Drawing In/Screening Off: Metaphors of the Veil Beyond Painting

This workshop discusses the potent metaphors of the veil as elaborated upon by modern Italian artists and architects. It will examine Alberti’s use of the veil in the conceptualization of perspectival constructions, Pollaiuolo’s multi-tiered gauzes, the architectural screens in Neapolitan convents and encompass Maderno’s, Corradini’s and Monti’s statue velate.

A collaboration of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz Max-Planck-Institut and the History of Art Department of the University of York (from where all the speakers come), the workshop unfolds as three papers. Its rationale is to offer a way of thinking about the metaphors of the veil that transcend painting, as Helen Hills argues in the final contribution.

Programme:

4.00pm: Emanuele Lugli and Gerhard Wolf, Opening Remarks

4.10: Gabriel Williams, The ‘Veiled Face Trick’ and Sculptural Labour in 19th-century Britain

4.50: Emanuele Lugli, Lippi’s Absorbing Veils

5.30: Break

6.00: Helen Hills, The Veil and the Implication of Architecture

6.40: Roundtable discussion chaired by Mary Pardo followed by Gerhard Wolf’s concluding remarks

Download the full programme: Metaphors of the Veil Programme (PDF , 258kb)