Dr. Laura L. Watts, associate professor of art history, recently announced the release of her forthcoming book in June, 2021 through Taylor & Francis – Routledge Press. As part of the Routledge Research in Art History series, Watts’ “Italian Painting in the Age of Unification” reconstructs the artistic motivations and messaging of three artists – Tommaso Minardi, Francesco Hayez, and Gioacchino Toma – from three distinct regions in Italy prior to, during, and directly following political unification in 1861.
While the field of art history is filled with books on Italian ancient, Renaissance and Baroque artists, the 19th century is dramatically underrepresented in English language scholarship. Watts’ book fills a gap in a bibliography that contains only a handful of other titles and intends to rectify the absence of these artists in English libraries, and introduce English speaking students and scholars to a rich period of artistic creation during the era of nation building.
