Only recently the EUI has incorporated Palazzo Buontalenti into its campus in order to house the newly established School of Transnational Governance. With the new building came its artistic legacy, which has thus far escaped the attention of many, but in fact deserves a careful view.
The four lecture halls on the ground floor are richly decorated with 17th century-frescoes, celebrating the triumphs of the Medici family. Side by side with the iconography of large public building projects or religious ceremonies, is a scene depicting the mass enslavement of North Africans. Pointing out the successes of their foreign policy in the Mediterranean, the Florentine rulers boasted about their might with slaves as spoils of war.
In a historical moment in which representations of slavery and the institutions underpinning it have come under great public scrutiny, the EUI can do its part by raising awareness about the artistic patrimony on its campus. The lecture thus aims to provide historical background knowledge to all EUI members to have an informed discussion on how to relate to the ‘Slaves of Palazzo Buontalenti’.
HEC researcher Ludwig Pelzl will give an art historical interpretation, embedding the artwork into the political context at the time of its production. The fresco will then be put into larger historical perspective through two short interventions on Mediterranean slavery by HEC researcher Ana Struillou and on contemporary Muslim-Christian relations by HEC professor Giancarlo Casale. After this, we invite for a lively discussion on, among others, how to share our teaching and studying spaces with such a piece of art.
Please register in order to have a seat or receive the ZOOM link.