Art history symposium focuses on patronage

January 29, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Society of Art History Graduates at the University of Florida will hold its annual symposium, “Muses & Means: Patronizing the Arts,” from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 3, at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art.

The symposium will focus on how sponsorship of art determines the work’s meaning and shapes the role of artists in a wide range of historical and artistic contexts. The keynote speaker is Adrian Randolph, professor of medieval and Renaissance studies at Dartmouth College. Randolph’s talk — “What is a Patron?” — will address patronage using examples from the Italian Renaissance.

Other speakers will discuss jewelry design in post-Apartheid Africa, architecture patronage in Roman Asia, the influence of European collectors on American contemporary art, female patronage in the court context and the patronage of Antoine Watteau. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, e-mail sahg.uf@gmail.com.