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EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Prints for the People: How the printing press revolutionized Renaissance art and thought”

Presented by Dr. Laurinda Dixon
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-fifteenth century began an unprecedented technological revolution in the Western world.  For the first time, books and works of art could be mass-produced, putting literacy and art ownership within the grasp of all people, not just wealthy elites.  The unrestricted availability of information transcended national borders, threatening the power of political and religious authorities and accelerating the emergence of a middle class.  European vernacular languages were finally standardized and written down, replacing Latin as the universal lingua franca.

By the year 1480, printing presses were active in 110 places all over Europe, and by 1500 they had produced more than 20 million copies.  Political propaganda was easily and broadly disseminated, and individual books could assume the status of best-sellers.  Among the reading populace, which now included nearly everybody, it became necessary to learn punctuation, spelling, and much to the dismay of students today, to justify one’s ideas by citing existing printed sources.

Printed “mass media” greatly changed the ways in which viewers perceived art.  Suddenly, works of art were widely and cheaply accessible, both in their own right and as a means of enhancing books via illustrations. The earliest print artists were trained in other fields, usually goldsmithing, and their artistic technique can seem crude and awkward in retrospect. But several visionary pioneers and entrepreneurs stand out for their innovative skill in translating the old painterly elements -light, shadow, and line – into new paradigms of sight and perception.  The printing press became so synonymous with this new enterprise that it lent its name to an entire branch of mass media, which we now call “the press.”

The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.

Please note:

• Your participation is confirmed once you have purchased your ticket. You will receive the Zoom link to join the presentation circa 30 minutes before the start time.
• VIDEO RECORDING of the webinar will be available for unlimited streaming at your convenience for 7 days after the event.

Lecturer

Laurinda Dixon is a specialist in northern European Renaissance art. Currently retired, she served as the William F. Tolley Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the Humanities at Syracuse University for many years. Her scholarship considers the intersection of art and science – particularly alchemy, medicine, astrology, and music – from the fifteenth though the nineteenth centuries. She has lectured widely in both the USA and Europe, and is the author of many articles, reviews, and eleven books, including Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-Enlightenment Art and Medicine (1995), Bosch (2003), and The Dark Side of Genius: The Melancholic Persona in Art, ca. 1500-1700 (2013). Laurinda holds a Ph.D. in art history from Boston University, as well as a degree in piano performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.