LECTURE: Elizabeth Pilliod, Pontormo Returns, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut, Palazzo Grifoni Budini Gattai, Via dei Servi 51, Firenze, 17 March 2015, at 8.00 h.
While previous scholars have advanced the discussion of the possible art-historical, religious and socio-political content of Pontormo’s lost paintings in the choir of San Lorenzo, this work departs in substantial ways from their methods and conclusions.
Re-addressed and re-answered are a series of crucial questions: When did Pontormo begin this commission, how did it progress, and who determined the overall program? How did it look? Why were the subjects depicted in the choir selected for inclusion? What was Vasari’s intention in criticizing the paintings?
My analysis and proposals rest on, among other materials, an intense study of his drawings and drawing techniques; a new re-contextualization of Pontormo’s Diary, including the identification of the people and events in that document; historical chronicles, medical handbooks, church manuscripts; archival documents; and the physical existence of the paintings.
Recent theories involving the liminal, spectacle, motion, agency and picture-acts shed light on the power and functions of the images.
Elizabeth Pilliod is Visiting Professor of the History of Art at Rutgers-Camden University.