Dr. Lawrence Nichols, Guest Lecturer
In 1817 the French novelist Stendhal visited the basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. He would write in his journal, I underwent the profoundest experience of ecstasy that I ever encountered through the painter’s art. As I emerged from the porch of Santa Croce, I was seized with a fierce palpitation of the heart, the well-spring of life was dried up within me, and I walked in constant fear of falling to the ground. This lecture will delve into this phenomenon of intense emotional and physical responses to art, a condition professionally diagnosed and named “Stendhal Syndrome” in 1979, referencing personal experiences with art works by Rogier van der Weyden, Raphael, Bruegel, Caravaggio, Poussin, Rembrandt, Chardin, Goya, Ingres, and Matisse, among others.
Lawrence W. Nichols is curator emeritus at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), from which he retired in 2021. He joined the TMA in 1992 after serving as associate curator of the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1986 to 1992. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and Ph.D. from Columbia University. A specialist in northern Baroque painting, his book The Paintings of Hendrick Goltzius, 1558-1617, A Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné was published in March 2013. He has curated numerous exhibitions at the TMA including “The Brilliance of Caravaggio: Four Paintings in Focus”, “Frans Hals Portraits, A Family Reunion”, “Manet: Portraying Life”, and “Van Gogh: Fields. Nichols continues to serve on the old master paintings vetting committee of The European Fine Arts Fair held in Maastricht each March. In addition, he serves on the Art Advisory Panel of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. He chaired the International Indemnity Program Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2016 to 2020.
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