Medieval | Renaissance: A Dialogue on Early Italian Painting
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College
September 2 -December 7, 2025
Exhibition Link
The closing centuries of the Middle Ages in Europe witnessed a profound transformation in the art of painting. New materials and techniques gave way to an expanded repertoire of formats and artistic styles. Patronage and workshop practices evolved in tandem with culture-wide reassessments of the merit of authorship, while the criteria for value and authenticity in representation were redefined. These paradigm-shifting developments ramified into the academic study of art during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, creating a line of distinction between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance that has proven difficult to redraw. Early Italian painting is an arena where the distinction is challenged and blurred.
This exhibition seeks to foreground this dialectic in the craft and conceptualization of painting in Italy with selected works from the more-than-century-old Frascione Collection in Florence. Curated by John Lansdowne and Stephanie C. Leone—professors of art history and specialists in the Medieval and Renaissance periods, respectively—the exhibition stages a dialogue between two scholars, identified on object labels by their initials. Several paintings feature dual labels to highlight contrasting interpretive approaches. Overall, the exhibition encourages reflection on how the distinction between “Medieval” and “Renaissance” continues to shape our understanding of Western painting.
Organized by the McMullen Museum, Medieval | Renaissance has been underwritten by Boston College with major support from the Patrons of the McMullen Museum.
