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Out of the Kress Vaults: Women in Sacred Renaissance Painting explores representations of femininity and virtue in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Virgin Mary, female saints, and nuns. Ranging from small, devotional images intended for the highly gendered spaces of the Renaissance home, to large altarpieces originally on display in churches, these artworks intertwine depictions of idealized beauty with messages of virtue and piety, presenting these women as models of virtue and devotion for emulation – and admiration – by their Renaissance viewers.
This exhibition is the first in the museum’s history to be co-curated with Fairfield University students. Taking inspiration from two paintings of the Madonna and Child in the museum’s own Samuel H. Kress Collection, students in Dr. Michelle DiMarzo’s art history seminar developed the exhibition by examining Kress collections at other institutions, with an emphasis on works typically held in storage. Lenders to the exhibition include the National Gallery of Art, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Harvard Art Museums, and the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami.
With generous funding from the Humanities Institute (Fairfield University), the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Parkinson Family Foundation
Image: El Greco, The Holy Family with Saint Anne and the Infant John the Baptist, ca. 1595-1600, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1959.9.4
Virtual Tour
Audio guide
Events listed below with a location are live, in-person programs. When possible, those events will also be streamed on thequicklive.com and the recordings posted to our YouTube channel.
Opening Night Lecture: Out of the Kress Vaults
Thursday, September 15, 5 p.m.
Michelle DiMarzo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Art History & Visual Culture and Curator of the exhibition
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room + streaming on thequicklive.com
Exhibition Opening Night Reception
Thursday, September 15, 6-8 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Great Hall
Musical Performance: Renaissance A cappella
Monday, September 19, 5 p.m.
Michael Ciavaglia, DMA, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, and members of the Connecticut Chamber Choir
Bellarmine Hall, Great Hall
Co-sponsored by the Music Program
Art in Focus: El Greco, The Holy Family, ca. 1595-1600
Thursday, September 22, 11am (in person) and 12 noon (streaming)
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming on thequicklive.com
Lecture: The Paintings Conservation Program of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Thursday, October 13, 5 p.m.
Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Clinical Professor for the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Exhibition Tour: Out of the Kress Vaults: Women in Sacred Renaissance Painting
Saturday, October 15, 12 noon
Bellarmine Hall Galleries
Lecture: A Mother's Touch: The Agency of Mary in Renaissance Art
Tuesday, October 18, 5 p.m.
Kim Butler Wingfield, PhD, Associate Professor of Arts, American University
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room + streaming on thequicklive.com
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by
the Robert Lehman Foundation
Lecture: Living with Art in Renaissance Italy
Tuesday, November 8, 5 p.m.
Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, Professor of Art History, Wellesley College
Streaming on thequicklive.com
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded
by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Exhibition Tour: Out of the Kress Vaults: Women in Sacred Renaissance Painting
Saturday, November 12, 12 noon
Bellarmine Hall Galleries
Art in Focus: Battista and Dosso Dossi, The Flight into Egypt, ca. 1520-30
Thursday, November 17, 11 a.m. (in person) and 12 noon (streaming)
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming on thequicklive.com
Exhibition Tour: Out of the Kress Vaults: Women in Sacred Renaissance Painting
Saturday, December 10, 12 noon
Bellarmine Hall Galleries
Family Day: Family Relationships in Renaissance Art
Saturday, December 10
Art in Focus: After Michelangelo, Pitti Tondo, plaster cast
Thursday, December 15, 11 a.m. (in person) and 12 noon (streaming)
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming on thequicklive.com
For more educational resources, visit the DiMenna-Nyselius Library’s LibGuide for this exhibition.
Private exhibition tours with the curator are available upon request. The fee is $150. For more information, please contact museum@fairfield.edu
Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. We are closed for national and university holidays and during inclement weather.
Location:
The FUAM's main galleries are located on the lower level of Bellarmine Hall. For GPS please use the following address: 200 Barlow Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 (or click the map at right for directions).
Parking:
Free parking is available in front of Bellarmine Hall. Handicap parking is available next to the museum’s service and classroom entrance on the lower level of Bellarmine Hall.
Admission:
The museum is open to the public and admission is free.
Tours:
Private tours with a curator are available for a fee; please contact museum@fairfield.edu or 203-254-4046.
Reach Us By train:
Take Metro-North, New Haven Line, to Fairfield Station (approximately 70 minutes from Grand Central Station).
www.mta.info/mnr
800-638-7646
For further information or to schedule a visit or tour, please contact
Fairfield University Art Museum
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 254-4046
museum@fairfield.edu
