From Pattern to Nature in Italian Renaissance Drawing: Pisanello to Leonardo

Coinciding with a major exhibition in Florence devoted to Italian Renaissance Drawing from both the collections of the Uffizi and the British Museum, in May 2011 the Dutch University Institute for Art History in Florence hosted an international conference, "From Pattern to Nature in Italian Renaissance Drawing: Pisanello to Leonardo". The aim of the conference was twofold: on the one hand, to clarify the extent to which during the fifteenth century the medieval pattern book approach persisted and influenced the attitude toward life drawing in Italy. On the other hand, to understand the reasons for the late and slow emergence of the study from the nude model and living animal during the second half of the century in light of the contemporary growing theoretical concern with the naturalistic imitation of Nature. Ten international specialists delivered talks that helped to gain a fuller understanding of when, where an to what extent the new theoretical ideals on imitation were first put to practice in a consistent manner and how this affected both drawing techniques, methods and styles, as well as the rendering of Nature. These talks have now been published under auspices of the Dutch University Institute for Art History (Michael W. Kwakkelstein & Lorenza Melli eds. Publisher: Centro Di, Florence)