STUDENT WORKSHOP: Friday, February 13, 2026, 10:30am - 12:00pm
Properzia de’ Rossi in the Archive: Methods for Rewriting the History of Women’s Sculpture in Italy
Join Professor Lugli as he reconsiders the first woman sculptor ever recorded, Properzia de’ Rossi (c. 1490–1530), through a close study of her only surviving works, an unmounted bas-relief and a group of peach-stone carvings, and the archival evidence relating to these works. Professor Lugli will offer a hands-on opportunity to see how manuscripts, incunabula, and early modern printed books—at the Penn Libraries and beyond—can dramatically reshape what we think we know about de’ Rossi’s little-studied sculpture. By tracing how her work was prepared by and interpreted in medieval and early modern sources, the seminar develops a new profile of de’ Rossi and a new account of her practice, arguing, among other things, that fruit-stone carving was central to a broader redefinition of sculpture and of the woman sculptor in early modern Italy.
Free and open to all Penn and Philadelphia-area students (and interested lifelong learners). Seating is limited, so register here early!
To be held at the Kislak Center, 6th Floor, Seminar Room 627.
