Constructing the Artistic Subject in Golden Age Spain

Ripolles, Carmen B.

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Description

Title

Constructing the Artistic Subject in Golden Age Spain

Author(s)

Ripolles, Carmen B.

Issue Date

2011-01-21T22:43:37Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Rosenthal, Lisa

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Rosenthal, Lisa

Committee Member(s)

• Vázquez, Oscar E.
• Minor, Vernon Hyde
• Irigoyen García, Javier
• Burningham, Bruce R.

Department of Study

Art & Design

Discipline

Art History

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Seventeenth-century
• Spain
• Artistic Identity
• Nobility

Abstract

In this dissertation, I examine the development of artistic identity in Golden Age Spain by elucidating the cultural, social, and economic contexts which framed notions of the artist during this period. More particularly, I focus on the notion of artistic nobility as it relates to contemporary evolving aristocratic ideals. Seventeenth-century Spain was a period marked by the continuous reconfiguration of the traditional model of nobility. Through a close analysis of theoretical artistic discourses, popular portrayals of the artist, and actual artistic practice, I offer a critical re-assessment of the artistic assimilation of aristocratic values. I offer a new approach to studies of Spanish art by regarding artistic identity as an unstable and fluctuating category that is in constant dialogue with broader cultural, social, and economic frameworks, and the discourse of artistic nobility as an arena in which alternative forms of artistic identity could paradoxically be advanced. This entails detailed analyses of some of the issues surrounding noble identity in the Golden Age and how these permeated notions of the artist during this period. I also consider how, conversely, the artist became a particularly visible site where constantly changing aristocratic ideals could be embodied.

Graduation Semester

2010-12

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18502

Copyright and License Information

© 2010 Carmen Ripollés

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