University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

Page 21 text:

BLUEPRINT FOR THE SECOND CENTURY

Page 20 text:

14-

Page 22 text:

Renaissance ' drive in ' piques student interest Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, oil on canvas, Luca Giordano, Italian (1632-1705). by MICHAEL SUTTER The first floor of the Harry Ransom Center pulsed with magnetic energy for both the scholar and the admirer. For on that floor, against the wall straight ahead from the entrance, flashed a scene more intoxicating than a Bruce Lee drive-in movie screen from the highway at night. There, upon a wall embracing au- diences as would an amphitheater, glowed tricks for the eye arranged by the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery. And a glass case cradling a $2 million Gutenberg Bible drew the unsuspecting into what looked like a multi-screen Renaissance drive-in theater. And the main screen, directly in front of the case at an intimidating 8 feet by 12 feet, played Rebecca and Eliezar at the Well. A tender love story of a suitor trying through a surrogate to win the love of a pretty girl with treasurer, the scene was produced by Italian artist Santi di Tito. Considered the major Florentine paint er of the late 16th cen- tury, the artist probably premiered the piece in the late 1570s. But the appeal of the cinematic display lay behind the scenes. The drama of the new exhibit played on eight individual 16th and 17th cen- tury screens acquired by the gallery in the summer of 1984. The gallery ' s chief curator, Andrea Morris, bought the paintings after -