Art historian Lia Markey and artist Niccolò Moronato will discuss one of the Newberry’s treasures from the early modern period, Robert Dudley’s Arcano del Mare (Secrets of the Sea) (1646-1647). Produced in Medici Florence by an English cartographer and ship builder, the enormous three-volume sea atlas documents Medici attempted incursions in South America and reveals the ambitions of a dynasty in decline. This colloquium will present a journey across the historical and the contemporary, reflecting on the role of early modern cartography in changing the perspectives and mindsets of European rulers.
*Co-sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago