2024 Rava Memorial Lecture Series
Our speaker:
Dr. Elizabeth Rodini (Ph.D., University of Chicago) most recently served asAndrew Heiskell Arts Director and Interim Director of the AmericanAcademy in Rome. Previously, she was Teaching Professor in History of Artand founding Director of the Program in Museums and Society at JohnsHopkins University, where she taught for 15 years. Dr. Rodini's art historicalwork centers on cross-cultural encounters in the early modern period, with aparticular interest in mobility, recontextualization, and the reuse of objectsbetween Venice and the Islamic world. Her forthcoming book, On the Streetof the Hidden Shops: A Metaphoric Archaeology of Rome, tells the deephistory of a single city block through the stories of those who lived andworked there across 2,000 years.
Our topic:
Painted in 1480 at the Ottoman court in Istanbul, Gentile' Bellini's famed portrait of Sultan Mehmed II has had a rich afterlife, stretching across three continents and entangled with issues ranging from authenticity to historical memory to the formulation of national patrimony. Through a close examination of the portrait and its history, including questions of style, provenance, condition, and display, we will consider different perspectives on its italianità and the ways in which that identity shifts while remaining firm.
Reception will be held at 4:00 pm in Goldberg Formal Lounge.
Lecture to follow at 5:00 pm in Danforth University Center (DUC) 276.
The Rava Memorial Lecture is funded by the family of Paul and Silvia Rava and sponsored by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
