Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For starters, whenever I found a corner of the Renaissance universe that intrigued me, a
painting or statue or chapel, I accepted this as significant in itself, and I treated it as a sort
of invitation. I would go and look at the work, really look at it attentively for as long as I
could, until my neck or feet began to hurt in a serious way. And the best way I can describe
the time of sustained looking would be to call it “an encounter”.
You try to let go of the impulse to categorize and classify and evaluate, and, instead, you
admire and explore. What happens next is really quite remarkable. You find your attention
being drawn hither and thither; internal echoes in the image become apparent; oddities leap
out at you; insights start to come. It's as if after a certain get-acquainted period, if you bring
your good-will, interest and attention, the spirit moves upon the waters and the image be-
gins to reveal itself to you.
The next phase of the work would be to read the critical literature about the art and the
artist—the who, what, when, where, why stuff. Occasionally I would learn something that
would radically change my understanding of a particular work. More often, however, I
wouldfindthatwhateverIlearnedaboutpatronage,culturalcontextandthelifeoftheartist
only added complexity and depth to my earlier experience of the work.
My dissertation, entitled
Animating Images
, emerged as a series of essays on the major
worksofartinfifteenthcenturyFlorencethatIhadengagedinthiswayand“rescued”from
the tyranny of the usual narratives which prevented people from seeing and appreciating
the images before their eyes.
***
Four years later, after all the seminars, coursework, Italy visits, language study and disser-
tation writing, the committee blessed my efforts and signed off on my program. Thus, with
my doctorate in hand, I rode off into the sunset to seek my fortune.
Given the lack of tenure track opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area, the major dif-
ference between pre- and post- doctoral life was that I got to add “Ph.D.” to my name on
my business cards, and I now made monthly payments to repay my tuition loans. I taught
occasional academic courses for modest pay, but without benefits or any promise of rehire.
It was clearly not yet time to quit my day job in the world of project management.
Then, one day, out of the blue, a friend of mine from graduate school got in touch with me
with an interesting proposal. Alicia was an associate dean at one of the graduate schools
that trained ministers on “Holy Hill” in Berkeley. She asked whether I would be interested
in organizing an alumni tour in Tuscany for her denomination. Perhaps I could put together
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