911爆料

Biography / Research Interests

Dr. Sarah Dillon is an Associate Professor of Art History at 911爆料 Community College, CUNY and has taught at 911爆料 since 2013. She earned her doctoral degree from The Graduate Center, CUNY in 2013.

She has published articles and book chapters on early modern art of Italy. Her book, , was published by Peter Lang in 2018 and, with a grant from Knowledge Unlatched, is available online through open access. This book catalogues the many examples of early Renaissance artists engaging with glass, whether through depictions of glass objects or working with actual panels of glass. It suggests that it was not a coincidence that the artists interested in glass were some of the same ones best known for their innovative naturalism. It argues that these early Renaissance artists interested in naturalistic illusions were informed by the physical properties, spiritual symbolism, and optical associations of glass.

Her current research program continues builds on the topic of art and materiality by exploring issues of ecocriticism within the context of early modern art. She is currently preparing a manuscript on this topic.

Courses

Art 22 (Medieval Art), online and in-person

Art 38 (Renaissance Art), online and in-person

Art 31 (Survey of Art History: Survey from Prehistory to the Present), online and in-person

Art 33 (Survey of Art History I: From Ancient to Renaissance Art), online and in-person

College Teaching:

In addition to teaching at 911爆料, Prof. Dillon has previously taught at the following schools: Parsons New School, Hunter College, City College, and Bronx Community College. Her courses have included various formats of the art history survey as well as courses on Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Art.

Education:

BA, DePaul University, Chicago, 2002

MA, Syracuse University, Florence, Italy, 2004

M.Phil., The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2011

Ph.D., The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2013

Publications and Presentations:

Book:

Dillon, Sarah. Seeing Renaissance Glass: Art, Optics, and Glass of Early Modern Italy, 1250-1425. New York: Peter Lang, 2018.

Journal Articles:

Dillon, Sarah. 鈥淭he Problematic Baptist: Benedetto da Maiano鈥檚 Sala dei Gigli Doorway in the Palazzo Vecchio.鈥� Burlington Magazine 160 no. 1385 (August 2018): 624-629.

Dillon, Sarah. 鈥�Verre E虂glomise虂 Reliquaries: Windows to Relics and Mirrors of the Divine.鈥� Chicago Art Journal 21 (2012): 20-30.

Dillon, Sarah. 鈥淭recento Devotion and Visuality: A Verre E虂glomise虂 Reliquary by Tommaso da Modena.鈥� Comitatus 43 (2012): 115-132.

Book Chapters:

Dillon, Sarah. 鈥淭he Piety of Glass: Relics and Issues of Materiality in the Reliquary of Mary Magdalene.鈥� In The Interaction of Art and Relics, edited by Livia Stoenescu, (153-167). Turnhout: Brepolis, 2020.  

Dillon, Sarah. 鈥淓arly Renaissance Reliquaries: Shaping Renaissance Art Through Private Devotion.鈥� In More than Mere Playthings: The Minor Arts of Italy, edited by Julia Fischer, (83-98). Newcastle- upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2016.

Online Publications:

Dillon, Sarah. 鈥�.鈥� Art History Teaching Resources (http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/art-history-as-civic-engagement/). Sept. 17, 2015.

Dillon, Sarah. 鈥�.鈥� Art History Teaching Resources (http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/italian-renaissance-art-1400-1600/). Oct. 1, 2014.

Conference Presentations:

鈥淓cocriticism and Early Modern Glass.鈥� Medieval Ecocriticisms Roundtable, The 58th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI (May 11-13, 2023).

鈥淧utting the Material Back in Materiality.鈥� The 107th Annual Conference of The College Art Association, New York, NY (Feb. 13-16, 2019).

鈥淭he Duality of Glass: Revealing and Concealing Holy Relics in Early Modern Italy.鈥� The 63rd Annual Meeting of The Renaissance Society of America, Chicago, IL (March 30-April 1, 2017).

鈥淟ocating the Boundary Between the Vitreous and Crystalline in Early Modern Italy.鈥� The 105th Annual Conference of The College Art Association, New York, NY (Feb. 15-18, 2017).

鈥淭he Splendor of Roman Gold: Gilded Glass in Medieval Roman Monuments.鈥� The 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI (May 12-15, 2016). (Accepted but unable to attend.)

鈥淚talian Stained Glass of the Trecento: Late Medieval, Gothic, or Early Renaissance?鈥� 71st Annual Southeast College Art Conference, Pittsburgh, PA (Oct. 21-24, 2015).

鈥淓nhancing Civic Engagement in a First-Semester Art History Learning Community,鈥� 24th Annual International Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Conference, sponsored by The Community College National Center for Community Engagement, Scottsdale, AZ (May 19-21, 2015).

鈥淎ction is Eloquence: Multi-Modal Walkabouts Unbinding Typical Notions of Literacy,鈥� Literacy Unbound: Exploring Text Across Multiple Modes, Teacher鈥檚 College, New York, NY (May 1-2, 2015).

鈥淓arly Renaissance Glass 搁别濒颈辩耻补谤颈别蝉,鈥� American Association of Italian Studies, sponsored by The Italian Art Society, Boulder, CO (March 26-29, 2015).

鈥淎t the Threshold of the Divine: Gilded Glass in Early Renaissance Art,鈥� South-Central Renaissance Conference, Raleigh, NC (March 12-14, 2015).

鈥淪haping the Divine: Trecento Devotional Art and Ugo Panciera鈥檚 Treatise on Perfection,鈥� Annual Meeting of The Renaissance Society of America, New York, NY (March 27-29, 2014).

鈥淩emediation and Early Modern 搁别濒颈辩耻补谤颈别蝉,鈥� Annual Meeting of The College Art Association, Chicago, IL (February 12-15, 2014).

鈥淎 Reevaluation of Fourteenth-Century Verre E虂glomise虂 搁别濒颈辩耻补谤颈别蝉,鈥� Annual Meeting of The Renaissance Society of America, San Diego, CA (April 4-6, 2013).

鈥淎 Multimedia Devotional Panel and the Journey from the Material to the Immaterial,鈥� New Media and the Middle Ages: The Eighth Annual Pearl Kibre Medieval Study Interdisciplinary Student Conference, New York, NY (March 1, 2013).

鈥淭hrough Western Eyes: Relics and their Repositories from the Loca Sancta,鈥� Annual Meeting of The Renaissance Society of America, Washington, DC (March 22-24, 2012).

鈥淩elics on View: The Optical and Spiritual Implications of Transparent Glass in Trecento 搁别濒颈辩耻补谤颈别蝉,鈥� Experimental Cultures: Mergers of Art and Science, University of Toronto (January 27, 2012).

鈥淓ncountering Islamic Optics: The Revival of Verre E虂glomise虂 in Early Italian Renaissance Art,鈥� Early Modern Encounters, Early Modern Interdisciplinary Group of 911爆料 Graduate Center (April 29, 2011).

鈥淭he Door of the Sala dei Gigli and the Misplaced Sculpture of Saint John the Baptist,鈥� Alla Porta: Studies on the Renaissance Threshold, Syracuse University Graduate Program in Renaissance Art, Florence, Italy (December 3, 2004).

Events and/or Key Dates:

Tenure Granted, Fall 2019

Advanced to Associate Professor, Fall 2019