Domenicus Scepticus is a doctoral thesis that presents in a single study the corpus of El Greco's manuscript annotations on the margins of the printed books which he owned and which are identifiable to date. The short review of the artist's library is followed by a discussion of the two surviving books, which, although they are inventoried among the painter's possessions and the frontispieces of which establish further Greco's ownership, are not confirmed to date as displaying Greco's own handwriting on the margins. These are Appian's Delle Guerre... dei Romani (1551) and Xenophon's Operae Graece (1516). A short unedited study of the history of the provenance of Xenophon's Operae incorporates additional unpublished data, such a handwritten letter, and builds a series of hypotheses that needs further investigation regarding the Philhellenic culture in Toledo and Madrid of the Golden Age. In the main body of the thesis, the total number of Greco's autograph annotations in Vasari's Vitae (1568) and in Vitruvius's Died Libri dell' Architettura (1556) is examined in English, while the unedited transcription and translation of the notes in Serlio's Architettura (1566) is introduced -annotations attributed to Greco in all probability. Each chapter is dedicated to a single book's marginalia, presented in thematic units, each point analysed individually and compared or contrasted with other marginal statements where appropriate. Domenicos the Enquirer mainly studied Classical texts and annotated art volumes, both manifestations of his intellectual quest, echo of Renaissance Humanism that celebrates the revival of Classical thought and the pursuit of the universality of knowledge of Vitruvian prototypes. The expression of his beliefs in the marginalia represent an understated heritage in the history of modern publishing, from which this thesis draws conclusions in the interest of formulating Greco's theory of art, reflections of his thought in writing.

John Onians, David Freedberg and Norman Bryson have all suggested that neuroscience may be particularly useful in examining emotional responses to art. This thesis presents a neuroarthistorical approach to viewer engagement in order to examine Caravaggio’s paintings and the responses of early-seventeenth-century viewers in Rome. Data concerning mirror neurons suggests that people engaged empathetically with Caravaggio’s paintings because of his innovative use of movement. While spiritual exercises have been connected to Caravaggio’s interpretation of subject matter, knowledge about neural plasticity (how the brain changes as a result of experience and training), indicates that people who continually practiced these exercises would be more susceptible to emotionally engaging imagery. The thesis develops Baxandall’s concept of the ‘period eye’ in order to demonstrate that neuroscience is useful in context specific art-historical queries. Applying data concerning the ‘contextual brain’ facilitates the examination of both the cognitive skills and the emotional factors involved in viewer engagement. ABSTRACT The skilful rendering of gestures and expressions was a part of the artist’s repertoire and Artemisia Gentileschi’s adaptation of the violent action emphasised in Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes testifies to her engagement with his painting. Victorious Cupid, St Matthew and the Angel and Doubting Thomas in Vincenzo Giustiniani’s collection show an emphasis on touch, which was crucial to the lifelikeness of the imagery, the understanding of the subject matter and the engagement of the skilled patron and his acquaintances. Empathetic engagement with Caravaggio’s religious commissions was expected. Paintings in Roman churches were made to stir the emotions as a means to instigate piety in the viewers. Training in spiritual exercises would have increased the receptivity to emotional involvement. Now, neuroscience can facilitate systematic studies of emotional and empathetic engagement. An approach based on the ‘contextual brain’ provides the tools to examine a range of context specific responses to art.

The objectives of this thesis are (i) to examine the methodology of art historians in Raphael research with special reference to authentication, attribution and provenance of previously unknown or unaccepted works, and (ii) to undertake a case study in the similar authentication, attribution and provenance of a previously undocumented painting. My working hypothesis is that within this particular category of art historical scholarship it is virtually' impossible to establish convincing proofs. The scarcity of contemporary documentation relating to Raphael and his Horks has provided a licence to biographers and critics to construct a plausible history for the artist, and an orthodoxy for h~s works. The few verifiable facts, augmented by these reasonable assumptions, have become the accepted profile of the artist and the corpus of his works.

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