Gilded Suns and Peacock Angels: Art and Theatre in Renaissance Florence

The Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art present current research by established and emerging scholars.  Seminars are held three times a term and are delivered in mixed-mode, with attendance online and in person. The two kinds of delivery are separately ticketed on Eventbrite. Online access opens at 4.45pm, fifteen minutes before the start of the seminar at 5pm. The talk itself finishes by 5.50pm to allow those with other commitments to leave, and  is followed  by discussion which continues for up to half and hour.These talks are supported by the Murray Bequest in memory of the Department’s founder Peter Murray, and are open to all.

The Murray Seminars at Birkbeck

A research seminar in which Laura Stefanescu explores relationships between art and theatrical spectacle in 15thC Florence IN-PERSON EVENT

History of Art Department, Birkbeck

This seminar was previously scheduled for December 2022, then February 2023 but had to be cancelled both times. If you booked for either of these cancelled events, we apologise but you will need to book again as your old tickets will no longer be valid. 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. This talk aims to explore the connections between painting and the theatrical experience of heaven which shaped the visual culture of fifteenth-century Florence.The seminar will be delivered before an audience and livestreamed. Separate booking links are posted on Eventbrite for each form of attendance. This ticket is for the in-person event

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Gilded Suns and Peacock Angels: Art and Theatre in Renaissance Florence

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Gilded Suns and Peacock Angels: Art and Theatre in Renaissance Florence

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