{"id":28530,"date":"2020-03-01T10:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=28530"},"modified":"2020-03-01T02:31:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T08:31:14","slug":"apsu-professor-tamara-smithers-selected-as-visiting-artist-scholar-at-american-academy-in-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2020\/03\/01\/apsu-professor-tamara-smithers-selected-as-visiting-artist-scholar-at-american-academy-in-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"APSU professor Tamara Smithers selected as visiting artist scholar at American Academy in Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Austin<\/a>Clarksville, TN<\/strong> – An Austin Peay State University (APSU) art history professor is spending part of the spring semester as a visiting artist scholar at the American Academy in Rome. <\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University professor Dr. Tamara Smithers visited the Aqueduct of Emperor Trajan under the American Academy in Rome\u2019s foundations. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

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While in Rome, Dr. Tamara Smithers will conduct research at the Arthur and Janet C. Ross Library, which contains 167,000 volumes on classical studies and art, for her upcoming book The Cults of Raphael and Michelangelo: Memorials for Artists as a Second Life<\/em>. She\u2019ll be at the academy through March 7th, 2020. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part about staying at the American Academy in Rome, aside from the wonderful community of artists and scholars, is 24-hour access to the library!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Smithers\u2019 four-week trip comes during a special anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201c2020 is \u2018The Year of Raphael,\u2019 the 500th<\/sup> anniversary of the artist\u2019s death in Rome,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll attend the largest Raphael exhibition to date at the Scuderie del Quirinale, which opens March 6th.\u201d <\/p>\n

During the Visiting Artist and Scholars Program, Smithers will traverse central Italy, photographing monuments in Rome and artist tombs in Florence, Venice and Mantua for her book. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am very excited to have an appointment to enter the burial chapel of the Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna at Sant\u2019 Andrea in Mantua,\u201d Smithers said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cult of the artist\u2019<\/h3>\n
\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University professor Dr. Tamara Smithers is researching in the American Academy in Rome\u2019s Arthur and Janet C. Ross Library. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Smithers\u2019 book will explore \u201cthe phenomenon of the \u2018cult of the artist\u2019 in relation to the death, burial and posthumous fame \u2013 or second life \u2013 of both Raphael and Michelangelo from their own times through the 19th<\/sup> century. <\/p>\n

The book \u201cweaves together otherwise disparate sources\u201d to reveal a better understanding of artist camaraderie at that time in central Italy, Smithers added. <\/p>\n

\u201cHonoring the artist through burial rites and the creation of memorials was the principal way to publicly pay tribute to those in the trade,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

[320left]Establishing ties to Raphael and Michelangelo was essential for establishing an artistic pedigree, Smithers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cult-like immortalization of both Raphael and Michelangelo can be defined by the affective nature that each deceased artist had on those touched by the potency of the physical presence of his body or work \u2013 or even touched by the power of creative legacy \u2013 from their own lifetimes to today.\u201d <\/p>\n

Smithers\u2019 book follows her work as editor and contributor to Michelangelo in the New Millennium: Conversations About Artistic Practice, Patronage and Christianity<\/em> in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful to APSU for providing a semester of research assignment to conduct research and photography for my book,\u201d Smithers said.<\/p>\n

Bringing her work to students, scholars<\/h3>\n

Smithers will chair the session \u201cRaphael and Women\u201d at April\u2019s Renaissance Society of America Conference in Philadelphia, one of five sessions on \u201cReconsidering Raphael.\u201d In the fall, she will return to Rome to give a paper titled \u201cRaphael\u2019s Fame: 1520\u20132020\u201d at the Early Modern Rome 4 conference.<\/p>\n

On April 15th, Benna Books\/Applewood Books will release her Short Biography of Michelangelo<\/a> geared toward anyone interested in art and culture, young adults and museum goers. The book is available for preorder from Barnes & Noble and Target.<\/p>\n

And this fall, she\u2019ll integrate what she\u2019s learned into the course curriculum of her History of Italian Renaissance Art class. <\/p>\n

Smithers also leads an Austin Peay State University study abroad trip called \u201cArt in Rome\u201d every two years. Students travel to Rome and earn six credit hours in art history and studio art. The trip will be offered in May\/June 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cRome is a walking museum with thousands of years of layered history, which is why I love bringing my students here to experience it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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To learn more <\/h3>\n