Despite its centrality to conventional narratives of early modern Italian
art, sixteenth-century Florence’s place within the evolving history of
printmaking remains, in many respects, nebulous. Who produced engravings
and woodcuts within the sixteenth-century city? In an environment saturated
with artists and craftsmen, why were so many Florentine print designers -
including Vasari and Stradano - sending their drawings to northern Italy
and even beyond the Alps for production? Who constituted the public for
prints within the city and how were the products of the press collected and
displayed? We seek new research that explores print design, production and
collection in the vibrant and rapidly changing artistic environment of
sixteenth-century Florence. Studies may examine particular Florentine
printmakers, designers, publishers and collectors or explore themes
including seriality, invention, developing technology, emerging markets, or
the materiality of the printed image.

Please send a 150-word abstract and 300-word CV to organizers Lia Markey (
lia.markey@gmail.com) and Sean Roberts (robesean@gmail.com) by Wednesday,
May 6th.