This thesis discusses the appropriation of antique art in Italy during the fourteenth century. In order to do that, it considers the surviving antiquities in late medieval Italian cities and examines their reception and perception by contemporary authors and artists. Following the introductory chapter, which sets out the aims of the thesis and provides a brief historical background of the period, this study is divided in two parts. Part I examines the awareness of ancient art in the Trecento by looking at late-medieval Italian texts. After an introduction of the relevant texts and a presentation of the biographical background of their authors, the chapters explore the reliability of the writers, their references to antique art and their particular interests towards antique art. They also examine the textual evidence on attitudes towards antiquity, contrasting the different approaches of intellectual and popular audiences, and discuss a number of surviving antique works that were placed in public places and were charged with ideological intent, meaning and power. Part II approaches the subject of the appropriation of antique art in the Trecento from a different angle and deals with the reaction of artists toward ancient art. It discusses the emergence of a new iconography that reflects themes arising from encounters with classical literary texts, explores instances of antique sculpture portrayed in fourteenth-century paintings, and examines the antique sources of various Trecento motifs and compositions. The Appendix is a detailed list of antique works of art that were visible in Trecento Italy, along with a discussion of their history and the relevant primary and secondary bibliography.

À partir d'une enquête ethnographique sur les réceptions situées d'un tableau de Nicolas Poussin conservé au musée des beaux-arts de Lyon, cette thèse interroge la place de la visite au musée d'art dans les répertoires de loisir des classes moyennes et supérieures. Elle s'appuie sur trois matériaux principaux : environ 50 journées d'observations in situ de l'activité des visiteurs, 45 entretiens de réceptions menées au musée, et 18 entretiens biographiques portant sur les habitudes de visite de visiteurs occasionnels ou réguliers aux profils sociaux similaires à ceux arrêtés au musée. La thèse met en évidence l'importance du statut des œuvres dans l'orientation et dans l'allocation de l'attention des visiteurs. Cet usage pratique de la légitimité culturelle produit un paradoxe : le tableau examiné est considéré comme un chef-d'œuvre, mais il suscite peu d'intérêt esthétique. L'examen lexicométrique d'un corpus d'articles de presse consacrés au tableau confirme que cette réaction s'étend à des publics professionnels comme les journalistes. Le malaise que provoque cette contradiction témoigne de l'importance de la compétence artistique statutaire. La thèse examine alors la place des dispositifs de médiation dans la réduction de cet écart. On peut interpréter la tendance à la déconnexion entre leur usage et la contemplation des œuvres comme un signe de l'importance du discours autorisé de l'institution pour les visiteurs faiblement ou moyennement dotés en ressources spécifiques. Enfin, l'analyse des biographies de visiteurs montre le poids de l'injonction normative à la visite ainsi que l'importance de son inscription dans des routines de loisirs. / Drawing on an ethnographic study of the receptions of a Nicolas Poussin's painting curated at the Fine Arts Museum in Lyon, France, this dissertation analyses the position of museum visiting in the leisure repertoire of the middle and upper-middle classes. Three main data sources are used: about 50 days of observation of the activities of museum visitors, 45 reception interviews carried out inside the museum, and 18 biographical interviews on visiting habits with occasionnal or regular museum visitors. The dissertation sheds light on the central role of the artwork's status in their orientation and the distribution of their attention. This practical use of cultural legitimacy leads to a paradox: the painting is considered a masterpiece, but it has little aesthetic appeal. A lexicometric analysis of a corpus of newspapers articles confirms that this perspective may be extended to professional audiences, such as journalists. The unease this contradiction provokes in the audience is a reminder of the centrality of statutory artistic skill. The dissertation then analyses how mediation devices are used to fill this gap. The disconnection between the use of devices and the contemplation of the painting might be interpreted as the sign of how important the authorized, institutional discourse on the artwork is for visitors with low to average levels of specific resources. Finally, an analysis of visitors' biographies demonstrates that a normative injunction to visit greatly weights in visitors' practices, but that visits mostly occurs when they are embedded into leisure routines.

The focus of this dissertation is the Franciscan church of Santa Caterina (ca.1385-1391) at Galatina in the Salento, an area of Italy characterised by the presence of Greek language and/or rite communities. Scholars have described it as an emblematically 'Latin' church, decorated with 'Giottesque' frescoes, commissioned by a ruthless and ambitious signore, built with the papacy's approval, donated to the Franciscan order and founded with the aim of providing mass in Latin for those who did not speak Greek. This dissertation argues that that view needs to be considerably nuanced, if only because the relationship between the Graeci and the Latini in late-medieval Salento is much more complex than often acknowledged. I place Santa Caterina in its context, exploring how the frescoes themselves are evidence for transculturation and how the experience of both communities must be re-centred in order to fully understand the creation and reception of the fresco programme. Before doing this, however, this PhD focuses on the history of the foundation by restoring agency to two of the three main patrons: Raimondello del Balzo Orsini (d.1406) and his wife Maria d'Enghien (d.1446). I argue that the foundation of Santa Caterina was the first sign of Raimondello's interest in south-eastern Italy, which would allow him to become the first person outside of the royal family to be crowned Prince of Taranto in 1399. I explore the possibility the church may have been built ad instar of St Catherine's on Mt Sinai, and how this may in turn explain some of its unusual architectural features. This dissertation then takes on the second phase of the church's history, during which Maria, now Queen of Naples, commissioned the extensive mural decoration. I date the fresco decoration ca.1415-23/5, discuss in detail their iconography, reconstruct lost scenes, and present - for the first time - a holistic interpretation of the mural programme.