Fluctuating alliances: art, politics, and diplomacy in the Modern Era (XVI-XVIIIth centuries)

In January 1722 after a few days of heavy rain in Rome the ephemeral “macchina d’artificio” built to celebrate the wedding between the Prince of Asturias and Isabel d’Orleans was finally burnt before the palazzo di Spagna. The machine, designed by Domenico Paradisi, showcased a clear message of unity and power between the former enemies, France and Spain. At the summit, allegories of both countries shook hands before the representation of the Four Continents. This functioned as a gentle reminder to their enemies after the years of turmoil surrounding the War of Spanish Succession, which had deeply affected the balance of power in Europe.

This symposium, Fluctuating alliances: art, politics and diplomacy in the Modern Era (s. XVI-XVIII), seeks to explore the role played by prints, drawings, and any kind of artistic production, such as music and literature, which represented the changing alliances among kings, rulers and countries in the fluctuating early modern political environment.. Taking as an example the War of Spanish Succession, but not limited to it, we encourage researchers to explore the uses of art for that purpose.

We invite scholars at all stages of their careers to propose 20-minute presentations, preferably focused on case studies. We encourage proposals that deal with particularly tricky diplomatic encounters and which explain how art helped or, indeed, hindered these negotiations. There is no official language for the conference (we accept English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French) but for the sake of clarity all the communications, as well as the proposals, should be in English.

Candidates are invited to submit their proposals by 20 May 2017 to Pilar Diez del Corral diezdelcorralcorredoiratu-berlin.de. They should include an abstract (up to 500 words) and a brief CV with recent publications (max. 1 page). Unfortunately, it will not be possible to cover travel and accommodation costs for participants. The scientific committee will inform all the applicants of the final selection by 31 May 2017.

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