Tuscany and the transculturation of Middle Eastern objects

In these seminars I shall consider the phenomenon of transculturation through an art-historical lens. This includes examination of the socio-historical background to the circulation of Middle Eastern artefacts, and the changing positions they occupy in Europe, especially Italy, within a landscape of transculturation. As their agency changes through time, their significance is altered and enriched through the successive layers of interpretation they are subject to. Discussion of a variety of artefacts in different media and locations, with a focus on Tuscany, will illuminate these themes. As a case in point, we shall examine a bronze aquamanile in the shape of a falcon that was transformed into a cockerel weather-vane once in Lucca.