Lecture: ‘Were Franciscan Churches a Betrayal of St. Francis?’, Dr Erik Gustafson, Murray Seminar Series, Birkbeck, Tuesday 18 October, 5pm (BST)

In this talk, Erik Gustafson addresses two fundamental problems with regards to Franciscan churches: the question of poverty and architecture, and the issue of the role of dividing screens for the friars’ lay constituency.

Online lecture: ‘Eroticism, emulation, and censorship: The Two Lovers by Giulio Romano,’ Barbara Furlotti, Murray Seminars on Medieval & Renaissance Art, Birkbeck, 10 February 2022, 4.45pm (GMT)

As part of the Murray Seminars on Medieval & Renaissance Art at Birkbeck, Dr Barbara Furlotti will present her online lecture ‘Eroticism, emulation, and censorship: The Two Lovers by Giulio Romano,’ at 4.45pm (GMT) on 10 February 2022. Giulio Romano (1492/1499-1546), Raphael’s favourite pupil, played a key role in the awakening of a new approachContinue reading “Online lecture: ‘Eroticism, emulation, and censorship: The Two Lovers by Giulio Romano,’ Barbara Furlotti, Murray Seminars on Medieval & Renaissance Art, Birkbeck, 10 February 2022, 4.45pm (GMT)”

Seminar Series: Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck, London, Spring Term 2020

3rd February 2020: James Hall, ‘Embattled Exclusivity: the Aesthetics and Politics of Michelangelo’s Attack on Flemish Painting’. In a dialogue composed by Francisco de Holanda, Michelangelo launches a diatribe against painting produced in Europe north of the Alps, attacking what he sees as its crowdedness and materialism; its lack of order and discrimination; its sentimentalityContinue reading “Seminar Series: Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck, London, Spring Term 2020”

Lecture Series: Murray Seminars at Birkbeck, Autumn 2019

16 October, Lisa Monnas Vestments and Textiles in Hans Memling’s ‘God with Singing and Music-making Angels  Three large panels in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, painted by Hans Memling in the 1480’s, represent a heavenly scene framed by clouds, which part to reveal the central figure of God attended by sixteen singing andContinue reading “Lecture Series: Murray Seminars at Birkbeck, Autumn 2019”

Lecture: ‘Gold Against the Body: Gold Surfaces and Their Limits, Medieval to Early Modern’, Alison Wright, Murray Seminar at Birkbeck, 27 June 2018

The myth, famously invoked in Goldfinger, of the human body suffocated by being coated in gold exemplifies the fascination and danger attached to the idea of an ‘excess’ of gold, especially in respect to human skin. In this lecture the slippery boundaries of when, where and for whom gold surfaces might be deemed excessive will be explored in relation to European art, especially Italian, of the 14th to early 16th centuries.

Lecture Series: Murray Seminars at Birkbeck University, London, Summer Term 2018

1 May, Cristina Guarnieri, University of Padua The Stories of St. Lucy by Jacobello del Fiore, and Venetian folding reliquary altarpieces The Stories of St. Lucy by Jacobello del Fiore are one of the masterpieces of Italian Late Gothic painting, but their function has been little understood. Re-evaluating prevailing theories about the panels’ purpose and display, this paper proposes that theyContinue reading “Lecture Series: Murray Seminars at Birkbeck University, London, Summer Term 2018”

Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck: Spring 2018

All this term’s seminars take place in the History of Art Department at Birkbeck (43, Gordon Sq., London WC1H 0PD) in Room 114 (The Keynes Library) at 5pm.  Talks finish by 5.50pm (allowing those with other commitments to leave) and are then followed by discussion and refreshments. This term’s papers are as follows : 17 January: Carol Richardson  BritonsContinue reading “Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck: Spring 2018”

Lecture Series: Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck, Spring Term 2017

18th Jan Zsofia Buda ‘The Lady with the book and the closed curtain: iconographical peculiarities in a 15th-century Jewish service book for Passover’ discusses some unusual illustrations in a South German Jewish service book for Passover, finding among other things some surprising similarities with Christian iconography 22 Feb Laura Jacobus ‘”Mea culpa?” Penitence, Enrico ScrovegniContinue reading “Lecture Series: Murray Seminars on Medieval and Renaissance Art at Birkbeck, Spring Term 2017”

Lecture: Saving the soul of Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici: function and design in the Old Sacristy, Paul Davies, Murray Seminars at Birkbeck, 12 December 2016

Monday 12th December Paul Davies will speak on ‘Saving the soul of Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici: function and design in the Old Sacristy’ Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (c.1360-1429), founder of the Medici bank, was buried in the sacristy of S. Lorenzo in Florence. This sacristy was certainly a lavish structure, and one designed andContinue reading “Lecture: Saving the soul of Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici: function and design in the Old Sacristy, Paul Davies, Murray Seminars at Birkbeck, 12 December 2016”