Visual Culture Program

Monday, January 27, 2020

4:00pm to 5:00pm

East Bridge 114

Borrowed Light: Art and Astronomy at the Villa Medici

Eileen Reeves, Professor of Comparative Literature, Princeton University,

Abstract: This talk imagines the encounter of Galileo Galilei and Diego Velázquez at the Villa Medici in Rome, where both were guests of the Tuscan ambassador in May and June of 1630. While we have no extant documents attesting to their acquaintance in this venue, their shared interests and other textual and artistic artifacts argue for some sort of exchange.

About the Visual Culture Program
The Caltech-Huntington Program in Visual Culture, which is funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and based in the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), features undergraduate course offerings, guest lecturers, and other programming to foster conversations between humanists and scientists. Its activities are organized by HSS and other Caltech faculty in collaboration with scholars at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

For more information, please contact Cecilia Lu by phone at 626-395-1724 or by email at [email protected].

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Visual Culture Program Series

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