Molding Matters: Women in Early Modern Sculpture I & II

Session Organizers: Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, National Gallery of Art, estraussman@yahoo.com and Caroline Paganussi, American Friends of Capodimonte Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow, caroline.paganussi@gmail.com

Abstract: These panels will explore the understudied subject of women in sculpture in the early modern world, broadly construed in Western Europe and beyond. While monographic studies of certain figures, such as Properzia de’ Rossi, Plautilla Bricci, Luisa Roldán, and Anna Morandi Manzolini exist, the majority of known women who worked in sculpture are yet to be fully studied. Part of this is due to the perceived hierarchy of materials with marble reigning supreme. However, other materials such as terracotta, plaster, and wax were also used to create sculpture—materials often utilized by women. We welcome papers that illuminate the work of women sculptors worldwide, including multimedia creations such as dioramas and the artwork of nuns, as well as papers that explore the role of women in the workshop or academy. We are also interested in papers that address women patrons of sculpture. In short, we seek to gather a variety of talks that help us better understand the various ways in which women participated in the early modern world of sculpture.

Please send paper proposals to the organizers by 31 July 2023.

Paper proposals must include:

• Paper Title (15 words max)
• Abstract (150 words max)
• One-page CV (pdf or doc) with speaker’s full name and email address
• PhD completion date (past or expected)

Please note: As this is a sponsored panel, all speakers must be (or become) members of the Italian Art Society in 2023. Please note that there are free one-year sospesi memberships available for eligible speakers in IAS sponsored sessions. Information can be found on our website here: https://www.italianartsociety.org/join/

The IAS offers several types of conference travel grants which help support graduate students and junior scholars, as well as scholars who are traveling internationally to present in IAS- Sponsored sessions. Applications for these grants are announced and opened in the late fall.

More information on the various conference travel grants be found on our website: https://www.italianartsociety.org/grants-opportunities/travel-grants/