Art and Epistemology. A Study in the Preconditions for the Changes in Early Modern Mural Painting

The dramatic transformation of Italian mural paintings from the late 15th Century to the second quarter of the 16th Century, regards both changes in form and narrative structures. On a stylistic level, this takes place as a highly experimental exploration of various modes of visual representation with different degrees of illusion, thus allowing for depictions on different "levels of reality". On a narrative and structural level, it happens by contrivance of a range of new principles of scenic organizatio n that represents a break with a didactic tradition of narrative conventions in Western church decoration - the disposition of scenes in chronological and/or typological relations between the Old Testament and New Testament - that can be traced back to pi ctorial cycles in early Christian basilicas, such as Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome from the 5th Century. The hypothesis of this project is that these substantial changes in monumental mural decorations can only be adequately understood by situating the ana lyses within the emerging epistemic conflict in the early modern period of which they were crucial part. In this context it is important to remember that the Renaissance was a distinctive visual and predominantly illiterate culture, and that mural paintin gs in public spaces thus were essential means of dissemination of knowledge. The project will examine key monuments in Italy from the 1460s until the sack of Rome in 1527. A methodical delimitat ion will be to concentrate on mural paintings in public spaces, i.e. in churches, oratories, communal palaces, but also rooms constructed and decorated for different ceremonial functions, as consultations and presentations.