Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick

Bringing together scholars from different fields and disciplines and adopting new interdisciplinary angles, this conference aims to explore the process of definition, evolution and representation of the figures of the prince and the condottiero in Italian Humanism and Renaissance. These two roles are often interconnected and, in some cases, are embodied by the same political figure, who is both a military leader and a signore, or a prince. The centrality of these actors on the historical scene becomes the reflection of a more general phenomenon: the emergence of a personalistic political power, based on individual human virtue. Over two days, the participants will analyse the different forms and genres through which the definition and representation of these key political figures have been put forward: historical narratives, political treatises, chivalric romance, historical-epic poetry, and visual and artistic representations. The conference adopts an approach that goes beyond traditional periodizations and boundaries, spanning the timeframe from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century (and beyond), and considering, among others, the cultural areas of Naples, Florence, Milan, and Ferrara.

With the participation of:

Bryan Brazeau, Guido Cappelli, Anna Carocci, Marta Celati, Claudia Daniotti, Marco Dorigatti, Jane Everson, Vincenzo Farinella, Antonella Fenech, Valentina Gritti, James Hankins, Antonietta Iacono, Stefano Jossa, David Lines, Martin McLaughlin, Sara Miglietti, Maria Pavlova, Gabriele Pedullà, Eugenio Refini, Hester Schadee, Giorgio Tagliaferro, Simone Testa, Cristina Zampese

Languages: English and Italian

Organisers: Marta Celati and Maria Pavlova