Jonathan K. Nelson
Personal Information
Description
Jonathan K. Nelson is a Teaching Professor at Syracuse University Florence and a Research Associate at the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2004 he co-authored a major monograph on Filippino Lippi, and co-curated a Botticelli and Filippino exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence; he is currently working on a new monograph of Filippino. He co-curated two exhibitions at the Galleria dell’Accademia, dedicated to Michelangelo (2002) and Robert Mapplethorpe (2009). When he was Assistant Director of Academic Programs at Villa I Tatti, he curated two exhibitions on their website about Bernard Berenson (2012, 2015). Other books include Leonardo e la reinvenzione della figura femminile, (2007) and, with Richard J. Zeckhauser, The Patron’s Payoff: Economic Frameworks for Conspicuous Commissions in Renaissance Italy (2008).
Books
Truth & Beauty
"This dazzling book examines the inspiration behind the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and offers comparisons between the radical 19th-century artists and the masterworks they revered. Started in the early 19th century by a group of British painters who rejected the sovereignty of the Royal Academy, the Pre-Raphaelites embraced the natural world and bright colors--as opposed to the dark palettes and amorphous lines that emerged in the wake of the Renaissance. Their mission was to be fundamentally modern by emulating the past. Now readers can appreciate their achievements in this volume that offers side-by-side comparisons of 19th-century masterpieces with the 15th- and 16th-century Early Italian and Early Netherlandish paintings that inspired them. Exquisite reproductions of works by Giotto, Fra Angelico, van Eyck, Botticelli, Titian, Veronese, and Raphael are presented alongside examples by William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and others. The book traces the evolution of the Pre-Raphaelites, and details how these painters were exposed to the early masters as they traveled and encountered the finest European collections. The volume also features decorative arts, including stained glass and tapestries in emulation of Flemish and French textiles as well as "medievalized" ecclesiastic decorations. The result is an illuminating examination that delves into the Pre-Raphaelites' aesthetic vocabulary and broadens our understanding of their motives and inspiration"--
Representing Infirmity
"This volume is the first in-depth analysis of how infirm bodies were represented in Italy from c.1400-1650. Through original contributions and methodologies, it addresses the fundamental yet undiscussed relationship between images and representations in medical, religious, and literary texts. By exploring the works of artists such as Caravaggio, Leonardo, and Michelangelo, this study considers the idealised body altered by diseases including leprosy, plague, goiter, and cancer. The interdisciplinary approach makes this study the perfect resource for both students and specialists of the history of art, medicine and religion, and social and intellectual history across Renaissance Europe"--