Work of the Week: Unknown Artist after Sebastiano Serlio,“Study for a Stage Design: Street Lined with Palatial Buildings”

We do not know who drew this delicate ink and chalk drawing. We do know, however, that it is a copy of a woodcut from a book rather famous at the time, the Second Book on Perspective by Italian architect and theorist Sebastiano Serlio (published in 1545). Today, Serlio is remembered as the author of the first architectural treatise in a modern language to be printed with illustrations, also the first to devote an entire section to the theatre. That is where we find the source image for this drawing, titled The Tragic Scene. The drawing may have been a lesson in perspective (apprentices repeatedly copied works by other artists in order to master various skills, types of compositions, or media), or a point of departure for a different composition.

Work of the Week: David Hilliard, “Wiser than Despair”

David Hilliard(American, b. 1964), Wiser Than Despair, 2012, C-print, 24 in. x 80 in. The AlfondCollection of Contemporary Art at Rollins College, Gift of Barbara ’68 and Theodore ’68Alfond, 2013.34.12. Image courtesy of the artist and Carroll and Sons, Boston.

Work of the Week: Catherine Yass, “Lighthouse (North north west, distant)”

Catherine Yass (British, b. 1963), Lighthouse (North north west, distant), 2011, Photographic transparency, lightbox, 50 ¾ x 40 ¾ in., The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art at Rollins College, Gift of Barbara ’68 and Theodore ’68 Alfond. 2020.1.11 © Catherine Yass. Image courtesy Galerie Lelong

Lavinia Fontana: The Dead Christ with Symbols of the Passion

Outside of my bias of having been trained as an Italienist, The Dead Christ with Symbols of the Passion, is one of the most important Old Masters in our collection (as a mature work by one of the few female

Work of the Week: Käthe Kollwitz, “Untitled (Mob [Family] with Dead Child)”

Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945), Untitled (“Mob [Family] with Dead Child”), n.d., Dry point etching, Gift of Mrs. Ruth Funk, Cornell Fine Arts Museum 2001.04.09.PR Where history provides perspective and comparison, art provides context and comfort. Historical art often provides both. That is why I

Seductress or Rape Victim? Potiphar’s Wife in Art And Literature

One of the paintings in our current exhibition, Dangerous Women: Selections from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art , depicts an episode from the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, as recounted in the biblical book of Genesis.

Dangerous Women, Renaissance Painters

One of the rarest paintings in the Cornell Fine Arts Museum’s collection is Lavinia Fontana’s Dead Christ with Symbols of the Passion. Dated 1581, It is one of only 32 signed and dated (or datable) works by the artist. Lavinia

A Closer Look At Our Summer Exhibitions: From Pump Manufacturing To Old Masters Paintings

How do paintings from an art-filled, Ohio home become the core of the only European Old Masters museum collection in the Orlando area? The story began in 1870. Family patriarch, Francis Eunoch Myers, arrived in Ashland, OH to work as

The Community of Art

Communities are defined by people: families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues who share a way of life, a place to live, to work, or to enjoy common interests. We live in a community and share our lives, thoughts, and hopes with