Artists and Friendship in Early Modern Europe

We invite proposals for papers to be included in a panel on artists and friendship at the 2015 Sixteenth Century Studies Conference.1 A number of recent publications have broadened our understanding of the structure and ideology of friendship in early modern Europe. This panel seeks to bring this scholarship into dialogue with art history, and to explore how notions of friendship and amity impacted the lives of artists or the production of art. Topics might include: case studies of friendship among artists; the visual commemoration of friendship in portraits or other genres; marketing and self-promotion through networks of friends; patrons as friends/friends as patrons; gift exchange among friends; professional collaboration and affinity (or lack thereof) among artists; or the impact of classical formulations of friendship on sixteenth-century art production.

To propose a paper, please send an abstract of no more than 250 words and a curriculum vitae to: Meryl Bailey (mbailey[at]mills.edu) and Elizabeth Carroll Consavari (elizabeth.consavari[at]sjsu.edu). Once submitted, the panel is subject to review and approval by the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference organizers.

Organizers: Meryl Bailey (Mills College) and Elizabeth Carroll Consavari (San Jose State University)

  • 1. About the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference: The SCSC, a not-for-profit scholarly organization, receives no governmental or institutional funding. In order to participate in this conference, delegates or their sponsoring institution/organization will need to fund their own travel and lodging expenses in addition to a $170 per delegate registration fee ($100 student fee). The registration fee is used to pay for conference facilities and general events. By paying the fee, delegates become members in the SCSC and receive the Sixteenth Century Journal.