Constructing the Artistic Subject in Golden Age Spain

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art History

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Ripolles, Carmen B.

Contributors dc:contributor

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

• Seventeenth-century
• Spain
• Artistic Identity
• Nobility

Statement dc:rights

• © 2010 Carmen Ripollés

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

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

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/18502