Eighteenth-Century Italian Art and Artists in Global Contexts

Sponsored by the Italian Art Society

This session invites papers that consider the work of eighteenth-century Italian artists and artists living in Italy, in the context of newly available trans-cultural influences and sources of visual and material culture. As curiosity about the wider world exploded, the eighteenth-century witnessed global movements of materials, techniques and makers to a larger extent than ever before. Tourists and artists travelled to Italy and visited academies, monuments, museums and private collections, while Italian artists travelled outside Italian borders to test new art markets and gain patrons. Characterized by voyages of exploration, new technologies, scientific discoveries, political upheaval and nascent industrialization, the cross-cultural encounters taking place between individuals at that time, along with the mobility of commodities and ideas, prompted artists to experiment with new subject matter and visual languages within and outside of the Italian peninsula. 

Moving beyond isolated narratives, this panel aims to broaden scholarly perspectives by focusing on Italian encounters—real or imagined—with other populations throughout the world to study how those exchanges were expressed through visual and material cultures, including painting, sculpture, print, design, architecture and decorative arts. We invite a broad range of 20-minute papers, particularly addressing topics such as: spaces of exchange, Indigenous knowledge, social networks, colonial encounters and the construction of an exotic consciousness, Grand Tour travel, collections, collectors and patronage, global religious encounters, commercial interests, new media and materials.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Arlene Leis, Independent Scholar, aleis914@gmail.com

Miriam Al Jamil, Independent Scholar, mauvemiriam@gmail.com