The Business of Prints in Rome 1500-1650
24-25 March 2003, University of Edinburgh, Scotland


This conference will explore the innovations in the production and
consumption
of prints in Rome that led to an intensely creative diversity of
practice over
the period 1500-1650. The Business of Prints is the first of a series
of
conferences held in conjunction with the AHRB-funded project, The
Court Culture
of Early Modern Rome 1450-1750.

The importance of Rome in the history of European printmaking in
this period
can barely be exaggerated.  Beginning with the success of
Marcantonio
Raimondi’s collaboration with Raphael in the second decade of the
sixteenth
century, the print business in the city saw many innovations in
production and
selling leading to intensely creative diversity of practice.  The
leading
position that Rome had achieved in the field by the end of the
century was the
result of its international importance, both as the centre of the
Catholic
Church and as the most significant European centre for the study
of the visual
arts.   Artists from all over Europe came to reside in Rome.  The
presence of
Netherlandish and German printmakers and designers, together
with Italians from
every part of the Peninsula, resulted in an unparalleled
concentration of
talent and skill.   Contacts with other centres of printmaking,
especially
Venice and Antwerp, were close.  Roman prints were distributed
throughout
Europe; they helped to focus attention on the city in ways that had
considerable religious and political significance, while reinforcing
the idea
of Rome as a major centre of visual culture.


Speakers include:

Suzanne Boorsch (New Haven, CT)                  Michael Bury
(Edinburgh)
Francesca Consagra (St Louis)                    Eckhard Leuschner
(Passau)
Peter Parshall (Washington, D.C.)                Gert Jan van der
Sman(Florence)
Ben Thomas (Canterbury)                          Tina Warnes (Leeds).


The conference will incorporate a viewing of The Print in Italy 1550-
1620
(National Gallery of Scotland), the exhibition that originated at the
British
Museum and has since travelled to New York and Ottawa.

Fee: £40 full; day rate £25; students and concessions £20.

For booking form or further details, please contact:

Dr Jill Burke
University of Edinburgh, History of Art
19 George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LD
Scotland
Tel.+44 (0)131 650 4124
Fax +44 (0)131 650 6638
Email: [log in to unmask]

Dr Jill Burke
AHRB Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Edinburgh, Art History
19 George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LD
Tel: +44 (0)131 650 4124; direct +44 (0)131 651 3120
Fax: +44 (0)131 650 6638