TheInstitute of Renaissance Studies, in collaboration with the Art Museum Service of the City of Ferrara, FerraraArte Foundation,E-Campus University, the Department of Humanities of the University of Ferrara, and the 3 ARC Ancient Art Architecture Reception Center, is organizing the XXVI Week of High Renaissance Studies entitled: “What Ancient One? Legacies, reinterpretations and contaminations in the European Renaissance“.
THE CONVENTION.
The annual Week of High Renaissance Studies, included in the official calendar for the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Unesco recognition of “Ferrara, City of the Renaissance,” is an opportunity to return to explore one of the main research themes of Renaissance studies, namely antiquity and its role in the European Renaissance.
The recovery of antiquities, not only Greek and Roman but also Egyptian, Asian, and Etruscan, is, in different spheres, a defining feature of European culture, starting especially in the 15th century. Literati, artists, and architects, as well as patrons and patrons, turned to the legacy from the past to learn the secrets of the veteres populi, to lend authority to their works, or to bring the greatness of history back to life, often in a political and celebratory function. But during the Renaissance, the ways in which art from the past was received often made it problematic to understand the very concept of “ancient”: a large number of works that today are no longer considered to fit into the category of ancient art were instead considered as such or treated as if they were in the Renaissance. This led to the development of different approaches ranging from careful philological recovery to an exclusively formal and erudite rendering of literary and figurative elements: all concurred in forging a new and widespread “antiquarian taste.” Promoting an interdisciplinary approach, the Week of Higher Studies will be structured in four sections – history, arts, literature and philosophy – with the aim of studying the different interpretations, paths and methodologies of approaching antiquity in the modern era, not only in Italy, but in the broader European context.
MODE AND RULES OF PARTICIPATION
The Conference will be held in Ferrara, on Thursday, October 23, Friday, 24 and Saturday, October 25, 2025 in the Conference Hall of the Museo Schifanoia. How to participate, the research lines chosen by the scientific committee and the criteria for evaluating proposals are published in the CALL FOR PAPERS 2025.
La CALL FOR PAPERS 2025 can be downloaded here.
The DEADLINE for submitting applications is MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 no later than 12:00 noon.
For more information: isr@comune.fe.it
PHOTO: Sebastiano Filippi known as Bastianino and helpers, Running of putti on chariots (detail), c. 1578, Fresco, Ferrara, Castello Estense, Sala dell’Aurora.