The Medici Archive Project

CONFERENCE: ROSSO AND PONTORMO FLORENCE (British Institute of Florence)
Map Staff
April 4, 2014

This conference will accompany an exhibition on Rosso Fiorentino and Pontormo hosted by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. Curated by Antonio Natali and Carlo Falciani, the exhibition (8 March to 20 July 2014) charts the "Diverging Paths of Mannerism" and promises deep insights into the reasons of and motivations for this particular style. Our event will be hosted by the British Institute of Florence, one of the foremost English-language cultural institutions in Florence to teach Italian art history and culture at all levels of instruction. For more information and to register please visit: https://sites.google.com/site/rossoandpontormoflorence/home. To contact the organisers, Dr Andrea M. Gáldy MA and Lauren Johnson BA, MA please email RossoandPontormo@gmail.com.

Read More
NEW BOOK: The Fruit of Liberty - Political Culture in the Florentine Renaissance, 1480–1550
Nicholas Scott Baker
March 7, 2014

“In a lucid and lively way, Baker has managed to reveal untold parts of what
would seem to be a well-worn story. Rather than seeing a pronounced break
between republic and principate in Renaissance Florence, Baker emphasizes
continuity of language and images, as well as of office holders themselves, from
the late fifteenth to the mid-sixteenth century.”
--- Sharon Strocchia, Emory University

“The Fruit of Liberty provocatively reinterprets the significance of Florentine
political culture in the late Renaissance. By interrogating the apparently
sharp contrast between republican and ducal Florence, Baker reveals hidden
continuities in the Florentine experience that help explain the triumph of post-
Renaissance absolutism just as much as the persistence of republican language
and traditions.”
--- Mark Jurdjevic, Glendon College, York University

Read More
CALL FOR PAPERS: Practicing Public Health: Europe, 1300-1700
MAP STAFF
February 15, 2014

Practicing Public Health: Europe, 1300-1700

  • A Conference organized by John Henderson and G. Geltner
  • Sponsored by the Medici Archive Project & Villa I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Renaissance Studies
  • Florence, 12 June 2014
  • Keynote Speaker: Carole Rawcliffe (University of East Anglia)
  • Against tenacious misconceptions, pre-modern cities in and beyond Italy are finally beginning to shed their reputation as demographic black holes. The revised view of earlier cities’ relative salubriousness, however, is mostly grounded in medical treatises and statutes, sometimes at the expense of documents and instruments of practice. The goal of this conference is to examine new kinds of evidence and demonstrate that the feasibility and popularity of health interventions can be gauged on the basis of additional sources and new methodologies. Criminal court documents, for instance, reveal the extent to which devised plans were ignored and pertinent regulations violated. City council protocols help to establish the scale of resources (human, financial, administrative) allocated to incentivize participation and to ensure a modicum of cooperation. Material culture, from archaeological remains to maps to figurative and symbolic art, as well as a wide range of descriptive and narrative sources, such as diaries, chronicles, and fiction, can also illuminate pre-modern approaches to perceived risks and possible solutions. Finally the conference will encourage participants to think beyond the traditional paradigm of exclusive concentration on the urban environment and seek to bridge the gap between urban and rural environments.
  • We invite scholars with pertinent interests in the history and culture of public health to submit a brief CV and a 250-word abstract of a projected paper, to last no longer than 25 minutes.
  • Deadline: All proposals to be sent to Dr Elena Brizio (ebrizio@medici.org) by 15 February 2014.

Read More
UPCOMING CONFERENCES & TALKS - FELLOWS & STAFF
MAP STAFF
February 12, 2014

 

  • Alessio Assonitis will be lecturing at the British Institute in Florence (Harold Acton Library) on Wednesday, February 12 at 6pm. His paper is entitled: From Savonarolan simplicitas to Leonine majestas: Fra Bartolomeo della Porta's artistic trajectory from 1504 to 1517.

 

  • Elena Brizio will present a paper entitled "Non poco darìa da pensare se fusse uno huomo bene suficiente et facultoso: Eustochia Bichi and her life in Cinquecento Siena" at the Biennial Medieval and Renaissance Conference which will take place at the New College of Florida at Sarasota on March 4-6, 2014.

 

  • Alessio Assonitis, Samuel Morrison Gallacher, Alana O'Brien, Marta Caroscio, Piergabriele Mancuso, Julia Siemon, John Henderson, Brendan Dooley, and Carla Darista will be presenting papers at the Renaissance Society of America which will take place in New York on March 27-29, 2014.

 

  • Tessa Gurney (Samuel H. Kress Fellow, Fall 2013) is co-organizing a graduate student conference entitled “Building Connections: The Changing Face of Romance Studies” (April 3-5, 2014 at UNC – Chapel Hill). For description and call for papers, click here. 

     

Read More