CONTACTS
Institute of Renaissance Studies
Palazzo Bonacossi
Via Cisterna del Follo 5
44121 Ferrara
tel 0532 232932 / 232929
DIRECTOR
Marco Bertozzi
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Franco Bacchelli
Francesca Cappelletti
Paolo Fabbri
Manuela Incerti
Fosca Mariani Zini
Marialucia Menegatti
Cristina Montagnani
Andrea Pinotti
John Ricci
John Sassu
Alexander Scafi
Roberta Ziosi
MANAGEMENT SECRETARIAT
Elizabeth Hut
LIBRARY
Umberto Scopa
Elizabeth Hut
Weeks of Higher Studies
The High Studies Weeks of the Institute of Renaissance Studies of Ferrara are an annual event of international importance, dedicated to the in-depth study of the cultural and artistic heritage of the Renaissance. Each edition brings together scholars and researchers, both young and established, around themes ranging from literature to art, from philosophy to history, offering a unique opportunity for discussion and exchange. These meetings have helped consolidate Ferrara as a center of excellence for studies, producing reference publications appreciated in the scientific community.
EDITION 2025
What Ancient One? Legacies, reinterpretations and contaminations in the European Renaissance.
XXVI Week of Higher Studies
October 23-25, 2025
The Institute of Renaissance Studies, in collaboration with the Art Museum Service of the City of Ferrara, FerraraArte Foundation, eCampus University, 3 ARC (Ancient Art Architecture Reception Center) and the Department of Humanities of the University of Ferrara, is organizing the XXVI Week of High Renaissance Studies hosted at the prestigious venue of Museo Schifanoia. The annual international conference, included in the official calendar for the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Unesco recognition of “Ferrara, City of the Renaissance,” aims to focus attention once again on a pivotal theme in studies related to the modern age, calling together Italian and international scholars.
The recovery of antiquities, not only Greek and Roman but also Egyptian, Asian, Etruscan, has been a defining feature of European culture, especially since the 15th century, in different spheres. Literati, artists, 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 back the greatness of history, 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 in the Renaissance, or treated as if they were. This led to the development of different approaches during the Renaissance ranging from careful philological recovery to an exclusively formal and erudite rendering of literary and figurative elements: all contributed, in every way, to forging a new and widespread “antiquarian taste.” The conference, favoring an interdisciplinary approach, will be structured in four sections –history, arts, literature and philosophy– with the aim of studying the different interpretations, paths and methods of approaching the ancient in the modern era, not only in Italy, but in the broader European context.
> Previous Editions
2024
Female figures and voices of the Italian Renaissance. A journey through history, the arts, literature, and philosophy
25th Week of Higher Studies
October 24-26, 2024
The year 2024 would mark the 25th year of the Days of High Studies. For this important occasion, the scientific committee of the Institute of Renaissance Studies decided to dedicate the next edition to an aspect not yet addressed in its complexity: female figures and voices of the Italian Renaissance. The proposed theme is that of a fruitful “Anti-Renaissance” (thus also recalling the well-known research of Eugenio Battisti, on the centenary of his birth), characterized by the presence of women through high and low registers of culture, avoiding to privilege the former, in order to recall experiences considered secondary and/or of minor rank. Favoring a multidisciplinary approach, the conference aims to welcome unpublished contributions aimed at rediscovering female presences in Italy between the 15th and 16th centuries. The general framework of this plot, which is intended to be woven through studies attentive to the latest research methodologies, is divided into four sections: history, arts (including magic and medicine), literature and philosophy.
2023
Modern Amusements. Game, recreation and entertainment in Renaissance Italy.
XXIV Week of Higher Studies
October 26-28, 2023
Ferrara, Palazzo Bonacossi
The lords of the Italian courts between the 15th and 16th centuries used play and entertainment both for the creation of political and cultural consensus and as a refined means of amusement and entertainment. The courts of the Italian Renaissance found in entertainment, new and old, the social and cultural space in which to express themselves, transforming actors, artists, musicians, men of letters and poets into instruments of extraordinary political and cultural diplomacy. The XXIV Week of Higher Studies is dedicated to these topics, with the aim of bringing back to scholarly attention the role of play and amusement in Ferrara and elsewhere on the peninsula.
2022
The Age of Borso d’Este. The culture of the Ferrarese Renaissance in the fifteenth century.
XXIIIrd Week of High Renaissance Studies
November 17-19, 2022
Ferrara, Palazzo Bonacossi
In 2021, on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of the death of Borso d’Este, the first Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, the Institute of Renaissance Studies and the Municipality of Ferrara’s Museums of Ancient Art had organized an International Conference dedicated to Este culture in Borso’s time. The event, postponed due to the pandemic and held in 2022, aims to go beyond sectorial readings, proposing an interdisciplinary vision of the court and its sophisticated culture, and rediscovering themes little covered by studies.
2019
The restless Renaissance of Lucrezia Borgia
XXII Week of Higher Renaissance Studies
October 24-26, 2019
Ferrara, Palazzo Bonacossi
On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Lucrezia Borgia’s death, the Institute of Renaissance Studies is dedicating its study days to her, inviting scholars and young researchers to present the results of their investigations. The conference addresses historical, religious, biographical and literary issues, with in-depth studies on theater, music, cinema, art and portraiture.
2018
The city as spectacle. Pellegrino Prisciani, philosopher of the arts, and Biagio Rossetti, architect, in the Ferrara of the Este family.
XXI Week of Higher Studies
October 11-13, 2018
Ferrara, Palazzo Bonacossi
The myth of Ferrara as “Europe’s first modern city” is due to the great historian Jacob Burckhardt. A myth, today to be redefined, then cultivated by the pioneering research of Bruno Zevi (1960), dedicated to Biagio Rossetti, celebrated architect of the “spectacular” Addizione Erculea, a magnificent feat that Pellegrino Prisciani cartographed with refined expertise. The Institute of Renaissance Studies intends to dedicate the XXI Week of High Studies to Pellegrino Prisciani (1435-1518) and Biagio Rossetti (1447-1516), two of the greatest creators of the history of Este culture between the 15th and 16th centuries.
2017
In the Age of Bononi. Figurative culture in Ferrara between the Este family and the Legation (1590-1630).
20th Week of Higher Renaissance Studies
November 9-11, 2017
Ferrara, Palazzo Bonacossi
In conjunction with the exhibition Carlo Bononi. The last dreamer of the Ferrara workshop. a Palazzo dei Diamanti, the Institute for Renaissance Studies is dedicating its 20th Week of Higher Studies to a little-known season in art history. The conference aims to take stock of figurative culture in Ferrara between the Devolution and the first thirty years of the seventeenth century by examining the various manifestations of the visual arts of the time, from sacred to secular painting, from artistic techniques to music and theater.
2016
In the “sign” of the Furioso. The enchanted cosmos of Ludovico Ariosto and the culture of his times.
19th Week of Higher Studies
October 13-15, 2016
Ferrara, Palazzo Bonacossi
The Institute of Renaissance Studies, on the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the first edition of Orlando furioso, is dedicating the 19th week of High Studies to the life and works of Ludovico Ariosto. In this sense, the Institute intends to give a concrete follow-up to the study of the great poet, after having promoted the publication of the valuable edition of the 1516editio princeps, published by Olschki in 2006 and edited by Marco Dorigatti.As usual, alongside the most distinguished scholars of Ariosto, the Furioso and Este civilization, young researchers, doctoral students and scholars will also participate in the study days.
