Call for Application for Three Short-Term Fellowships for New Research on Local Renaissances
The aim of the call for applications is to create an international team formed of
three scholars, either PhD candidates at the end of their research or postdoctoral
fellows, to work together for three months to explore different notions of
antiquarian culture and artistic patronage in different areas in Europe during the
early modern period. Working on the assumption that a universal and monolithic
Renaissance is increasingly seen to be a superseded concept, the research group will
be encouraged to investigate the idea of "local Renaissances", as well as crucial
historiographical concepts such as "antiquity", "identity"
and "style".
Over a very long period the idea that Florence and Rome represent the canon of
Renaissance art and architecture has led to a deep misunderstanding of the specific
artistic cultures found in other contexts, which have often been relegated to the
margins of scholarship as backward-looking peripheries. It is now well known that
different local all'antica styles developed across Italy, such as those in Venice
and Milan, and more attention has been devoted to the multiple 'antiquities' which
informed also the artistic and literary cultures of Florence and Rome. The
ERC-HistAntArtSI project has been working for four years on rediscovering the
specific character of antiquarian culture and artistic patronage in the Kingdom of
Naples between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and on redefining the concept
of Southern Renaissance. This concept, once used in local historiography to indicate
a phenomenon of uniformity and backwardness, is gradually being reshaped and
revised, reinforcing the idea of another Renaissance, one which belongs more
coherently to the regional histories presently being uncovered throughout Italy and
the rest of Europe.
Furthermore, recent research has demonstrated how a new fascination with the
classical past was a widespread phenomenon in early modern Europe. While work has
been done on the reception of antiquity in France, Germany and the Netherlands,
there are other contexts that still remain at the margins of Renaissance
historiography and need to be investigated.
As a result of collaboration between the ERC/HistAntArtSi project and the
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut, three research
scholarships are being offered to investigate the reception of the classical past in
selected areas and regions of Europe. We seek for proposals that, taking an
interdisciplinary and comparative approach, look at single regions or areas which
for historical or cultural reasons were connected to southern Italy, such as Spain,
Dalmatia, Greece or Flanders. It is possible that other areas in northern or eastern
Europe will also be considered. A particular requirement will be that the candidates
investigate not only single examples of local Renaissances but also the possible
connections, networks and dialogues which existed among different contexts.
Scholars are encouraged to present proposals which explore local concepts of the
antique in the form of archaeological excavations, works of art, architecture,
antiquarian literature, and history, and which address the problem both of how the
contemporary "identity" of cities and regions was formed by a local notion of the
"antique" as well as how local antiquities were used to construct a sense of
identity for civic institutions or individuals. We welcome cases which question the
idea of a "single antiquity", considering instead how the idea of antiquity varied
widely, including not only Roman, but also Greek and pre-classical indigenous
antiquities, as well as monuments and objects from the more recent medieval past.
Proposals may consider aspects of the local reception of antiquity, such as the
notion of competing 'antiquities', the character and priorities of local conceptions
of the antique, the merge and clash of imported modes of classical revival with
local idioms or relationships between concepts of antiquity in various regions.
Candidate profile:
Potential candidates will be scholars who are already working on a European area at
a doctoral or postdoctoral level. In line with the approach and methodology of the
HistAntArtSI research project, the selected group of scholars would work together
sharing an interdisciplinary and comparative approach and maintaining constant
contact with the research team hosted at the University of Naples Federico II.
In addition to their individual and specific research skills, each candidate should
be able to demonstrate her/his capacity to cooperate as part of a research group.
Candidates should also have a good knowledge of spoken and written Italian and
English.
Work description:
Scholarships will begin in January 2016 and end in March 2016.
Fellows will be expected to live in Florence and to work at the Kunsthistorisches
Institut in Florenz.
Each scholar will work individually on her/his research topic, but will be expected
to engage closely and continuously in seminars and discussions with the other two
selected scholars and with the ERC HistAntArtSI research group. The group of
scholars will be expected to organize a workshop in which they will present the
results of their work at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz and to submit a
proposal for a panel to be held in the following RSA (2017).
Stipend:
Each scholar will receive circa 2000 € monthly. There are no additional funds for
travel to Florence.
Application:
Applicants must submit a thousand-word length project proposal, together with a
curriculum vitae and a cover letter. The names of two established scholars ready to
support the application must be listed at the end of the cover letter.
Applicants are required to merge all the documents in a single PDF (max. 2 MB) and
submit it via e-mail to: info@histantartsi.eu + dirnova@khi.fi.it
Deadline for the Application: 30 October 2015
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