Renowned Michelangelo scholar named 2008 Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at Syracuse University

Monday, September 22, 2008, By News Staff

Renowned Michelangelo scholar named 2008 Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at Syracuse UniversitySeptember 22, 2008Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

An internationally recognized authority on Michelangelo, William E. Wallace of Washington University, has been selected as the 2008 Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at Syracuse University. Wallace will present a series of workshops and public lectures about the celebrated sculptor, painter, architect, poet and patriot between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 on the SU campus. His presentations are part of “Rethinking Michelangelo: A Series of Lectures, Concerts and Special Events,” presented by SU’s College of Arts and Sciences to complement the current SUArt Galleries exhibition, “Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth.” Further information about both is available on the Web at http://michelangelo.syr.edu.

Wallace’s first public lecture will be Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Life Sciences Complex Auditorium, when he will present “Drawing a Life of Michelangelo.” The lecture will focus on the historical and personal contexts surrounding Michelangelo’s drawings and documents held by Casa Buonarroti and on exhibit at the SUArt Galleries. The lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Irving Garage.

Wallace will also present:

  • “Michelangelo Reverses the Rules,” Friday, Oct. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the Life Sciences Complex Auditorium-The lecture is the keynote address for the Fall 2008 Ray Smith Symposium “Rethinking Michelangelo” and is free and open to the public.

  • “Writing a Biography of Michelangelo,” a seminar for SU students, faculty and staff, Monday, Sept. 29, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Kilian Room (Room 500) of the Hall of Languages-The seminar will explore the challenges of writing a biography of one of the most famous and complicated artists of all time.

  • “Michelangelo Engineer and Entrepreneur,” a seminar for SU students, faculty and staff, Monday, Oct. 6, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Kilian Room (Room 500) of the Hall of Languages-The seminar will explore how account books and other 16th-century records reveal Michelangelo’s entrepreneurial spirit and provide insight into his collaborations with stonemasons, quarry workers and others.

Wallace is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History at Washington University, where he teaches about early and High Renaissance art, architecture and culture. He has written more than 80 essays, chapters and articles (as well as two works of fiction), and is author and editor of four books on Michelangelo: “Michelangelo at San Lorenzo: The Genius as Entrepreneur” (Cambridge 1994), “Michelangelo: Selected Scholarship in English” (Garland, 1996), “Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture” (Hugh Lauter Levin, 1998), and “Michelangelo: Selected Readings” (Garland 1999). He has also completed a biography of Michelangelo.

Wallace holds a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University; was a fellow at Villa I Tatti, Harvard University’s Center for Renaissance Studies in Florence (1990-91); was at the American Academy in Rome (1996-97); and was the Robert Sterling Clark Distinguished Visiting Professor at Williams College (1999).

The College of Arts and Sciences Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Humanities brings to campus scholars and writers whose work is esteemed throughout the humanities. The professorship was made possible by the generosity of the late Jeannette K. Watson.

“Rethinking Michelangelo” events are made possible by SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Humanities, the Malmgren Concert Series, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Schola Cantorum of Syracuse, the SUArt Galleries, SU Abroad, the Syracuse Symposium, the Pulse performing arts series and the student fee.

The Ray Smith Symposium Series was established in 1989 as the result of a bequest from the estate of SU alumnus Ray W. Smith ’21 to support symposia on topics in the humanities in The College of Arts and Sciences.