Carafa Chapel, Filippino Lippi, Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
DAY 2: Today is Wednesday, January 4th, and we are examining the first iterations of the art market during the Italian Renaissance
through the connections between artists, collectors patrons and the "commissioning game." Read the introduction and chapters
1-3 of Jonathan K. Nelson and Richard J. Zechhauser's pioneering study The Patron's Payoff: Conspicuous Commissions in Italian
Renaissance Art (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008) and view the powerpoint presentation of these chapters. Once this
has been completed, write a response to the reading, considering the following questions: 1) Who were the patrons – specify private
and corporate patrons – and what was their relationship to one another and their significance in the commissioning game? 2) What
were the stakes (costs and benefits) of the commissioning game? 3) What provided incentives for the Patron's Payoff? 3) Name and
describe at least three avenues for expenditures and conspicuous consumption (i.e. art: portraits, frescoes, tomb/chapel decoration).
5) Detail and give examples of signaling, stretching and sign-posting. 6) Who were the audiences? 7) Discuss the attributes of "being
distinguished" with reference to magnificence and signaling.
Patron's Payoff
Individual Contributions
Christina Chaplin
Dalanda Jalloh
Charles Saunders
Lipei Yu
H Hunt Bradley III
Daniel Chazen
Kwame Nana-Atoo
Joo Shin
McKenzie Sullivan
Elena Cestero
Kelly Zona
Consider & comment:
Please use this space to respond to your classmates' work and to engage in lively discussions on the day's topic. Keep your comments concise and conversational by responding to others, rebutting or supporting their ideas. Use the comment box below for these observations.