Constance Moffatt Article

Melody Soto

 

Years ago, she took a trip to Florence, Italy that impacted her educational focus.

 

Today, Professor Constance Moffatt, continues researching Italian Renaissance art and on March 24, she presented a paper in Montreal that reflects years of her research.

 

It was the experience of seeing the art pieces in front of her and living in the compact buildings of Florence as an undergraduate student that won Moffatt over.

 

“I probably would have studied something else, if I hadn’t gone to Italy,” Moffatt said.

 

A member of the Renaissance Society of America, she put together a 10-page paper centered on the Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan and patron of Leonardo Da Vinci and shared it with other members. A total of 1,400 people attended the annual meeting with several presenting papers.

 

A professor at Pierce College since 1991, Moffatt has organized the “Summer in Florence” program in the past. Students have had the option of studying art abroad while visiting museums that showcase art significant to the Renaissance. Currently, the state economy has impacted the program directly and has forced it to come to a halt.

 

Observing artworks, first hand after only seeing them through a textbook is an entirely different experience, and Moffatt knows this well.

 

For her paper, it took her a few weeks to organize information, from her dissertation and 20 years of research that she has done compiled.

 

“It’s like a treasure hunt in a way,” Moffatt said.

 

Moffatt, has spent several of her summers working in the state archives of Milan handling delicate manuscripts dating to the Renaissance.

 

An admirer of Venecian architect Andrea Palladio, painter Andrea del Sarto and Leonardo Da Vinci, the fist thing that attracts her to these artists is the beauty of their work.

 

“The second thing that interests me in these artists, is the intellectual process that they went through to get to the point of having that particular style,” Moffatt said.

 

A graduate of UCLA, Moffat studied Da Vinci alongside Carlo Pedretti, a scholar recognized for his extensive work and knowledge on the artist. 

 

Additionally, Moffat studied patronage studies. She found the Duke of Milan commissioned Da Vinci’s artwork in the city. She was interested in the ways the Duke of Milan demonstrated that he was a patron of a specific work without having signed it.

 

An example of this is made clear in “The Last Supper.” In Da Vinci’s fresco, among the three lunettes at the top, is a coat of arms representing the duke and his sons.

 

Moffatt found examples of this in artworks originating from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

 

Nadia Castillejo, 20, is a nursing student taking Art 101 with Professor Angelo Allen. She recognizes that new discoveries are made in the field of art history sporadically and finds it a good idea that instructors remain active in their fields.

 

“Students can be up to date with what’s going on in art,” Castillejo said.

 

Joanna Dolores, 20, an art major and Castillejo’s classmate, agrees with this idea.

 

“Art tells us about culture. The more we know about it, the more we know about ourselves,” Dolores said.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *