In his Vite, Giorgio Vasari mentions rare drawings executed by Michelangelo which he describes as 鈥渢este divine鈥 (鈥渄ivine heads鈥). In some of these drawings earmarked as gifts for the young men he loved, Michelangelo represented female heads of a disturbing beauty, endowed with hairdos and garments of the most convolute nature. In his talk, Pericolo will analyze the 鈥渓yrical鈥 character of Michelangelo鈥檚 divine heads by clarifying their function and meaning in light of Michelangelo鈥檚 poetic production: his Rime.
Lorenzo Pericolo is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Warwick. He has published extensively on Renaissance and Baroque Art. In 2011, he published Caravaggio and Pictorial Narrative: Dislocating the Istoria in Early Modern Painting. He is working on the critical edition of Carlo Cesare Malvasia鈥檚 Life of Guido Reni.