Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut

Summer School, September 18 - 26, 2009

Pisa and the Mediterranean.
Concept and Organisation: Gerhard Wolf, Hannah Baader, Avinoam Shalem

During the Middle Ages, Pisa was one of the most important port cities of
the Mediterranean, in permanent competition with Genoa and Venice. In
fact, Pisan politics mingled religious, economic and military interests.
The Maritime Republic had invaded Muslim Palermo in 1063, Mahdyia in 1087
as well as Jerusalem in the first crusade, had expelled the Muslims from
the Balearic Islands (1113-115), captured Sardinia, but at almost the same
time was also stipulating treatises, e.g. with the ruler of Tunis in 1157,
and was apparently using the crusade to establish trading posts in the
coastal cities of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. It installed larger or
smaller colonies in Antioch, Acre, Jaffa, Tripoli, Tyre, Joppa, Latakia,
Jerusalem, Caesarea, Cairo, Alexandria and last but not least in
Constantinople.

An inscription on the cathedral façade declares that the building was made
possible by the riches that the Pisans had looted during the course of the
invasion of Palermo. Another inscription confirms that this sanctuary,
being white like snow, is without a prototype. Stressing its pure
whiteness, the inscription evokes a concept of renewal, typical of the
second half of the 11th century. In the following two centuries this
concept stimulated not only the construction of the cathedral, but the
whole ensemble of the famous Piazza dei Miracoli, made of light marble
from the nearby Apuan Alps and designed on an extreme monumental scale.
Situated at the North Western corner of the old town and enclosed on two
of sides by the city wall, the Piazza dei Miracoli is one of the most
extravagant sacred topographies in the Christian culture of the Middle
Ages, beginning with the cathedral, followed by the baptistery (1152), the
bell tower (1173) and finally concluded by the Campo Santo (begun in 1278,
finished after 1350).

Architectural and decorative forms as well as constructive aspects of the
ensemble not only relate to Byzantium, Catalonia and Southern France, but
also to the Muslim world of the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and Al
Andaluz, including the Great Mosque in Cordoba. Pisan art can thus be
studied in its particular ability to amalgamate different formal elements
in an astonishingly unique and unified structure. The innovative artistic
and intellectual climate in Pisa includes new forms of technological and
scientific knowledge. The most famous case is that of the mathematician
Leonardo Fibonacci who wrote the groundbreaking treatise De Libro Abaci
(1227) referring to Indian and Arabian arithmetics which, according to his
introduction, he learned in an abbacus school in his early youth in Bejaia
in Algeria. where his Father served as a notary of the Pisan republic.

The summer school in Pisa will investigate how one of the leading
Mediterranean port cities of the Middles Ages responded to its
heterogeneous cultural experiences intellectually and artistically. The
seminar will discuss the architecture of the Piazza dei Miracoli, the
sculpture of the Pisani, the frescoes of the Campo Santo and other
monuments of the city. It will also include an excursion to Sardinia to
visit major medieval monuments of the island which was temporarily under
Pisan dominion.

Finally, as counter-evidence, the situation from 1063 to ca. 1320/50 will
be compared with the later development after the Florentine capture of
Pisa in 1406. In the wake of the modern concepts of territoriality, the
Medici archdukes tried to separate religious and commercial interests
within their state more clearly: turning Pisa into the realm of the
military religious Order of Santo Stefano and at the same time founding a
liberal commercial harbour in Livorno. While expressly accepting the
diffusion of holy books of all religions in Livorno, the Medici, with
Pietro Tacca's monument for Ferndinando I, concurrently made use of new
ways of claiming cultural supremacy in the public space.

The Summer school welcomes students and younger scholars, including
graduate students, doctoral candidates and scholars who are embarking on
post-doctoral research. The number of participants is restricted to
thirteen and each is expected to contribute to the success of the course
not only by presenting a paper but also by actively participating in
discussions, which will be held in English, Italian and German.
Applications and papers are welcome in all three languages. Accommodation
will be paid by the Institute, which will also reimburse participants for
half of their travel costs and provide a per diem.

Applications should include a curriculum vitae and a letter of
recommendation. Graduate students not yet involved in dissertation
research should attach a summary of their course work. For pre- and
post-doctoral applicants, a brief summary of their research project
(250-300 words) is requested. Topic suggestions will be provided but all
participants are encouraged to include their own proposal (250-300 words),
which we will try to include in the program.
Applications should be sent to Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf, Director,
Kunsthistorisches Institut - Max-Planck-Institut, Via Giuseppe Giusti 44,
I- 50121 Firenze, Italy before May 10, 2006. The envelope should be marked
with "Summer school 2009", applications by e-mail are also welcome to the
address: mussotterkhi.fi.it. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by
the end of May.