University Dissertations

The Courtauld Institute of Art

Masterful Recycling: Re-use and Reversal in Raphael

This dissertation examines the process of design re-use and reversal in relation to the work of Raphael.

Chapter 1 is a broad overview of these inter-related processes in the context of fifteenth-century workshop practice, art theory and criticism, and their function as labour-saving processes to cope with an artist’s increasing workload. The remainder of the dissertation presents a chronological series of case studies in across Raphael’s oeuvre which identifies the source of his re-used designs.

By examining the relationship between his prototypes and their future manifestations, the role of invention and creativity in his re-use and reversal process has also been examined.

The conclusion re-addresses key themes and ideas developed throughout the dissertation and reconsiders Raphael’s approach to art-making as a pragmatic artist who developed several strategies throughout his career in response to his increasing reputation as one of the innovative geniuses of the High Renaissance.

University of Kent

Selfies and Self-Portraiture

My analysis of the relatively new and popular ‘selfie’ phenomenon is grounded on a comparative assessment of their motivational and social concerns with the more established tradition of painted self-portraiture since the Renaissance.