Work in Progress - 'The Writing on the Wall. On the interrelation of script and image in Italian Renaissance mural painting'

Antonina Tetzlaff (Aby Warburg Fellow): 'The Writing on the Wall. On the interrelation of script and image in Italian Renaissance mural painting'

Art historians who study mural painting are rarely confronted exclusively with pictorial signs. The painting of letters and words – written elements – must be seen as an essential component of many wall painting cycles (not only) of the Italian Renaissance: they are image-script-ensembles. While research on the materiality and visuality of writing has increased in recent decades, many studies still reduce these ‘inscriptions’ to their semantic content.

In my Work-in-Progress talk, I will look at some examples for such interrelations of script and image, which are part of my ongoing PhD project on image-script ensembles in Italian wall painting between 1300 and 1600. I will focus on the examples of the chapter house of the former Dominican convent of S. Nicolò in Treviso (1352), as well as on the Roman Sala dei Cento Giorni (1546) and on art theoretical considerations for or against the inclusion of letters in works of art found in Cinquecento art theory.

The Work in Progress seminar explores the variety of subjects studied and researched at the Warburg Institute. Papers are given by invited international scholars, research fellows studying at the Institute, and third-year PhD students.

ATTENDANCE FREE ONLINE OR IN PERSON WITH ADVANCE BOOKING

image: from seminario vescovile di Treviso, photo A. Tetzlaff