U.Va. Art Museum Conference To Study 'Bartolo di Fredi and the Art of His Time'

April 11, 2012 — The University of Virginia Art Museum will hold an international conference, "Bartolo di Fredi and the Art of his Time," on April 27, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Campbell Hall, room 153. The event is free and open to the public.

The conference is in conjunction with the museum's exhibit, "The Adoration of the Magi by Bartolo di Fredi: A Masterpiece Reconstructed." The Sienese painting dates from c. 1380. It was dismembered around 1785, and has been reunited for the first time in more than 200 years. The exhibit,which is accompanied by an illustrated catalog, is on view Tuesdays throughSundays, from noon to 5 p.m., through May 27.

The conference is being held in tandem with the McIntire Department of Art in U.Va.'s College of Arts & Sciences.

"It promises to be a memorable occasion, with the leading scholars in the field gathering in Charlottesville for lectures and informal discussions around this great altarpiece," museum director Bruce Boucher said.

The conference brings together international scholars to discuss di Fredi's work in the context of the life and politics of 14th century Siena and other artists working in the city.

The morning session, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., includes:

• "The View from Afar," an address from Hayden Maginnis, a specialist in early Italian painting with a focus on the art of 13th- and 14th-century Siena and professor emeritus, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

• "Bartolo di Fredi: Architect of the Cappella del Campo," by Wolfgang Loseries, a specialist in early Renaissance and Sienese art who has written extensively on Sienese paintings, sculptures and architecture. A researcher at Kunsthistoriches Institut in Florenz-Max-Planck-Institut, he contributed to the catalog that accompanies the exhibition.

• "The Early Imagery of Catherine of Siena and the Making of a Civic Saint," by Emily Moerer, an expert in Renaissance and Baroque art and assistant vice provost for upper division programs at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The afternoon session, which runs from 2 to 4 p.m., includes:

• "The Toscanelli Altarpiece, or Seeing Sienese Painting through a Glass, Darkly," by Machtelt Israëls, an expert on Sienese artist Sassetta and a guest researcher and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam.

• "The Materials of Early Sienese Painting," by Anne Dunlop, an expert on Renaissance ideas of gender and early secular art and literature and an associate professor of art history at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Limited parking is available in designated museum spots in the A-6 lot at the end of Madison Bowl. Additional parking is available in the Central Grounds Parking Garage on Emmet Street.

— by Jane Ford