Keynote: Stephanie Porras, 'Paper, ivory, feathers: viral materiality in the early modern world'

Thursday 7 April, 17:45 - 19:00

On either side of the Pacific, seventeenth-century ivory carvers in Manila and feather workers in New Spain both drew upon the same engraved models of St Jerome, imported from Antwerp. The resultant small-scale triptychs then crisscrossed the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as precious exports, completing in reverse the journeys taken by their engraved models. This paper explores how these various St Jeromes acted as viral images, propelled by material experimentation, acts of appropriation and creative assembly, exposing the operations of a newly globalized art market.

Speakers:
Stephanie Porras, Chair, Newcomb Art Department. Associate Professor, Art History, Northern Renaissance, Colonial Latin America at Tulane University, New Orleans