Sunday, May 2, 3-5 p.m.

Early 15th-Century Italian music,Gionvanni Perluigi daPalestrina, and Justin Morgan with voices, Renaissance winds and strings Conducted by Robert Eisenstein Director Five College Early Music Program John and Norah Warbeke Gallery Mount Holyoke College Art Museum South Hadley, Massachusetts

Lecture by Tim Eriksen, Musician and Ethnomusicologist with local shape note singers John and Norah Warbeke Gallery Mount Holyoke College Art Museum South Hadley, Massachusetts

Wendy Watson

Lecture by Wendy Watson, Curator, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum

Lippo d'Andrea (Italian, ca. 1370/71-1451)
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints John the Baptist and Nicholas of Bari (detail)

Tempera and gold on panel, ca. 1410
Middlebury College Museum of Art (2005.056)
Photo by Photograph Tad Merrick, Vermont

Lecture by Laurence Kanter, Lionel Goldfrank III Curator of European Art
Yale University Art Gallery Reception to follow Gamble Auditorium Mount Holyoke College Art Museum South Hadley, Massachusetts

Katherine Smith Abbott

Lecture by Katherine Smith Abbott, Visting Professor Department of Art and Architecture Middlebury College Reception to follow Gamble Auditorium Mount Holyoke College Art Museum South Hadley, Massachusetts

Sano di Pietro (Italian, 1405-1481
Virgin and Child
Tempera and gold on panel, ca. 1465-1475
Bequest of Caroline R. Hill

At heart a collaborative venture,

the creation of early fifteenth-century panel paintings in Italy depended upon a tight network of connections between patrons, painters, woodworkers, and gilders. The product of these interactions was an object that served both as a focus for devotion, and as an emphatic statement about wealth and status. Shown at Middlebury College in the fall of 2009, The Art of Devotion: Panel Painting in Early Renaissance Italy, is a collaborative exhibition that includes six works from the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and 14 significant works from ten national and international collections. A display of the materials and techniques employed by the artists and included in the exhibition demonstrates how these objects were made and adds to our understanding of those who produced and owned them. Featuring artists such as Giovanni del Biondo, Giovanni dal Ponte, Gentile da Fabriano, and Lippo d’Andrea, the exhibit explores the ways in which these works—often described as “conservative”, or “late Gothic,” offer a more authentic view of the early Renaissance, one that balances our notion of a time and place usually characterized solely by departures from tradition.

Indian, from Madhya Pradesh
Dancing Ganesha
Sandstone, 800-900 CE
Purchase with the Belle and Hy Baier Art Acquisition Fund

This companion exhibition to The Art of Devotion: Panel Painting in Early Renaissance Italy explores devotional traditions manifest in visual art from a diverse array of cultures and time periods. Reflecting both the thoughtful interpretations and scholarly expertise of contributing faculty, students, staff,and other friends of the Museum, the accompanying texts and brochure seek to provide insight into why these objects have inspired humans of every tradition, enhancing their faith and connecting them to a higher purpose.