The Power of Luxury - Italian Art and Culture in Machiavelli's Lifetime

The following post has been designed as a user-friendly interface, creating a digital compilation of a conference held at the University of Melbourne in February 2013: The Power of Luxury - Art and Culture at the Italian Courts in Machiavelli’s Lifetime.

The Australian Institute of Art History (AIAH) posted videos of many of the conference presentations online, although there was little promotion of this content outside of academic circles. By creating this access point, readers can access all content relevant to each individual presentation - including abstracts, presentation videos and livetweets (when available). As first trialled during my coverage of the Prado Late Raphael Symposium (link), livetweets have been included to capture some of the audience reaction to the talks as they were presented. In this instance, livetweets were  provided by conference attendees, including myself, with realtime interaction observed with twitter followers from Australia, the US and UK.  The combined stream of tweets can be seen at the Storify link in sources (listed below).

This new format also creates an opportunity for readers/viewers to discuss individual talks in a moderated environment - a feature presently not available on the AIAH website or its YouTube page.

There is something for everyone in the wonderful presentations listed below, with talks on art, literature, music, military history, fashion and cultural tourism. Use the visual links below to navigate, and enjoy the content, courtesy of the AIAH and its sponsors.

I would be interested to hear what readers think about this type of presentation format and whether they would like to see more conferences presented in this manner. 

Annalisa Zanni Objects of Luxury as Expressions of Power in the Renaissance Courts of Italy	Andrea Rizzi Machiavelli before Machiavelli: The Prince in Quattrocento Italian Courts	Francesco Borghesi Machiavelli's Love	Miguel Vatter Machiavelli & Divine Providence: Towards a New Reading of Chapter 26
Antonella Capitanio The Goldsmith’s Art for the Pope: The Tiara for Julius II and Other XVI Century Precious Objects	Chiara Buss Silk Art & Technology in the Service of the Sforza Dukes	Lucia Meoni Allegories, Symbols & Court Representations in the Early Production of Medici Tapestry Works	June di Schino The Power of Sweetness: Sugar Sculpture in Italian Court Banquets
Renato Meucci Musical Instruments in the Italian Renaissance Courts	John Griffiths Pietrobono & his Followers: Lutenist Improvisors & Unwritten Musical Practice in Italian Courts	Carl Villis Apart from the Courts: Correggio, Parma & NGV’s Madonna & Child with Infant St. John	Alessandro della Latta 'Imprese' as Disguised Portrait of the Prince
Robert Gaston “Smitten thro’ the Helm”: the Ruler & the Helmet in 16th Century Europe	Christopher Marshall Vintage Violence: Exhibiting Armour, from the Power of the Prince to the Dynamism of the Museum	Jaynie Anderson The Venetian Festivals of the “Compagnie delle Calze” as inspiration for a Prince	Massimo Ciavolella The Renaissance Prince & the Political Use of Theatre
Catherine Kovesi Luxury in the Renaissance? Origins of a Paradigm	Peter Howard Creating Magnificence in Renaissance Florence	Peter McNeil Italy Design World Centre: from the Linea Italiana to the Made in Italy	Marxiano Melotti Luxury and Leisure: Past and Future

Sources
Australian Institute of Art History website link
Storify tweetstream of conference coverage. Compiled by Hasan Niyazi link
Image: Massacre of the Innocents (detail). Workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aelst. Via wikimedia commons link