Research Programs

 The Jane Fortune Research Program on Women Artists in the Age of the Medici

For information on the March 2, 2012, conference Women Artists of Early Modern Italy, organized by The Jane Fortune Research Program on Women Artists in the Age of the Medici, click here.

The Age of the Medici Grand Duchy was a golden age for women artists in Italy. Professional women painters and sculptors in this period include from the 16th century: Sofonisba Anguissola, Giulia Calvi, Properzia De Rossi, Ippolita Degli Erri, Lavinia Fontana, Fede Galizia, Lucrezia di Panciatichi, Plautilla Nellta Robusti, and Lucrezia Quistelli della Mirandola; and from the 17th century: Angela Veronica Airola, Plautilla Bricci, Orsola Maddalena Caccia, Margherita Caffi, Maria De Dominicis, Lucrina Fetti, Giovanna Garzoni, Artemisia Gentileschi, Felicità Lupicini, Elisabetta Sirani, and Virginia Vezzo more...

Jewish History

 
The Medici Granducal Archive constitutes an impressive and unexplored historical reservoir of Jewish history. Its content opens new windows onto cross-sections of Jewish culture in early modern Italy and Europe. Recognizing the scholarly magnitude of this data, MAP researchers have been taking note of all historical documents making direct or indirect reference to Jews and Jewish culture that they encounter during their normal operations. So far approximately one thousand letters, almost all written in Italian, have been transcribed and entered in a rudimentary database (only available via special appointment) in the hopes of one day enlisting an expert in early modern Jewry to contextualize them and publish them online. These documents were found during the course of research that has only covered five percent of the four million letters that make up the Medici Granducal Archive; presumably there are thousands of other documents on Jews and Jewish culture waiting to be discovered in the remaining ninety-five percent of this immense archival collection more...