Radke, Gary M.

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RADKE, Gary M.

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Fine Arts, Syracuse University, 308 Bowne Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-1200. E-mail—gmradke@syr.edu.

CAREER:

Art historian, curator, and educator. Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, currently professor of fine arts; served as directory of the University honors program and chair of the department of fine arts. Curator of museum exhibitions, including "Michaelangelo: Drawings and Other Treasures from the Casa Buonarroti, Florence," 2001, and exhibitions of Italian art at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, including an exhibition on the restoration of Andrea del Verrochio's bronze David in Italy's Museo Nazionale del Bargello.

MEMBER:

Italian Art Society (former president).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, Syracuse University, 2005; American Academy (Rome, Italy), fellow; Mellon Foundation fellow; American Council of Learned Societies fellow; Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation fellow; Kress Foundation fellow.

WRITINGS:

Viterbo: Profile of a Thirteenth Century Papal Palace, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

(With John T. Paoletti) Art in Renaissance Italy, Prentice Hall (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1997, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 2006.

(With others) Verrochio's "David" Restored: A Renaissance Bronze from the National Museum of the Bargello, Florence, High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA), 2003.

Contributor to books, including The Cambridge Companion to Masaccio, The Cambridge Companion to Giotto, The Dictionary of Art, Studies in the History of Art, and The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects. Contributor to periodicals, including Renaissance Quarterly and Gesta.

SIDELIGHTS:

Art historian Gary M. Radke is also an educator whose "primary goal is to create communities of learners who can appreciate the complexity and interrelatedness of the world in which we live," according to his biography on the Syracuse University Department of Fine Art Web page. "Rather than relying strictly on textbooks, Radke gives his students ownership of their lessons." In one of his classes, for example, he assigns students essays in which they respond to material in the textbook, discussing artworks that incite a strong reaction, whether positive or negative. In response, Radke designs his lectures to address the points brought up in his students' essays. This innovative approach, among other elements of his teaching process, led to Radke being named a Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, the highest teaching honor awarded at Syracuse University.

Radke also regularly serves as curator of exhibits at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. A frequent writer on topics related to Renaissance artworks, he collaborated with John T. Paoletti on Art in Renaissance Italy. With this work, the authors strive to place the social history of Renaissance art into a larger geographical context than the traditional focus on Florence. They specifically set out to "reintegrate the arts into the historical and social fabric" of the Italian cities where art flourished, related Alfred Mayor in Magazine Antiques. These include republics such as Siena, Florence, and Venice; sovereign-ruled states such as Milan and Naples; and Papal states, including Rome. The authors discuss the patronage of the arts that was common in Renaissance times, and the fact that much Renaissance art came about as the result of direct commission. In addition, they establish that "artistic patronage was intended to produce visible support for the rulers and the way they ruled," Mayor commented. "As befits a solid social history, specific and telling details are abundant," Mayor stated. Radke and Paoletti explain the various methods used to create Renaissance art as well as the functions of the numerous workshops responsible for fulfilling commissions. For example, they report that completed marble statues were often painted by their creators, either to make figures more distinct from backgrounds or to add additional color and detail. The authors also include numerous bibliographic references, plus biographies of artists mentioned within the book, genealogies of notable Renaissance rules, and names and timelines of popes who served during the Renaissance. Library Journal reviewer Nadine Dalton Speidel called the book a "fine work" and "highly suitable as an introductory text" for classrooms and libraries.