Taking Possession of the City: Papal Ceremony and Urbanism in the Early Modern Roman Forum”

TakingPossessionoftheCityPosterSpring2017-960x300The Truman State University School of Arts and Letters’ Department of Art is pleased to announce the return of Truman alumna Dr. Jasmine Cloud to present “Taking Possession of the City: Papal Ceremony and Urbanism in the Early Modern Roman Forum.” Dr. Cloud will be presenting her research on Monday, February 6, 2017 from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. in Ophelia Parrish room 2210; all are invited and welcome to attend the lecture, especially those interested Art History, Italian Studies, and Early Modern (Renaissance) Studies.

Dr. Jasmine Cloud graduated from Truman State University with a BA in Art History in 2005, from the University of Colorado at Boulder with an MA, and received her PhD from Temple University in 2014. Currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Missouri, Dr. Cloud has published her research in Reflections on Renaissance Venice, Perspectives on Public Space in Rome, from Antiquity to the Present Days, and Venice in the Renaissance: Essays in Honor of Patricia Fortini Brown. Dr. Cloud was the recipient of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation’s Institutional Fellowship which included a residency at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome.

Dr. Cloud’s presentation will focus on the historic ceremony of the posseso, in which a newly-elected pope processed through the streets of Rome from the Vatican to the Lateran. The posseso took on new significance in the early modern period. This ceremonial procession presented the pope and his entourage to the people of Rome, and renewed the urban landscape of the city for the new spiritual ruler. The Roman Forum became a particularly charged site in this spectacle, featuring elaborate displays and rituals that tied the papacy to the ancient city’s emperors, whose triumphs this religious ceremony emulated in structure and route.

Dr. Cloud’s visit is generously funded by the School of Arts and Letters Alumni Visit Grant in support of the School of Arts and Letters Strategic Goal of enhancing interaction between our alumni, faculty, and students. Visits by alumni include substantive interaction on campus with students and faculty, and at least one public presentation as part of the visit.

TakingPossessionoftheCityPosterSpring2017-500x50037