Descripción del proyecto
MARS-I STANDS FOR MULIERES&ARS I: ART AND POWER IN NOBLEWOMENS CORRESPONDENCE (SPAIN AND ITALY, 16TH CENTURY), IT IS AN INNOVATIVE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROJECT THAT AIMS TO STUDY AND REASSESS THE ROLES THAT NOBLEWOMEN PLAYED IN THE ARTISTIC, CULTURAL AND POWER NETWORKS THROUGH THEIR CORRESPONDENCE, A QUITE NEGLECTED AND UNDERUSED PRIMARY SOURCE, AT LEAST IN SPAIN, IN EARLY MODERN ART HISTORY, CULTURAL HISTORY AND COURT STUDIES,TWO KEY CONCEPTS OF WOMENS AND GENDER STUDIES ARE AT THE CORE OF MARS-I: AGENCY (TAKEN FROM SOCIOLOGY) AND VISIBILITY, ON THE ONE HAND, AT THE CROSSROADS OF ART HISTORY, HISTORY AND LITERATURE, THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROJECT WILL ANALYSE NOBLEWOMENS CORRESPONDENCE TO EXPLORE THEIR ARTISTIC, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL AGENCY, WHY CORRESPONDENCE? BECAUSE, DURING THE 16TH CENTURY, NOBLEWOMENS LETTERS MAPPED A WORLD WHERE POLITICS, BUSINESS, ART AND FAMILY LIFE INTERTWINED, PRIOR TO THE MODERN SEPARATION OF THESE ISSUES INTO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPHERES, ART WORKS AND LETTERS WERE POWERFUL TOOLS LARGELY AND ACTIVELY USED BY NOBLEWOMEN TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR PRIVILEGED STATUS, TO PRESENT AND ESTABLISH THEMSELVES AS CULTURAL AND POLITICAL INTERMEDIARIES, TO ELICIT POLITICAL INFLUENCE AND TO CREATE AND MAINTAIN ARTISTIC AND SOCIAL PATRONAGE NETWORKS, FURTHERMORE, ARTWORKS AND LETTERS WERE COMPLEX CULTURAL ARTIFACTS THAT HELPED NOBLEWOMEN BECOME VISIBLE OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSEHOLDS AND EVEN BEYOND THEIR BORDERS, ON THE OTHER HAND, MARS-I IS COMMITTED TO MAKING SURE THAT WOMEN ARE VISIBLE IN HISTORY AND TO CHANGING THE WAYS THEY HAVE BEEN REPRESENTED, CHALLENGING THE MALE EXPERIENCE AS UNIVERSAL, IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS, AN INTERACTIVE DIGITAL PLATFORM DUBBED MARS WILL BE CREATED FACILITATING ACCESS TO TRANSCRIBED ARCHIVAL RECORDS CONTAINING RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE ROLES PLAYED BY NOBLEWOMEN IN THE ARTS, ART\POWER\GENDER\NOBLEWOMEN\CORRESPONDENCE\EARLY MODERN\SPAIN\ITALY\DIGITAL HUMANITIES