Bowdoin College Museum of Art
News: Exhibitions
Beauty and Duty opens in Late March
- Posted: Mar 19, 2008
Beauty and Duty: The Art and Business of Renaissance Marriage, an exhibition of art and artifacts that looks at past rites and rituals, opens on the evening of March 26, 2008, and continues through July 27 at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
A colorful Italian painting in the Museum’s collection, depicting nymphs, goddesses, a love-struck shepherd and his worried parents inspired Beauty and Duty: The Art and Business of Renaissance Marriage. The painting once ornamented an early 15th-century Florentine wooden marriage chest (cassone) and interpreted scenes from Giovanni Boccaccio’s epic and seductive romance, The Nymphs of Fiesole. The painted cassone would have been proudly carried through the streets in the bride’s public procession to her new home.
The exhibition’s paintings, sculptures, furniture, medals, prints and books, from Bowdoin’s collections and museums across the country, open the window to the historic context of marriage in Renaissance Italy. Collectively they provide insights into Renaissance views on the nature of men and women; suggest the virtues of chastity, courage, and moderation; and depict young noble men and women whose arranged marriages were intended to strengthen military alliances and stabilize governments by providing heirs.
The opening lecture, “Marriage in Renaissance Italy: Patterns, Rituals, & Deceptions” by Konrad Eisenbichler, Professor of Italian and Renaissance Studies, University of Toronto is on Wednesday evening, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center, Bowdoin College. An exhibition preview and reception at the Museum of Art follow the lecture. The public is cordially invited to attend.
An informative article on the exhibition is available on the Bowdoin College website.
Beauty and Duty: The Art and Business of Renaissance Marriage will be accompanied by a series of lectures and events featuring nationally and internationally known scholars and specialists in the fields of Renaissance history and culture.
A catalogue, poster and postcard produced to accompany the exhibition will be available for purchase at the Museum Shop.
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