renaissance-modern

This MA dissertation (Courtauld, 2015) reconstructs the patronage of the Florentine banker Pierfrancesco Borgherini. A Medici aide and member of the Papal Curia, his artistic patronage was fundamental to the formation of a complex socio-artistic network that extended between Florence and Rome and involved artists including Michelangelo, Sebastiano del Piombo and Andrea del Sarto.Yet in addition to being Michelangelo's banker, Pierfrancesco also seems to have been his 'friend', and their relationship was arguably based on a genuine bond of amicizia which in turn drove the creation of prestigious works of art. Through analysis of Michelangelo's letters, archival records and the artworks themselves, this dissertation reconstructs this network and considers how it affirmed Pierfrancesco's social identity.