Syracuse University

An internationally recognized authority on Michelangelo, William E. Wallace of
Washington University, has been selected as the 2008 Jeannette K. Watson
Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at Syracuse University. Wallace
will present a series of workshops and public lectures about the celebrated sculptor,
painter, architect, poet and patriot between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 on the SU campus.
His presentations are part of "Rethinking Michelangelo: A Series of Lectures,
Concerts and Special Events," presented by SU's College of Arts and Sciences to
complement the current SUArt Galleries exhibition, "Michelangelo: The Man and the
Myth." Further information about both is available on the Web at
http://michelangelo.syr.edu.

Wallace's first public lecture will be Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Life
Sciences Complex Auditorium, when he will present "Drawing a Life of
Michelangelo." The lecture will focus on the historical and personal contexts
surrounding Michelangelo's drawings and documents held by Casa Buonarroti and
on exhibit at the SUArt Galleries. The lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is
available in the Irving Garage.

Wallace will also present:

• "Michelangelo Reverses the Rules," Friday, Oct. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the Life
  Sciences Complex Auditorium-The lecture is the keynote address for the
  Fall 2008 Ray Smith Symposium "Rethinking Michelangelo" and is free and
  open to the public.
  

• "Writing a Biography of Michelangelo," a seminar for SU students, faculty
  and staff, Monday, Sept. 29, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Kilian Room (Room
  500) of the Hall of Languages-The seminar will explore the challenges of
  writing a biography of one of the most famous and complicated artists of all
  time.
  

• "Michelangelo Engineer and Entrepreneur," a seminar for SU students,
  faculty and staff, Monday, Oct. 6, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Kilian Room
  (Room 500) of the Hall of Languages-The seminar will explore how account
  books and other 16th-century records reveal Michelangelo's entrepreneurial
  spirit and provide insight into his collaborations with stonemasons, quarry
  workers and others.
  

Wallace is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History at
Washington University, where he teaches about early and High Renaissance art,
architecture and culture. He has written more than 80 essays, chapters and articles
(as well as two works of fiction), and is author and editor of four books on
Michelangelo: "Michelangelo at San Lorenzo: The Genius as Entrepreneur"
(Cambridge 1994), "Michelangelo: Selected Scholarship in English" (Garland, 1996),
"Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture" (Hugh Lauter
Levin, 1998), and "Michelangelo: Selected Readings" (Garland 1999). He has also
completed a biography of Michelangelo.

Wallace holds a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University; was a fellow at Villa I
Tatti, Harvard University's Center for Renaissance Studies in Florence (1990-91); was
at the American Academy in Rome (1996-97); and was the Robert Sterling Clark
Distinguished Visiting Professor at Williams College (1999).

The College of Arts and Sciences Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting
Professorship in the Humanities brings to campus scholars and writers whose work is
esteemed throughout the humanities. The professorship was made possible by the
generosity of the late Jeannette K. Watson.

"Rethinking Michelangelo" events are made possible by SU's College of Arts and
Sciences, SU's College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Jeannette K. Watson
Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Humanities, the Malmgren Concert
Series, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Schola Cantorum of Syracuse, the SUArt
Galleries, SU Abroad, the Syracuse Symposium, the Pulse performing arts series and
the student fee.

The Ray Smith Symposium Series was established in 1989 as the result of a bequest
from the estate of SU alumnus Ray W. Smith '21 to support symposia on topics in
the humanities in The College of Arts and Sciences.