Living with sculpture: presence and power in Europe, 1400-1750

Abstract

"Recent studies of sculpture suggest the singular presence and power the medium holds for its makers, patrons, and audiences. In particular, the role of sculpture as a commemorative and connective tool has become evident in debates about monuments and cultural patrimony. Sculpture inhabits experiential spaces; it manipulates notions of history, forges bonds between distant places, and promotes future actions. The Hood Museum of Art's exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400-1750 (March 23, 2024, to March 22, 2025) contributes to the field's understanding of sculpture in early modern daily life in Europe. This publication includes 5 thematic essays, extended catalogue entries for 121 objects, and an illustrated checklist of 114 additional objects from the important collection of early modern sculpture at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth." -- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Objects of Presence and Power : Early Modern Sculpture at Dartmouth, an Introduction / John R. Stomberg -- The Self-Aware Sculptor : Reflections on Making in Early Modern Europe / Elizabeth Rice Mattison -- Ornament in the Everyday : Functional Sculpture in the Early Modern Home / Ashley B. Offill -- Humanism and Fame : The Social Networks of Early Modern Sculpture / Elizabeth Rice Mattison and Ashley B. Offill -- Forging History : Medals and the Commemoration of the Past / Elizabeth Rice Mattison -- Framing, Touching, Interceding : Sculpture and Physical Presence in Early Modern Religious Practice / Ashley B. Offill -- Catalogue entries.