Detail: Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm (new time)
Place: Education Studio
Fee: $5 after Museum admission
Note: Registration required.

Lecture with Lauren Arnold

Asian art objects have fascinated collectors for millennia. One of the prized items excavated at Pompeii is a tiny ivory Laksmi figure from India. Art historian Lauren Arnold will introduce us to the collectors and take us on a tour through some unusual collections: Viking tombs; medieval treasure chambers; a princely Renaissance studio; Enlightenment “cabinets of curiosities”- the wunderkammers; up to the present day in our own city, where art from Asia has been preserved, protected, and treasured over time.
Many collectors will be introduced, but in particular, Lauren will focus on two Italian collectors of Chinese porcelain: Isabelle d’Este and Grand Duke Francesco 1 d’Medici. Isabella, who married at the age of sixteen into the powerful Gonzaga family of Ferrara in the 1490’s, was a voracious collector of all things rare and beautiful, but she had a particular personal interest in Asian ceramics they were widely believed to be resistant to poison and secret potions. Francesco, son of Duke Cosimo 1, was also a collector of the rare porcelains from Asia, but with a decidedly more practical interest. He encouraged the growth of the pottery industry in Tuscany, hoping to produce something rivaling the delicacy and artistry of their Asian counterparts. His venture did not particularly succeed nor did it last past his death in 1587, but it illustrates the lasting interest by Europeans in Asian objets.
Lauren Arnold is an independent art historian. Her degrees are in history and art history from the University of Michigan. She is a Research Associate with the Ricci Institute at USF, and her field of interest is East-West relations, particularly in early exchanges of art. She wrote Princely Gifts and Papal Treasures: The Franciscan Mission to China and Its Influence on the Art of the West 1250-1350.