Baroque Rome between Old and New Worlds: Rethinking Relationships between Knowledge, Art and "Industria"

Indeed, Roman centrality was not a matter of fact. On the contrary, it appears as an instable dimension shaped by competition and asymmetric negotiations among different actors, agencies and interests, engaging between the court and the polycentric urban fabric, institutional and informal spaces, as well as in presence and at a distance. By focusing on the collective undertaking of the so-called Mexican Treasury, my talk addresses the intertwined epistemic, esthetic, religious, social and political values of the 'Roman' artistic, crafted and, intellectual production. Close attention will be paid to the concrete paths of their entanglement within the urban space, as well as across distant worlds. Featherworks, prints, sculptures, diplomatic letters, as well as missionary paperworks will be addressed in their multiple interactions, processes of translation and forms of intermediality. The Roman de-centrality will therefore emerge, while addressing the complex meanings of industria as a "universal" value.

Sabina Brevaglieri is an historian and art historian working on knowledge production in 17th century in Rome in a global perspective. She has been Max-Weber Fellow at the European University Institute and Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Mainz, where she currently teaches courses in the history of knowledge. Among her publications, the most recent Natural desiderio di sapere. Roma barocca fra vecchi e nuovi mondi, Roma, Viella, la corte dei papi, 2019.

Scientific Organization: Olga Isabel Acosta Luna and Matthijs Jonker

Img. 1- Mattheus Greuter, Melissographia, Roma, 1625, calcografia. Roma, Biblioteca Vallicelliana, S.BOR Q.V 190(30)
Img. 2- Mexican artist, Featherwork, details, Congregazione dell’Oratorio di Roma, Roma, Santa Maria in Vallicella.