New York, RSA, March 27 - 29, 2014
Cultures of Things in Early Modern Antwerp: Values, Identities, and
Transformations
In the past years there has been a growing interest in the circulation
of precious objects in the early modern world. Taking these recent
studies on early modern cultures of making, collecting, and
representation as its point of departure, this panel focuses on
sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Antwerp as the site of a
particularly rich and diverse ‘culture of precious things’, including
tapestries, gold- and silverware, glass works, jewelry, books, prints,
musical and mathematical instruments, and paintings. In the course of
the sixteenth century Antwerp developed into an emporium of foreign
trade and a center of artists’ knowledge and expertise. With the
arrival of new artifacts (both local and foreign) new types of
specialty markets (panden) emerged. Collections and images of
collections reflected and reinforced an increased preoccupation with
the values and identities of various crafts and arts. Papers may focus,
among other topics, on the making, collecting, and circulation of
precious objects, whether individually or as groups; on strategies of
describing and representing Antwerp’s culture of things; on competing
and shared interests between different craftsmen and artisans, creators
of images and creators of things, or artisans, merchants, and
consumers. How did Antwerp’s luxury industries respond to and shape
collecting desires, connoisseurship, and taste? How did merchants’ and
artists’ abilities to ‘imitate what is foreign’ (Guicciardini) affect
notions of ingenuity, innovation, knowledge, and skill?
Please send a brief abstract (maximum 150 words), keywords, and a
300-word CV to Christine Goettler ([log in to unmask]).
The submission deadline is 27 May 2013.
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