The Art of the Home in the Renaissance and Early Modern World

Overview

How were ‘Renaissance’ homes decorated across the globe?

During the early modern period, there was an increased attention to purchasing works of art and objects for the home, from devotional items, portraits, and textiles to decorated chests, colourful ceramics, and small-scale sculpture. Who purchased these objects and works of art? Where did they come from? Who maintained them? What about the interiors of temporary housing?

Learn about the variety of artworks that decorated homes, from the middling sorts who sought to impress visitors with the accumulation of their wealth to rulers who sought to show their power through the display of art and material culture in their palaces.

This day school will look at the art of the home, through the varied experiences of those who lived, worked, and enjoyed art objects in the domestic interior, with examples drawn from across the globe, from Renaissance Italy to Safavid Iran.

Please note: this event will close to enrolments at 23:59 UTC on 12 February 2025.

Programme details

9.45am:
Registration at Rewley House reception (for in-person attendees)

10am:
Renaissance Italy
Leah R. Clark

11.15am:
Tea/coffee break

11.45am:
Ottoman Empire
Zeynep Yürekli

1pm:
Lunch break

2pm:
Safavid Iran
Speaker TBC

3.15pm:
Tea/coffee break

3.45pm:
Living abroad across the early modern Mediterrenean
Ana Struillou

5pm: 
End of day

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee (includes tea/coffee) £120.00
Baguette Lunch £7.30
Hot Lunch £19.25

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit or are a full-time student in the UK you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees.

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutors

Dr Leah Clark

Speaker and Director of Studies

Leah joined the department in 2021 and is an Associate Professor in the History of Art and a Fellow of Kellogg College as well as Director of Studies in History of Art. Previously, she worked at the Open University where her roles included Head of Research and Chair of the MA in Art History. She holds a BA from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver,) an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art (London) and a PhD from McGill University (Montreal).  

Zeynep Yürekli

Speaker

Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture & Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford

Dr Ana Struillou

Speaker

Ana Struillou is a historian of the early modern Mediterranean, interested in all things material and mobile. Her work explores the movement of artefacts and commodities between the Ottoman and non-Ottoman Maghrib, the Iberian Peninsula, and the French Monarchy across the early sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Application

Please use the 'Book' button on this page. Alternatively, please contact us to obtain an application form.

Accommodation

Accommodation is not included in the price, but if you wish to stay with us the night before the course, then please contact our Residential Centre.

Accommodation in Rewley House - all bedrooms are modern, comfortably furnished and each room has tea and coffee making facilities, Freeview television, and Free WiFi and private bath or shower rooms. Please contact our Residential Centre on +44 (0) 1865 270362 or email res-ctr@conted.ox.ac.uk for details of availability and discounted prices. For more information, please see our website: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/accommodation