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Description: Sculptural Seeing: Relief, Optics, and the Rise of Perspective in Medieval Italy
Acknowledgments
PublisherYale University Press
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00109.002
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Acknowledgments
The idea for this project originated at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. The thesis has changed course many times, but it was at the CMS—specifically in the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies library—where my interest in medieval visual theory, perspective, and scholastic aesthetics first was piqued. The idea was developed into a dissertation on Italian medieval relief sculpture at the University of California, Berkeley, inspired in no small part by a seminar taught by Marvin Trachtenberg, who was in residence as a visiting professor, and seminars on David Summers’ Real Spaces taught by Whitney Davis. I can safely say, however, this book could not have been written in its present form—a complete overhaul, expansion, and revision of the original document—at any institution other than Johns Hopkins University. There my ideas have been fostered and developed by mentorships, cross-disciplinary dialogues, and unyielding support from the university. I am indebted to my supportive and kind colleagues in the Department of the History of Art for making my time there so productive: Rebecca Brown, Marian Feldman, Mitchell Merback, Felipe Pereda, Ünver Rüstem, Pier Luigi Tucci, Molly Warnock, and Nino Zchomeldise, as well as many others across campus, especially Shane Butler, Paul Delnero, Eugenio Refini, and Gabrielle Spiegel. A special thank-you goes to Stephen J. Campbell for being the perfect mentor and intellectual model.
I would also like to acknowledge the various staff across JHU whose help over the years has been invaluable. In the Department of the History of Art, Ashley Costello, Lael Ensor, Don Juedes, and Anne Woodward have been extremely generous with their time and resources. Earle Havens and Amy Kimball in Special Collections have provided a peaceful climate in which to work—and, as I have recently discovered, actual medieval manuscripts. Finally, Christine Ruggere at the Medical Institute has been of great assistance in helping me locate important primary and secondary sources held at the institute, books and manuscripts that contributed in major ways to the book’s final argument. A special thanks goes to Ryan Demo, who produced many of the book’s diagrams.
I also thank faculty, staff, and colleagues at libraries and institutions farther afield, whose expertise and support made this project possible, including at Berkeley: Jessica Buskirk, Niklaus Largier, Joni Spigler, Justin Underhill, and Karl Whittington; the British Library; the Harvard University Archives; at the Special Collections, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, thanks go to Amanda Bowen and Joanne Bloom; the Frick Art Library, New York; the Biblioteca Arisotea, Ferrara; the Archivio Capitolare di Modena; and the William Henry Goodyear Archival Collection, Brooklyn Museum. At the J. Paul Getty Museum, thanks go to: all the librarians at the Getty Research Institute; Scott Allan, Department of Paintings; and Thom Kren and Elisabeth Morrison, Department of Manuscripts. In Toronto, Marc Cels, Adam Cohen, Greti Dinkkova-Bruun, Joe Goering, Megan Jones, Evonne Levy, Jon MacGee, Brent Miles, Michèle Mulchahey, Carin Ruff, Linda Safran, David Townsend, and Fred Unwalla, and at Reed College, William Diebold, Dana Katz, and Rob Slifkin were immensely helpful. I would especially like to thank Susan Akbari, Martina Bagnoli, Roland Betancourt, Beate Fricke, David Kim, Aden Kumler, Jeremy Melius, Eric Ramírez-Weaver, and Tristan Weddigen for conversations, critiques, and overall support during the writing of this book. Without their help and support, both intellectual and personal, this book would not be what it is today. I would also like to thank Chris Dodd, Patrick, Jane, my parents, and the Hamill family for their support over the years.
Special thanks go to three individuals who helped shape the intellectual course of my thinking, from dissertation to book, in distinct ways. Whitney Davis read my thesis multiple times with an exacting eye for grammatical detail, conceptual competence, and analytical rigor. At every stage, I had many conversations with him concerning details of the thesis and the direction of my analysis. His generosity with his time is much appreciated. Jacqueline Jung taught me how to see sculpture, how to teach sculpture, and how to think sculpturally. Her model as a person, an intellectual, and a scholar has been invaluable, and I thank her for being there for me throughout this process. Herbert Kessler provided important mentorship when I was a postdoc at Hopkins (and beyond). His keen mind and inexhaustible knowledge of medieval art and theology pushed my analysis in directions I could not have imagined it going at Berkeley. The seminar we taught together shaped the book in important ways. Kessler taught me that spiritual seeing and perspective could be considered in tandem.
Publication of this book would not have been possible without the generous support of a number of institutions. I would like to thank the American Council of Learned Societies, which awarded me an ACLS–Mellon New Faculty Fellowship at Hopkins during a crucial period of research; the Mellon Foundation awarded me a Research Fellowship at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto) that allowed me to recast and rewrite the book’s first three chapters. A Franklin Grant by the American Philosophical Society and a Research and Publications Grant from the International Center of Medieval Art allowed me to conduct research abroad at pivotal moments. A Millard Meiss Publication Grant, generously awarded by the College Art Association, helped with publication costs.
Working with Yale University Press has been a delightful experience. I would like to thank my editor, Katherine Boller, who was a champion of this project from the beginning. Her support and encouragement throughout the publication process are deeply appreciated. Heidi Downey, Mary Mayer, Elma Sanders, and Raychel Rapazza have been enormously helpful. I could not think of a better and more cheerful team of editorial and production staff to work with. The two anonymous readers were critical at just the right moments and helped shape the final text in key ways. They understood not only the small details but also the big picture that I was trying to draw, and they helped me to understand how my book could fit into a larger discussion of vision and aesthetics in ways I could not see for myself. Any mistakes or shortcomings in the final product are my own.
Finally, I would like to thank little Maso for all the laughs, and especially Sarah Hamill, to whom this book is dedicated, for being the perfect friend and partner. It is safe to say that without her encouragement and undying patience this book would never have been completed, and it owes everything to her.
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