While long overlooked in art historical studies, over the past two decades body hair has emerged as a significant field of research, offering new perspectives on Early Modern visual culture. The presence or absence of body hair serves as an indicator of aesthetic (or artistic) preferences and prevailing social norms specific to certain periods and locations, revealing complex intersections between art and real life. This two-day workshop will take an interdisciplinary approach to exploring body hair in visual culture, focusing on themes such as gender norms, religious symbolism, artistic practices, and cultural variations.

Astrid Van Oyen, Professor of Archaeology at Radboud University, will discuss the archaeological findings from the Marzuolo site in Tuscany, revealing the dramatic turns of rural Roman life, including a failed wine business, a smithy fire, and a potter’s innovations. The lecture also explores archaeological methods and the importance of reconstructing everyday lives in history.

This series explores the relationship between Renaissance art and its modern descendants, examining how contemporary artists engage with historical art to create new meanings. Topics include narration, formal concerns, icons, body symbolism, and gender in portraiture. The lectures aim to highlight the relevance of the past to contemporary art practices, promoting a connected understanding of art across time.

How do representations of marginalized bodies challenge dominant narratives in history? What new realities are revealed about the absence and agency of Black Africans by a more global approach to the 14–17th centuries? The international conference Hidden in Plain Sight, co-hosted by the NIKI and NYU-Florence, will explore a range of interrelated themes, drawing from art history, anthropology, African studies, history, musicology, and other fields. By critically re-examining histories of colonialism and slavery, the event seeks to reshape our understanding of disciplinary boundaries and spark new scholarly debates.

This expert meeting will be based on conversations around drawings. We will bring together historians of art and science who work with early modern drawings. With short presentations of current research objects (drawings of all kinds), we will discuss how drawings on paper were part of a process of observation, thinking, and communicating. We will specifically look at materials involved, the processes used, the subjects depicted and the draughts(wo)men who produced the drawings.

The workshop brings together scholars from various disciplines to discuss the current state of research on architectural exchanges between the Low Countries and Florence at the time of the Renaissance. Focusing on exchanges from North to South, the aim is to improve our understanding of how the intense commercial, artistic, political and military ties with ‘le Fiandre’ have enriched Florence’s architectural culture.