February 2, 2026
CLARK ART INSTITUTE HOSTS TALK ON RUBENS’S DIONYSIAN ENVIRONMENTS WITH JESÚS MUÑOZ MORCILLO
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Tuesday, February 24 at 5:30 pm, the Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program presents a lecture by Jesús Muñoz Morcillo (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology / Michael Ann Holly Fellow) examining Peter Paul Rubens’s use of Dionysian and materialistic traditions, focusing on their connection to nature and their impact on environmental depictions. The talk takes place in the Manton Research Center auditorium.
It has been said that Rubens’s visual references to Dionysian motifs are related to his stay in Rome in the years 1600 to 1608. However, Rubens’s compositions of wet, wild, and vibrant environments surrounding Bacchic scenes transcend visual references to plastic archetypes. Indeed, Rubens seems to draw on specific ancient sources, including not only Dionysian descriptions found in authors such as Euripides, Propertius, or Nonnos of Panopolis but also Epicurean natural philosophy. An ecocritical comparison of Rubens’s Bacchic motifs with landscape paintings aims to clarify whether his "entanglements" of myth and nature may have stood closer to a materialist tradition than a stoic awareness of the natural world, as is frequently assumed.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event. For more information, visit events.clarkart.edu.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of nearly 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free to all from January through March and is $22 for adults, $20 for adults age 65+, $10 for adults ages 18-25, and $10 for college students with a valid student ID from April through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members and all visitors under age 18. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and the EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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