Paul Hills has made a book about the color and light of sixteenth century art, in the words of art history professor Mary Pardo, “extraordinary.”
Hills will share his knowledge tonight in the Hanes Art Center.
In addition to a master’s and a Ph.D. from The Courtauld Institute of Art, Hills has taught and given lectures on Renaissance art all over the globe.
He is currently working on his fourth book.
Pardo said his second book, “Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass,” was one of the most beautiful books she’s ever read.
Tonight’s lecture is part of the “Bettie Allison Rand Lectures in Art” series.
“The Rand series is about textiles, garments and the uses of fashion in art all centered around the Renaissance,” Pardo said.
The lecture, “Disclosure and Concealment in the Art of Lorenzo Lotto,” deals primarily with the paintings of Lorenzo Lotto, a sixteenth century Italian painter.
Lotto, an artist who offered his assistance to Michelangelo while he was working on the Sistine Chapel, lacks the fame of big names like Raphael and Michelangelo.
While Lotto was known to paint much of the same subject matter as these artists, his paintings hold most of their meaning in the smallest of details like buttons, rugs and clothing.
“You would notice, ‘Oh my god, there is a Persian carpet at the feet of Madonna!’” Pardo said.
She also said he had the ability to make pieces of cloth look “opulently, spectacularly beautiful.”
“I would find myself staring at the buttons on the woman’s dress,” she said. “He was invested in ordinary things and how they could carry extraordinary meaning.”
While Lotto may not be the most famous Renaissance painter, his work has received more attention of late.
“All of the sudden everybody loves him,” Pardo said.
She said that it is possible that this 400-year-old artist’s career will be revived in the near future.
Whether or not that happens, Hills will surely explain why Lotto’s paintings deserve a second look.
Paul Hills will lecture in the Hanes Art Center tonight at 8 pm.
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