Melbourne Art Journal

Number 3 1999

Contents

Dagmar Eichberger

Ursula Hoff: A Tribute

This address was given in honour of Dr Ursula Hoff, AO,OBE, PhD (Hamburg), DLitt (Monash), LLD (Melbourne), FAHA, on 23November 1999 at the Fine Arts Society dinner to celebrate herninetieth birthday.

The Margaret Manion Lecture 1998

Stephen Weil

When the Audience takes Stage Centre

Susan Russell

Virtuous Women: the Decoration of Donna OlimpiaPamphili's Audience Room in the Palazzo Pamphili in Piazza Navona

Donna Olimpia Pamphili, the powerful sister-in-law of PopeInnocent X, supervised the building and decorating activities at thefamily palace subsequent to Innocent's accession in 1644. A room inthe west wing, the Camera delle donne illustri, is decorated with afresco frieze showing the Old Testament heroines Judith, Abigail,Esther and Pharaoh's daughter, and is here identified as DonnaOlimpia's audience room on the basis of heraldic evidence and by itssubject matter, which conforms to theoretical recommendations for theimagery of female apartments. The style of the frieze, painted byGiacinto Gimignani in 1648, differs considerably from his frescoes inthe east wing of Palazzo Pamphili, and it is shown that this wasdeliberately done in order to distinguish both the room's functionfrom others in the palace and to make a clear statement of thevirtues represented by the women depicted.

Lisa Beaven

Camillo Massimi as Patron of Sculptors:François Duquesnoy, Alessandro Algardi, Francesco Fontana and Cosimo Fancelli

Cardinal Camillo Massimi not only collected antiquities andpaintings, but also the works of contemporary sculptors, such asFrançois Duquesnoy, Alessandro Algardi, Francesco Fontana andCosimo Fancelli. This article looks at Massimi's links with thesesculptors, and examines the extent to which his taste in sculpture,like his taste in painting, was for austere, classicising works.

Alison Inglis

'Painting for Eternity': Edward Poynter and the the'Kensington Valhalla'

Sir Edward Poynter (1836&endash;1919) is regarded as one of theleading figures of the nineteenth-century revival of classicalpainting in Britain. His activities as an important Victoriandecorative designer are less well known but equally deserving ofscholarly attention. This article examines his involvement in the1860s revival of mosaic decoration by tracing the history of hisearliest commission in this medium: the pair of artists' portraits inthe South Court of the South Kensington Museum (the so-called'Kensington Valhalla'). Underlying this study of Poynter's mosaicwork is the wider issue of the intense interest in mural decorationand the choice of appropriate materials and techniques for such workwhich occurred during the mid-Victorian period

Art History Theses at Universities in Melbournecompleted in 1997-1998

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