Neil De Marchi, Duke University

This is a course that I have developed over several years. I have taught it many times at Duke, sometimes alone, sometimes jointly with Professor Hans Van Miegroet, of the Duke Art History Department. It has always had a comparative emphasis, but I wish to adapt it to give it a particularly Italian slant for the spring of 2006 . Together with Van Miegroet I have recently completed a long entry, “The History of Art Markets,” for an Elsevier/North-Holland Handbook on the Economics of Art and Culture . We have also just submitted the MS for an edited volume entitled Mapping Markets for Paintings in Europe , 1450-1750 . I have also just accepted to write together with another art historian, expert on Venice , a chapter on the Italian trade in paintings, for a volume entitled Il Rinascimento italiano e l'Europa , edited by Francheschi, Goldthwaite and Mueller. Thus my recent and current research is focused on constructing comparative, analytical narratives for art markets and the paintings trade throughout early modern Europe . In the process I have acquired a working knowledge of the paintings business in Florence , Venice and Rome , as well of course of centers elsewhere in Europe . Two of the Italian cities just mentioned had banking and/or commercial ties to many other parts of Europe , but in terms of artistic influences and the trade in paintings, all three were open to foreigners of many sorts. I wish to incorporate topics arising out of my current work, including the role of dealers, agents, merchants and other travelers in shaping local visual culture in different centers, and in contributing novel marketing practices in respect of the paintings trade. I have good contact with Professor Goldthwaite, who lives (part-time) in Florence ; and with younger scholars knowledgeable on the Venetian art market (Dr Isabella Cecchini, Venice ) and on the role of agents (Dr Linda Borean, Udine ). I anticipate involving all three in aspects of the course, particularly Dr Cecchini.