Students, professors and the community will have the chance to experience the sights and culture of the Italian Renaissance tonight as a part of the Moments of Change initiative.

Joseph Connors, professor of history of art and architecture at Harvard University and director of Villa I Tatti, the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, will lecture at 6 tonight regarding the baroque artwork of Giovanni Baglione during the Italian Renaissance.

Palmer Museum, the art history department and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities will sponsor the event.

"Connors is one of the foremost art historians of this period," said Marica Tacconi, director of Moments of Change and associate professor of music.

Villa I Tatti is where many scholars go to study the art of Italy, said Patrick McGrady, a curator at Palmer.

It was originally Bernard Berenson's home and scholarly retreat, which was then given as a gift to Harvard upon Berenson's death in 1959, according to the Harvard Gazette.

"This will be a good talk for anyone who is interested in studying abroad in Italy as well," Tacconi said.

Connors' lecture, called "Baglione's World: Rome in the Early Seventeenth Century" will examine Baglione's artwork in the context of the 17th century and the Italian Renaissance, said Dana Kletchka, curator of education at the Palmer Museum.

Penn State alumna Mary Jane Harris gave Baglione's work, "St. Sebastian Healed by an Angel," as a promised gift to the Palmer Museum of Art, McGrady said.

It was this particular painting that acted as a catalyst for Moments of Change, Tacconi added.

Baglione's painting is magnificent, and it adds a great deal of significance to the works already at Palmer, said Brian Curran, associate professor of art history who teaches about the Italian Renaissance.

Along with placing the painting in context of its time period, this lecture will also tie together the different artistic mediums of the Moments of Change initiative, Tacconi said.

"This is a key lecture that will bridge the various disciplines and look at all the angles of this period," Tacconi said.

Connors will also delve into Baglione's intriguing life, Curran said.

Tacconi said that the lecture would be visual and would include many slides that would help add to the audience's understanding of the artwork as well as the piece's initiative.

"We are thrilled to have a scholar of this magnitude speaking at Palmer," Kletchka said.