Anna Bianco

A month from now, I will defend my thesis, “Images for the music: drawings and cantatas”, as part of the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) – Leiden University PhD program.

On the 2nd of December, I will present my research within the memorial day dedicated to Frans de Ruiter (1946-2025), one of my co-promotors who unfortunately passed away last summer. A visionary, prof. de Ruiter was a founder of ACPA, and I am particularly grateful for his enthusiastic support and the insights he poured into my project.

The program for the day will be announced soon.

In the meantime, this is the summary of my research project:
This dissertation examines the illustrated decorations in secular cantata manuscripts from 17th- and early 18th-century Italy, a previously understudied visual culture at the intersection of music, drawing, and elite sociability. These manuscripts often include small pen-and-ink drawings, vignettes, and ornate initials that have long been dismissed as anonymous embellishments.

A central outcome of this research is the attribution of a group of manuscript drawings to the celebrated architect and scenographer Filippo Juvarra, revealing a lesser-known chapter in his early graphic production in Rome. These images demonstrate his technical skill and engagement with musical culture during his formative years. The dissertation also revisits the multifaceted career of Carlo Antonio Buffagnotti, a composer and printmaker in Bologna. Another key case study is the manuscript I-Rc MS 2478, preserved at the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome.

Through close visual analysis, archival research, and iconographic comparison, the study reconstructs artistic contributions that were previously anonymous or misunderstood. It demonstrates how these drawings served as tokens of prestige, friendship, or authorship, functioning as visual performances that reflected the cantata’s refined and often intimate musical world.

By restoring visibility to forgotten artists and neglected images, this research invites a broader understanding of how music, art, and identity interacted in early modern Europe. It offers a new way to read historical sources, one that values visual traces as meaningful forms of cultural memory and contributes to ongoing efforts to connect musicological and art-historical perspectives.

Details on the venue – day – hours can be found here:
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2025/12/images-for-the-music

Colleagues, students, and anyone interested in the intersection of music and visual culture are very welcome to join (also online at the provided link).