Research report 2009 - Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max Planck Institute
Mediterranean art histories – 4th to 16th century
Authors
Wolf, Gerhard
Departments
Direktion Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf (Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf)
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - MPI, Florenz
Summary
The premodern Mediterranean is characterized by an exchange of goods, artifatcs and knowledge beyond religious, political or cultural confinements. Harbour cities like Venice, Genoa or Pisa built and took part in networks which reached as far as to the Black Sea, and from there to the trade routes for the Far East. The Mediterranean courts shared forms of representation which cannot be understood within one cultural paradigm alone. A research project of the Kunsthistorisches Institut combines case studies with a discussion of the methodological implications of a Mediterranean art history.