Art & Inequality
in the Shadow of the Black Death
Collecting and cataloguing art commissions made by members of different social strata – from paupers to the elite – in Europe from 1225 to 1525, to explore two interrelated fields, economic inequality and cultural history.
Findings
What Catherine left unsaid (but what her spiritual father ultimately revealed)
Since mid-2025, the Art&Inequality project has expanded its research eastward to the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik). The extensive collection of the State Archives, housed in the Sponza Palace, contains over 7,000 testaments that are being studied for the project. One testament from…
A Privileged Peephole into the Past: The Freedom of Married Women?
Santa Maria Novella – Wikipedia The quantitative context: I have just finished coding the photographs of parchment testaments from the Archivio di Stato, Firenze [hereafter ASF] Diplomatico of the famous Florentine Dominican friary, Santa Maria Novella [hereafter SMN]. Their documents reach back…
Homicide with List: A Murder, an Inventory, and this Year Opening Steps for Art & Inequality
This New Year’s post begins with a homicide. Murder of Abel, detail, British Library, Royal 19 D II, f. 10v In March 1389, early in the morning, the notary Giovanni Gini and the second-hand dealer (rigattiere) Romolo Bartolini were sent by…
Events
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Edinburgh University
➛: Edinburgh University5 November 2024 Edinburgh University, The Old CollegeCentre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Lecture series5:15pm, Sydney Smith Lecture Room, Old Medical School Doorway 1 “Art & Inequality in the Shadow of the Black Death: Comparative…
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2nd Annual Meeting, Castle of Santa Severa
➛: 2nd Annual Meeting, Castle of Santa SeveraIntroduction of board, guests, and members of the team Session 1: 9:30 to 10:30 Sam; Team; Board I. Sketch of the challenges and progress over the past year UKRI = outputs II. A principal theme…
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First Annual Meeting, Santa Servolo
➛: First Annual Meeting, Santa ServoloPresentations:Samuel Cohn, “A Year Devoted to Collecting: From the ERC application (2021) to the project’s first birthday”Tamsin Prideaux (RA), “What is art; what is a commission in ourproject?”Anna Reutinger (Artist) “Imaginary reproduction of the lost…
Team
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Samuel K. Cohn, Project Lead
Read more: Samuel K. Cohn, Project LeadDr Samuel K. Cohn holds a PhD in Medieval History from Harvard University (1978) under the supervision of David Herlihy and has taught at Wesleyan…
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Matko Marušić, Research Associate
Read more: Matko Marušić, Research AssociateDr Matko Marušić holds a PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of Zagreb (2019). His work centres on late medieval and early modern art and devotional culture…
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Valentina Costantini, Research Associate
Read more: Valentina Costantini, Research AssociateDr Valentina Costantini holds a PhD in Medieval History from the University of Siena (2013). She has carried out research and teaching activities at the…
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Louisa McKenzie, Research Associate
Read more: Louisa McKenzie, Research AssociateDr Louisa McKenzie holds a PhD in History of Art from the Warburg Institute, University of London (2023). Her work centres on the devotional art…
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Neil McClelland, PhD Candidate
Read more: Neil McClelland, PhD CandidateNeil McClelland holds a first-class MA joint honours degree in History and Italian, and a Master of Research (MRes) degree, both from the University of…
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Adam Linson, Senior Researcher
Read more: Adam Linson, Senior ResearcherDr Adam Linson is a Lecturer (Asst. Prof.) in Computing & Communications at the Open University (UK) with an Arts and Humanities background. He is…
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Aina Palarea, Research Associate (2024-2025)
Read more: Aina Palarea, Research Associate (2024-2025)Dr Aina Palarea holds a PhD in Medieval History from the European University Institute (2023) and two MRes from the same Institute and the University…
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Serena Galasso, Research Associate (2022-2023)
Read more: Serena Galasso, Research Associate (2022-2023)Dr Serena Galasso is a medieval historian specialised in social, economic and gender history. Trained in Italy and France, she studied women’s practical writings in late medieval…
Contact
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