Sharing the Medici Archive with the World.

The Medici Archive Project (MAP) is an independent research institute whose aim is to preserve and valorize the archives of the Medici dynasty, which comprise over fifteen million documents (many of them are featured in the MIA DATABASE). MAP also serves as a major academic hub for scholars and students worldwide in the field of Italian Renaissance and early modern studies.

What is MAP and what are the Medici Archives on which it focuses?

What is MAP and what are the Medici Archives on which it focuses?

The Medici Archive Project (MAP) was founded in the early 1990s to promote the vast wealth of the Mediceo del  Principato, the epistolary collection of the Medici Grand Dukes (1532-1743) housed at the Archivio di Stato in Florence.  Comprising more than five million letters, this archival corpus is as much a global archive as it is a local and personal one. Roughly two-thirds of these letters were penned by an extensive network of Medici diplomats and informants, chronicling the political and cultural  developments in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Other letters document the mechanisms that connected the Medici court with its administrative capillaries, including the legislative, judicial, financial, and public health branches of government. At the same time, this collection also records the more personal dimension of the Medici themselves, as well as the cultural and artistic events that took place at their court.

What is MAP and what are the Medici Archives on which it focuses?

What is MAP and what are the Medici Archives on which it focuses?

The Medici Archive Project (MAP) was founded in the early 1990s to promote the vast wealth of the Mediceo del  Principato, the epistolary collection of the Medici Grand Dukes (1532-1743) housed at the Archivio di Stato in Florence.  Comprising more than five million letters, this archival corpus is as much a global archive as it is a local and personal one. Roughly two-thirds of these letters were penned by an extensive network of Medici diplomats and informants, chronicling the political and cultural  developments in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Other letters document the mechanisms that connected the Medici court with its administrative capillaries, including the legislative, judicial, financial, and public health branches of government. At the same time, this collection also records the more personal dimension of the Medici themselves, as well as the cultural and artistic events that took place at their court.

Featured Projects

MAP FORUM – The Vettori Brothers: Machiavelli’s Brilliant Friends

A talk by Marcello Simonetta - Tuesday, 10 December 2024 at 5pm EST (New York) / 11pm CET (Florence).

ROUNDTABLE – Renaissance Ciphers: Secrecy and Security – 27 NOVEMBER 2024

This roundatble, organized by The Art of Negozio Program at the Medici Archive Project, will feature George Lasry, a computer scientist in the tech industry, and a member of the DECRYPT and the CrypTool projects, and Marcello Simonetta, Director of the Art of Negozio Program, who will explore the impact of cryptography from the Renaissance to today’s top notch and state of the art technology.              

3PM New York; Noon Los Angeles; 8PM London; and 9PM Florence

WORKSHOP – 20 September 2024

The Epistolary Renaissance: Women Latinists in the Republic of Letters (1300-1700)

WORKSHOP: 17-18 October 2024

The Water Cultures of Italy, 1500-1900

CALL FOR PAPERS – Deadline: 1 December 2024

The Invention of the Medici Histories, Stories, and Historiographies (1781-2024) at Palazzo Alberti in Florence 23-24 January 2025

CALL FOR PAPERS – Deadline 15 October 2024

The Medici and the Princely Courts of Central and Eastern Europe: Art, Diplomacy, and Material Culture Workshop at Palazzo Alberti, Florence ~ 7 February 2025 Organized by the Medici Archive Project, Connected Central European Worlds, 1500-1700 and Collecting Central Europe

Call for Papers – Workshop: Deadline 3 March 2025

The Pazzi Beyond the Conspiracy - Workshop at Palazzo Alberti, Florence ~ 6 June 2025 Organized by the Medici Archive Project

Winter 2025 Paleography Seminars

The Medici Archive Project is pleased to announce the dates for the upcoming 2024 Winter Seminar in Paleography and Archival Studies which will take place in Florence on 6 – 11 January 2025 and 13 – 18 January 2025.

The Medici Avvisi

The Avvisi created and sustained an informational network that connected urban centers in Europe, North Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as key ports in the Caribbean and Asia throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

Featured Videos

Gary Schwartz - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (1 / 17)
Catherine Powell-Warren - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (2 / 17)
Christian Kleinbub - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (3 / 17)
William Barcham - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (4 / 17)
Christopher R. Marshall - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (5 / 17)
Stefano Dall'Aglio - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (6 / 17)
Noelia García Perézcase - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (7 / 17)
Emily Michelson - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (8 / 17)
Florence Forte - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (9 / 17)
Jane Stevens Crawshaw - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (10 / 17)
Jonathan Nelson - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (11 / 17)
Steven J. Cody - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (12 / 17)
Nina Lamal, Paola Molino, and Davide...
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (13 / 17)
Tamara Smithers - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (14 / 17)
Rose Byfleet - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (15 / 17)
Francesca Bregoli - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (16 / 17)
Rebecca Arnheim - MAP FORUM
MAP FORUM 2024-25 (17 / 17)