| This dissertation examines John Singer Sargent's (1856--1925) lifelong commitment to Italian Renaissance art. Born in Florence, Sargent spent much of his childhood there and in Rome, where he was immersed in the study and appreciation of Renaissance art and theory. He developed an important attachment to Italy that would shape his creative practice and philosophy and compel him to return there throughout his life.;Sargent was surrounded by a culture that privileged the Italian Renaissance as the pinnacle of the art historical tradition. He fashioned his own practice on Renaissance ideals and studied the finest examples of art from antiquity to the present---a strategy followed by diverse masters such as Michelangelo, Tintoretto, Manet, and Rodin, all of whom he greatly admired. Sargent viewed his commitment to the Renaissance as an essential component of the creation of contemporary art.;During the course of his career, Sargent exploited the art of fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to suit his creative agenda. His early study of Michelangelo, Tintoretto, and antiquity influenced the technique and style of his portrait practice. In the 1880s his knowledge of fifteenth-century Italian painting and sculpture informed his aesthetic choices and his connection to the Pre-Raphaelites in England. His commitment to the Italian Renaissance inspired his three American mural commissions. In all these endeavors, he drew upon the Renaissance, revealing his aspirations to position himself as an heir to that tradition. Sargent saw his connection to the art of the past as essential to his identity and his legacy. |
