March 5, 2012 — Paul Barolsky, guest curator of the University of Virginia Art Museum and Commonwealth Professor of Art History in the College of Arts & Sciences\' McIntire Department of Art, will give a Lunchtime Talk on the museum\'s exhibition, "Master Printmakers: The Italian Renaissance and Its Modern Legacy" on March 16, from noon to 1 p.m.

Highlighting works on paper from the museum\'s collection, "Master Printmakers" features works in various media – engraving, woodcut and etching – from a "golden age" in the history of Italian art. The exhibition includes works by Marcantonio Raimondi, Jacopo de\'Barbari, Domenico Beccafumi and other 16th-century artists whose mythological, religious and allegorical images express the cultural and aesthetic ideals of the High Renaissance.

Printmakers, as this show reveals, are both artists in their own right and graphic historians who keep alive the inventions of major artists of earlier periods. Featured here are prints after pictorial inventions by Raphael, Francesco Primaticcio, Federico Barocci, Tintoretto and Titian. Prints not only disseminateda widely the ideas of the great masters, they also captured in diverse media the pictorial qualities of such masterworks.

Barolsky has taught various aspects of Italian Renaissance art and literature at the University since 1969. His books include "Michelangelo\'s Nose," "Why Mona Lisa Smiles" and "Infinite Jest." His most recent book is "A Brief History of the Artist from God to Picasso."

"Master Printmakers: The Italian Renaissance and Its Modern Legacy" is on view through May 20.

The museum\'s monthly Lunchtime Talks, free and open to the public, offer the opportunity to join curators and faculty as they explore topics related to museum collections and exhibitions.

For information, call 434-243-2050 or email museumoutreach@virginia.edu. The museum is open free to the public Tuesday through Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m., and is located at 155 Rugby Road, one block from the Rotunda.