The 3 art historians.  Ben (left) with his colleagues Dawn and Matt. 

Professional Biography

Benjamin David specializes in Italian art from 1300-1600, with an emphasis on Early Renaissance painting. His scholarship and teaching engage the historical and theoretical implications of the practice of narrative in Renaissance art and theories of narrative more generally. He is especially interested in the relationship between art and literature. Other research projects and courses explore the complex nature of the Renaissance engagement with classical antiquity and visualizations of Dante’s Divine Comedy from the fourteenth century to the present day.

Academic Credentials

Ph.D. (1999), M.A. (1993), Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

B.A. (1991), New York University

Courses Taught

Core 107 Exploration and Discovery

Art 101, 111 History of Western Art

Art 305 Early Renaissance Art and Architecture

Art 306 High Renaissance Art and Architecture

Art 333 Dante and the Visual Arts

Art 401 American Art After 1945

Art 493 Senior Art History Thesis Seminar

Art 451 Special Topics in Art History

Publications

“The Paradisal Body in Giovanni di Paolo’s Illuminations of the Commedia,” Dante Studies 122 (2004):45-63. (Published in November 2006).

“Sites of Confluence: The Master of the Yates Thompson Divine Comedy.” In Tributes to Jonathan J.G. Alexander: The Making and Meaning of Illuminated Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Art & Architecture, edited by Susan L’Engle and Gerald B. Guest, 21-32. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2006.

“Narrative in Context: the Cassoni of Francesco di Giorgio.” In Renaissance Siena: Art in Context, edited by A. Lawrence Jenkens, 109-137. Kirksville, Missouri, Truman State UP, 2005.

“Past and Present in Sienese Painting,” Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics 40 (2002): 130-154.

“Pope-Hennessy, Derrida and ‘Literary Residue’ in Visual Images: The Case of Sassetta’s Borgo San Sepolcro Altarpiece,” Studies in Iconography 19 (1998): 1-30.

“Jane Kaplowitz at Curt Marcus Gallery,” Interior Design 69 (June, 1998): 44-46.