The Italian Art Society is pleased to partner with the Clark Art Institute on a virtual Study Day inspired by the current exhibition at the Clark, An Exquisite Eye: Introducing the Aso O. Tavitian Collection. This event will be held via Zoom, on November 11, 2026 at 12pm EST (linked here).
The Aso O. Tavitian Collection, a gift to the Clark in 2024, is arguably among the most significant private collections of early modern European art assembled in the 21st century, with a remarkable representation of Italian art encompassing painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and works on paper produced between about 1450 and 1800. The Tavitian Collection’s breadth and depth will inspire new scholarship and offer a rich resource for ongoing research. Works by Jacopo da Pontormo, Parmigianino, Agnolo Bronzino, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Giovanni Francesco Susini, Giovanna Garzoni, and Giacomo Ceruti, among many others, convey a great range in artists, subjects, and media.
This Study Day aims to promote discussion and new research around the Italian works in the Aso O. Tavitian Collection, with a focus on objects on view in the Clark’s current exhibition. The discussant for this program is Danielle Carrabino, PhD. Danielle Carrabino is Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Smith College Museum of Art, where she oversees the collection from antiquity to 1950. A specialist in 17th century Italian art, her recent publications include a book on Caravaggio in Early Modern Sicily (Routledge Press, 2026).
There will be five papers on the panel: Monika Schmitter, University of Massachusetts Amherst “Parmigianino and the Disdain for Portrayal”; Sarah Mellott Cadagin, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, Georgia “Two Andrea della Robbia Portraits in the Tavitian Collection”; Alexis Culotta, Tulane University “Inventing Alexander: Giulio Romano and Antiquity’s Afterlives”; Patricia Simons, University of Michigan (Emerita) “Viewing Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife”; and William Satloff, Princeton University “Giovanna Garzoni’s Miniature Pendants: Copying as Pictorial Translation.” There will be an open Q&A after the papers and discussant remarks.
This Study Day is free and open to the public. The virtual event should run for one hour and forty-five minutes. This event will be recorded and shared on YouTube for those who cannot attend the event live.
The live zoom link is: https://zoom.us/j/91803307089 (Meeting ID: 918 0330 7089). You can also call in to listen at +13126266799, 91803307089# US (Chicago) or +16465588656, 91803307089# US (New York).
If you are interested in learning more about the IAS or becoming an IAS member, you can find out more at italianartsociety.org/join/.