From “high” culture to pop culture, the Italian Renaissance has left an indelible imprint in America. In conjunction with the exhibition European Splendors: Highlights from the Kress Collection, Dr. Anna Swartwood House charts the 19th- and 20th-century fascination with Renaissance Italy and considers why we should still care about it today.

Dr. House is an associate professor of art history at the School of Visual Art and Design at the University of South Carolina. Her research focuses on intersections between Renaissance art and artists north and south of the Alps, artists’ biographies, and the reception of art. She is author of the forthcoming book Antonello da Messina and the History of Art.