Eric Hupe, PhD

Benvenuto! I am a specialist in Italian Renaissance art. More specifically, I study the relationship of art, optical science, and theology in early modern Italy. My current book project titled, Venetian Perspectives: Art, Optics, and Theology in Renaissance Venice, uses pictorial light as a lens to explore the history of optics and perspective in Venice. Challenging the traditional focus on Renaissance Florence, my study explores the varied techniques by which artists like Giovanni Bellini incorporated this new knowledge into their art and places their artistic practice in conversation with the humanist and theological debates occurring in Venice. My research has appeared in Predella, Source, and Artibus et Historiae.

 

In the classroom, I am a big proponent of immersive experience and am working to integrate Virtual Reality technology with my teaching to transport students to the sites we study.