As
patrons of art, the Medici left a legacy that is unrivalled. Their
well-known narrative lies at the center of Renaissance scholarship. The
Medici patronized painters and sculptors, founded academies, preserved
and curated their collections, and used both artists and artworks as
political tools to convey their agendas and augment their prestige
amongst the courts of Italy and Europe. Yet, just as Medici identity was
expressed in terms of this cultural patrimony, so too were the attacks
of their enemies. A rich corpus of anti-Medicean works of art remains
underappreciated and understudied: works of art that communicated
messages of opposition, hostility and even hate that struck at the very
heart of the political identity of the Medici dynasty.
Recognizing
the role that art, artists, and artistic patronage played in opposing
the Medici (roughly from Cosimo the Elder to the end of the sixteenth
century), this two-day event, sponsored by the Medici Archive Project
and the Archivio di Stato in Florence, will address this lacuna. The
organizers of the conference, Alessio Assonitis and Stefano Dall’Aglio,
invite proposals for 25-minute papers that pertain to subjects
including, but not limited to:
- Anti-Medici Patronage in the Quattrocento
- Savonarola and the Piagnoni: aesthetics, patronage and artistic production
- Michelangelo: between pro-Medici and anti-Medici
- Anti-Medici art and patronage in Rome
- Art and architecture in the time of the Republic(s)
- Dissent and absolutism under the Medici Dukes
- Anti-Medicean sentiment in academies, workshops, and confraternities
- Graffiti and vandalism
- Florentine patronage in exile
- Duplicity and dissimulation
- Censorship and Damnatio Memoriae
The
keynote speaker will be Paolo Simoncelli (Sapienza – Università di
Roma). Scholars interested in participating should send an abstract in
English or Italian (no more than 200 words) and a one page CV to
conference@medici.org by 1 January 2016.
The
papers can be presented in English or Italian. Selected participants
will receive partial funding for travel and accommodation.
Against
the Medici: Art and Dissent in Renaissance Italy / Contro i Medici :
arte e dissenso nell’Italia del Rinascimento, Florence, Archivio di
Stato, 26-27 May 2016.
Source : Blog de l'ApAhAu