The Medici and the Princely Courts of Central and Eastern Europe: Art, Diplomacy, and Material Culture.

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-and-forth 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, Krakow, 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 educationmedici.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.