Why do so many monuments look alike, and why do they so often leave us unmoved? For Marisa Bass, Professor of History of Art at Yale University, these questions opened the door to a deeper exploration of how public art shapes collective memory and political identity.
In her new book, The Monument’s End: Public Art and the Modern Republic, Bass examines the power and controversy of monuments, from their familiar forms to the myths they enshrine. “Monuments generate myths and present them as history,” she writes. “In every case, they make a claim for a certain version of history that includes some and excludes others.”
Her research was sparked in part by the global reckoning with monuments following the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. That moment brought renewed urgency to the debate over which histories are honored in public spaces. Drawing on case studies from the early Dutch Republic, Bass reveals how modern republics have long used public art to define civic identity and assert control over collective memory.
Bass is widely recognized for her work on early modern European art and thought. Her book Insect Artifice: Nature and Art in the Dutch Revolt received both the Kenshur Prize and the Bainton Prize in art history. She is also the author of Jan Gossart and the Invention of Netherlandish Antiquity, and co-editor of Conchophilia: Shells, Art, and Curiosity in Early Modern Europe.
With a distinctive ability to blend art history, politics, and cultural criticism, Bass invites readers to see familiar symbols in new ways. Her work challenges us to rethink the role of monuments in shaping public narratives, national identity, and historical memory.
Ticket Pricing
$200
$85
$50
Lectures Generously Sponsored By:
