The Global Baroque: European Material Culture between Conquest, Trade and Mission, 1600–1750

British Academy Conferences bring together scholars from around the world to present, discuss and consolidate new research in the humanities and social sciences.

The period of Western art history known as “the Baroque” has traditionally been interpreted as a stylistic phenomenon. However, artistic production in Europe circa 1600–1750 was enabled by a proto-industrial world system dominated by Spain and Portugal, the Netherlands and later Britain. As a result, material culture became entangled in networks of trade, colonial rule and Catholic global mission stretching from Naples to Nagasaki. This conference will broaden perspectives on the Baroque, embracing its transcontinental and multi-media character. By culturally decentring Europe and with materiality a special focus, the programme will recast the continent as a constituent part of an expanding artistic world driven by war, the exploitation of ecosystems and the first information technology revolution. Bringing together scholars and museum curators from the UK and internationally, the conference will demonstrate how objects can offer intimate insights into global histories often characterised by vast, impersonal economic forces.

Conference convenors

• Dr Adam Sammut, University of York
• Dr Tomasz Grusiecki, Boise State University
• Dr Richard McClary, University of York

Speakers

• Dr Vitali Byl, University of Bonn
• Dr Lorenzo Gatta, Università della Svizzera italiana
• Professor Emerita Christine Göttler, University of Bern
• Dr Anna Grasskamp, University of Oslo
• Ms Emily Hannam, V&A Museum
• Professor Aaron Hyman, University of Basel
• Dr Elsje van Kessel, University of St Andrews
• Professor Lorenzo Pericolo, Florida State University
• Professor Stephanie Porras, Tulane University
• Dr Robyn Radway, Central European University
• Dr Sugata Ray, University of California, Berkeley
• Dr Ünver Rüstem, Johns Hopkins University
• Professor Angela Vanhaelen, McGill University
• Dr Ruth Sargent Noyes, National Museum of Denmark
• Dr Matthew Walker, Queen Mary University of London
• Professor Thijs Weststijn, Utrecht University

Further information

Registration will open shortly.

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Image credit: Japanese, Arrival of the Europeans, first quarter of the 17th century. Ink, colour, gold and gold leaf on paper, 105.1 × 260.7 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015.