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.

Organizers of the conference : Alessio Assonitis and Stefano Dall’Aglio

The keynote speaker will be Paolo Simoncelli (Sapienza - Università di Roma).