CALL FOR PAPERS
THE MEDICI AND THE PRINCELY COURTS OF CENTRAL AND
EASTERN EUROPE: ART, DIPLOMACY, AND MATERIAL CULTURE
WORKSHOP – FLORENCE, PALAZZO ALBERTI – 7 FEBRUARY 2025
Organized by the Medici Archive Project, Connected Central European Worlds, 1500-1700
and Collecting Central Europe
Communication between courts and cities could be achieved by several means, including the
exchange of objects, artists, diplomats and news. Exchange was rarely a linear back-andforth
but could follow all sorts of patterns. In early modern Europe, it included the nascent
courts in Italy, as well as central and eastern European courts among others.
Our workshop will focus on courtly exchange via objects, such as diplomatic gifts between
early modern rulers to establish rarely investigated patterns of connectivity extending
throughout eastern and northern Europe. We aim to demonstrate that by the early sixteenth
century, the Medici court, the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Hungarian territories,
and beyond used objects and artists to maintain contact and convey diplomatic messages.
While some courts may have developed more direct routes of communication, at various
times the courts at Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Munich, Prague, Cracow, and Warsaw played
important nodal roles.
We invite proposals for papers addressing topics such as
• The presence of Florentine artists at Central and Eastern European courts and their
influence
• The presence and display of Central and Eastern European objects in the Medici
collections and their impact
• The role of artists as brokers between courts
• The role of women as mediators
• The agency of patronage between courts
• Trendsetters in matters of collecting and display
To be considered, please send the following material by 15 October 2024 to
education@medici.org: (1) full name, affiliation and email address; (2) paper title (15-word
max); (3) abstract text (200 words max); and (4) short curriculum vitae/bio (200 words
max). We welcome proposals from established scholars, as well as work in progress from
advanced doctoral candidates. The workshop will take place in person in Florence at the
Medici Archive Project, Palazzo Alberti. The conference language is English. Papers should
not exceed 20 minutes.