Society and Culture: “Italian art of 14th – 19th cc.: problems of art and iconography” conference kicks off in St. Petersburg

December 13th – 15th 2011 the State Museum of the History of Religion (St. Petersburg) with support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia is hosting a research conference “Italian art of 14th – 19th cc.: problems of art and iconography”.

In November 2011 the State Museum of the History of Religion also launched an exhibition “Works of Italian religious art from the collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion”. The exhibition and the conference mark the Year of the Italian culture and language in Russia. The research conference turns the spotlight on studies, detection, collecting, preservation and presentation of monuments of Italian religious art. The conference is expected to bring together experts in religious studies, history, philosophy, museum studies, art history, and study of culture.

The conference will address the following themes:

- Problems of preservation, studies, attribution, presentation, conservation and restoration of works of Italian religious art at museums and in private collections;

- Origin of museum collections of Italian art;

- Iconographic themes: influence of catholic theological and religious literature on shaping iconographic types;

- Italian art and its relation with ideological trends of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Modern Period;

- Studies of history of Italian art schools;

- Italian art and art schools of the Western Europe: problems of interaction;

- Italy and Russian art.