This dissertation examines early modern Italian objects with movable mechanisms that require the viewer/user’s physical interaction including pop-up prints, deceptive drinking vessels, openable jewelry, mirrors, and cabinet of curiosities. It demonstrates that many artworks from this period acquired their meaning and value not solely through their visual aesthetics, but also from movable features that engaged their audience physically. Traditionally research in Italian art from 1400 to 1600 has focused on visual qualities. This dissertation instead examines the material aspect of art objects, that is, how they were touched and handled, using an object-based approach and the perspective of material culture studies to investigate social and cultural history. By exploring the gestures and movements involved in using interactive objects, I demonstrate that early modern art in Italy required considerably more physical interaction than scholars have previously acknowledged. Academic investigations along this line of inquiry have thus far focused on devotional objects, of which the majority of them came from the north of the Alps. This dissertation is the first to offer an examination of interactive objects across a wide range of contexts in Italy, including marriage, illicit sexuality, dining entertainment, and pursuit of knowledge and collecting.
The first two chapters examine topics related to material reanimating of sensual experiences through interactive mechanisms. Chapter one explores objects within the context of marriage, where opening and closing specific containers symbolize accessing the female body and violation of virtues. Chapter two investigates objects related to illicit sexual desire, in particularly flap prints that reanimate the experience of encountering a courtesan in real life. Chapter three and four shift highlight and examine objects associated with intellectual pursuits, as many interactive objects provide “hands-on” learning experience. Chapter three analyzes deceptive drinking cups, whose interactive mechanisms are related to a renewed interest in Hellenistic technology and conviviality. Chapter four examines multi-compartmental cabinets, where retrieving secret drawers can be seen as the user-viewer’s desire to uncover knowledge hidden in the deepest recesses of nature. Ultimately, this dissertation advocates that object interaction should be considered a component in art historical examination of early modern art of Italy in the future.