WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.- A bronze sculpture of one of the most famous composers in the world will be the subject of the Thursday, February 12, Looking at Lunchtime Talk at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Michael Cassin, director of the Center for Education in the Visual Arts, will present the 12:30 pm gallery talk on Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi by Vincenzo Gemito. Admission is free.

Giuseppe Verdi was sixty years old in the early 1870s, when his portrait bust was made by a very young and relatively little-known Neapolitan sculptor called Vincenzo Gemito. How the two artists met, and how their encounters resulted in the bronze now in the Clark’s collection, will be the subject of the talk.

The series continues on Thursday, March 12, when Danielle Steinmann, assistant curator of education, examines Bacchante by Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. The talks take place at 12:30 pm on the second Thursday of every month. Attendees may purchase food from the courtyard café or bring a bag lunch to enjoy before or after the gallery talk.