Matthijs Jonker (Amsterdam, 1982) studied Philosophy and Art history at the University of Amsterdam and at the University of Pisa. In September 2011 he started his PhD research at the Institute of Culture and History (ICH), Capaciteitsgroep Algemene Cultuurwetenschappen. The title of project is The Academization of Art. A Practice Theoretical Approach to the Theorization of Art in Early Modern Italy. The supervisors are prof. dr. B. Kempers, dr. A. Witte and prof. dr. M. Stokhof.

PhD Research

The aim of this research project is to further the understanding of the academization of art in Italy in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. At the end of the sixteenth century painters, sculptors and architects in Italy received, for the first time in history, a theoretical education in addition to a practical training in an institutional setting. The existing literature on this process of academization of art has either focused exclusively on the role and interests of artists or on the institutional character of the academy. However, a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon is still lacking. This project aims to go beyond the existing interpretations by answering the question 'how did the conception of art change in and through its academization in sixteenth-century Italy in the context of guild regulations, religious practices and cultural politics?' The work of practice theorists, such as Pierre Bourdieu and Theodore Schatzki, will be used to analyze the process of the academization of art. Moreover, a historical study of the academization of art, will also allow for reflection on different theories of practice. In this reflection the consequences of the inherent interaction of theory and practice in this study will be articulated, and the applicability of practice theory to the current debate on the academization of art, i.e. the debate on artistic research, will be demonstrated.

Fields of interest

Social history of art
Italian Renaissance and Baroque art
History, sociology and philosophy of science
Theories of practice
Hermeneutics and theories of interpretation

Teaching

Currently:
-De ontwikkeling van de Esthetica: Vroegmoderne kunsttraktaten van Leonardo tot de Lairesse (CoH)
-The Art of Practice (IIS)
Formerly:
-Masters of Suspicion (IIS)
-Wetenschapsfilosofie (IIS)
-Geschiedenis en filosofie van de weteschap (IIS)
-Inleiding Filosofie (Phil)

• No ancillary activities