Carafa Chapel, Filippino Lippi, Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
DAY 2: Today is Thursday, June 2nd 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
Sheri Hope Boardman
Vincent Anthony Falkiewicz
Erica Gilbert-Levin
Kimberly Ann Phoenix
Consider & comment:
What did you think of today's readings and wiki features? What issues if any did they raise for you? How did the audio visual material provided support your understanding of this topic? Comment on your classmates' posts. Leave your comments in the box below.