Meeting Research - Interview with Sara Vitacca

Presentation, Literary encounter Culture, Publishing and distribution, School life, Promotion
March 30, 2026Saint-Martin-d'Hères - University campus
Come listen to an interview with Sara VITACCA, associate professor of contemporary art history at Marie and Louis Pasteur University, who will present her book *Michelangélismes: The Reception of Michelangelo Between Myth, Image, and Creation (1875–1914)*

Meeting Research

Series of interviews at the UFR ARSH library - 2nd semester 25-26

> Monday, March 30, 2026 - 4 p.m. - UFR ARSH Library
Interview with Sara VITACCA, lecturer in contemporary art history at Marie et Louis Pasteur University, who will present her book " Michelangélismes - The Reception of Michelangelo between Myth, Image, and Creation (1875-1914) "

Michelangelo inspired an unparalleled cult following in late19th-century Europe. Writers paid homage to him, reproductions of his works adorned homes, and artists dreamed of emulating him. From Gabriele D'Annunzio to Auguste Rodin, figures and networks propagated this phenomenon. Michelangelo thus became a formidable tool for rethinking the image of the artist and the relationship to matter, for exploring the subversive potential of the naked body, and for venturing toward the sublime and the monumental.
This book takes the reader on a journey through this artistic myth, which spans the history of taste, imagination, and creation of the era.
The revival of the artist nevertheless sparked a lively debate on the multiple and contradictory uses of the past. Can we really recreate Michelangelo at the dawn ofthe 20th century? Where is the line between imitation and emulation, between inspiration and pastiche, between nostalgia and ideology?
Ultimately, these fin-de-siècle "Michelangelisms" reveal a broader reflection on the notions of reception, filiation, and tradition.

Published on March 3, 2026
Updated on March 13, 2026