About the Series:
The Medici Archive Project: 3-Night Series
The Trials and Triumphs of the Jews of Florence
with Dr. Alessio Assonitis, Director of The Medici Archive Project
and Dr. Piergabriele Mancuso, Director of the Eugene Grant Research Program on Jewish History and Culture in Early Modern Europe at The Medici Archive Project
In 2016, scholars of The Medici Archive Project discovered an enormous cache of letters and drawings, blueprints and account books from Florence's long-demolished Jewish Ghetto that opened a window into the lives of its former residents. Within months, The Streicker Center began offering programs about what they learned from the material, about the Ghetto and its aristocrats, Italian Jewish mysticism and the role of Jews in Florence’s courtly life during the two centuries that the Medici grand dukes dominated Tuscany.
As they prepare for their 2023 exhibition at Palazzo Pitti in conjunction with the Uffizi Galleries, Medici Archive scholars return in three stand-alone lectures exploring three different facets of Jewish life in late 17th-century Florence.
This series is generously sponsored by Temple Emanu-El members Suellen and Warren Haber.
NIGHT ONE:
A Day in the Life of a Jewish Merchant
Tuesday, April 5
6:30 PM
It’s hard to imagine what life was like for, say, an ordinary Jewish merchant at the time of Grand Duke Cosimo III de’Medici (1670–1723). Did he wake up to hostility? Acceptance? What privileges and obstacles did he confront? What did he eat, wear and sing? What was it like for a Jew to wander outside the Ghetto across the city and interact in such a Catholic town?
NIGHT TWO:
Jews on Trial
Wednesday, April 6
6:30 PM
Whether a Jew committed a simple crime like scapegoating or scandalous behavior, or something more serious, like treason or fraud, he faced a complicated judicial situation, caught among the Holy Inquisition, the Florentine judiciary, and the Rabbinical beit din. Exploring some notorious cases, the speakers will demonstrate the inequity and, in many cases, the prejudice, built into the system as they reflect on the nature of justice.
NIGHT THREE:
The Jewish Caravaggio
Thursday, April 7
6:30 PM
Jewish painters have been almost entirely absent from our view of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art. But Jona Osilio, who was born in the Ghetto and worked at the Medici court at the end of the 17th century producing still lifes, portraits and landscapes, was there all long. The discovery of archival documents relating to his career have allowed The Medici Archive Project to remedy his absence in art history books. They will present examples of his work publicly for the first time.
Covid-19 Policy:
Note that as of March 7, 2022, Temple Emanu-El will require proof of Covid-19 vaccination + booster, along with valid photo identification. Masks are no longer required but are encouraged and are available to those who request.