Dr. Alexis Culotta

Alexis Culotta specializes in the art and architecture of sixteenth-century Rome. Her research investigates the working relationships of artists and how the tensions of competition, collaboration, and innovation drove artistic and architectural practice in the Eternal City and beyond. Her recent book, Tracing the Visual Language of Raphael’s Circle to 1527 (Brill, 2020), explores how the Renaissance artist’s style – one infused with borrowed visual quotations from other artists both past and present – proved influential in his relationship with associate Baldassare Peruzzi and in the development of the artists within his thriving workshop. Shedding new light on the important, yet often-overshadowed, figures within this network, this book calls upon key case studies to illustrate how this visual language and its recombination evolved during Raphael’s Roman career and subsequently served as a springboard for artistic innovation in the years following Raphael’s death.