Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings, 1550-1800 - In-person Lecture

This lecture relates to a special exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (January 29-July 9, 2023) which features 30 designs that represent the evolution and principal types of ceiling decoration from the Renaissance through Neoclassicism. 

Professor Thomas Germano will present a visual lecture discussing the origins of overhead illusions using Renaissance perspective that eventually culminates into interactive tromp l’oeil ceilings incorporating multi-media, (architecture, sculpture and painting) to create the appearance of bodies hovering overhead, and cascading into our space from the ceilings of palazzi and churches. The exhibition and lecture conclude with decorative Rococo ceiling designs and the geometric spatial organization and idealized form associated with Neoclassicism.