Fit for the Gods: Chinese Porcelain and Collecting Practices at the Court of Ferrera

This talk will pay attention to contemporary interests in technological innovation, including the manufacturing of ‘counterfeit’ porcelain in Ferrara, arguing that an emphasis on materials and their transformative qualities was a theme running throughout the paintings, but also in the objects of display, and in the larger interests of Duke Alfonso. The inclusion of porcelain in Bellini’s Feast of the Gods is not simply a representation of Alfonso’s porcelain collections and his interests, but rather, as this paper will argue, sets up a complex relationship between reality and fiction and the metaphoric capabilities of material culture. This paper will also pay particular attention to the mobility of materials and objects in this era of increasing global connections, demonstrating how there was a porcelain pathway from Naples into Ferrara at the end of the fifteenth century.

For further information, speaker biography and registration details, please see the History of Art department webpage here.