#127 Female friendship and cultural collaboration in early modern Florence ~ Vittoria della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany: A Conversation with Adelina Modesti

Saturday, September 26th Live on Zoom

10am Los Angeles / 1pm New York / 6pm London / 7pm Florence

Princess of Urbino and Grand Duchess of Tuscany Maria Vittoria Leonora Feltria della Rovere (1622-1694) passed much of her life in the company of women, with many of whom she developed long-lasting friendships and relationships. This talk will explore the grand duchess's female networks and her cultural patronage in Baroque Florence as well as the connections she established with women throughout Italy and Europe. It will address the following questions: What characterizes friendship and collaboration between women in early modern Europe, especially for a female ruler? Loyalty, fidelity, commitment, diplomacy, empathy, trust, bonds of reciprocity, of affection, of kinship? What is the impact of such female friendship, collaboration and networks on patronage and the arts? The talk is drawn from my recent essay in a volume honoring the pioneering work of feminist art historians Marry Garrard and Norma Broude.

Adelina Modesti is an art historian specializing in Renaissance and Baroque art, with a particular focus on women artists, patrons, collecting, and cultural networks in early modern Italy. She received her PhD from Monash University with a dissertation on the celebrated Bolognese Baroque artist Elisabetta Sirani and is an Honorary Senior Fellow in Art History and Art Curatorship at the University of Melbourne.

The recipient of numerous international fellowships, grants, and awards, Adelina has published extensively on women artists and patrons, including Elisabetta Sirani, Artemisia Gentileschi, Vittoria della Rovere, and Margherita de’ Medici. Her major publications include books on Sirani and Vittoria della Rovere, and she formerly served as an Advocate in Florence for the Advancing Women Artists Foundation.

To RSVP: Paola50122@gmail.com

Minimum suggested donation: $28

This talk is free for Friends of Paola's Studiolo!

Look forward to seeing you on Zoom!