The Triumph of Marriage: A Symposium on Renaissance Cassoni (Boston, Nov.7)

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
280 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
Information 617 566 1401
Box Office 617 278 5156


Lectures and Reception: Friday, November 7 @ 6:30 pm

Symposium: Saturday, November 8 @ 10 am-5 pm
Tickets: $15 General Public; $10 Members, Seniors; FREE Students
This exhibition symposium considers issues surrounding Renaissance cassoni, marriage, and the motif of triumph. Revived and transformed in the Renaissance, images of ancient military triumph offered a model for public celebration with parade floats and processions. Triumph was also a poetic motif used as allegory in works such as Petrarch’s famous poem, The Triumphs, which itself became a popular subject in art celebrating marriage. The speakers will approach Renaissance marriage and triumphal imagery from a variety of disciplines, including history, art history, and literature. Chaired by exhibition curator Cristelle Baskins of Tufts University.


Keynote Lectures and Reception (Friday)

Cristelle Baskins, Tufts University
"The Triumph of Cassoni”

Nerida Newbigin, University of Sydney
"No Imperial Majesty: Frederick III in Florence and Rome”


Symposium Speakers (Saturday)

Lilian Armstrong, Wellesley College
“Triumphs and Love in North Italian Renaissance Books”

Roberta Bartoli, Kunsthistorisches Institut, Florence
“Sacred Feasts and Social Rituals: Images of Banquets in ‘Cassone’ and ‘Spalliera’ Painting”

Caroline Campbell, Courtauld Gallery
“The Transformation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses on Florentine Cassoni”

Philine Helas, Biblioteca Hertziana
“The Triumph of Alfonso d’Aragona in Naples 1443: From Living Images to Pictorial Representations”

Philip Jacks, George Washington University
“La Giostra in Piazza: Courtly Pageantry on Florentine Cassoni”

Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, Wellesley College
“Beauty, Fertility, Piety, and Duty: Marriage Chests and Their Contents in Renaissance Florence”

Sharon Strocchia, Emory University
“A Marriage Made in Heaven: Ritual Unions of Bishops and Abbesses in Renaissance Italy”