Description
This book is the first full-length study of the Nova Reperta (New Discoveries), a renowned series of prints designed by Johannes Stradanus during the late 1580s in Florence. Reproductions of the prints, essays, conversations from a scholarly symposium, and catalogue entries complement a Newberry Library exhibition that tells the story of the design, conception, and reception of Stradanus's engravings.
Renaissance Invention: Stradanus's 'Nova Reperta' seeks to understand why certain inventions or novelties were represented in the series and how that presentation reflected and fostered their adoption in the sixteenth century. What can Stradanus's prints tell us about invention and cross-cultural encounter in the Renaissance? What was considered 'new' in the era? Who created change and technological innovation?
Through images of group activities and interactions in workshops, Stradanus's prints emphasize the importance of collaboration in the creation of new things, dispelling traditional notions of individual genius. The series also dismisses the assumption that the revival of the wonders of the ancient world in Italy was the catalyst for transformation. In fact, the Latin captions on the prints explain how contemporary inventions surpass those of the ancients. Together, word and image foreground the global nature of invention and change in the early modern period even as they promote specifically Florentine interests and activities.
About the Author
Lia Markey is the director of the Center of Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library.
Reviews
Lia Markey has assembled an excellent team of scholars to guide us through a close, careful, and well contextualized reading of Johannes Stradanus's series of prints from the late 1580s known as the Nova Reperta, some of the most evocative and emblematic images of the early modern era." - Paula Findlen, author of Empires of Knowledge: Scientific Networks in the Early Modern World
Book Information
ISBN 9780810142022
Author Lia Markey
Format Paperback
Page Count 268
Imprint Northwestern University Press
Publisher Northwestern University Press
Weight(grams) 1100g
Renaissance Invention: Stradanus's 'Nova Reperta' seeks to understand why certain inventions or novelties were represented in the series and how that presentation reflected and fostered their adoption in the sixteenth century. What can Stradanus's prints tell us about invention and cross-cultural encounter in the Renaissance? What was considered 'new' in the era? Who created change and technological innovation?
Through images of group activities and interactions in workshops, Stradanus's prints emphasize the importance of collaboration in the creation of new things, dispelling traditional notions of individual genius. The series also dismisses the assumption that the revival of the wonders of the ancient world in Italy was the catalyst for transformation. In fact, the Latin captions on the prints explain how contemporary inventions surpass those of the ancients. Together, word and image foreground the global nature of invention and change in the early modern period even as they promote specifically Florentine interests and activities.
About the Author
Lia Markey is the director of the Center of Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library.
Reviews
Lia Markey has assembled an excellent team of scholars to guide us through a close, careful, and well contextualized reading of Johannes Stradanus's series of prints from the late 1580s known as the Nova Reperta, some of the most evocative and emblematic images of the early modern era." - Paula Findlen, author of Empires of Knowledge: Scientific Networks in the Early Modern World
Book Information
ISBN 9780810142022
Author Lia Markey
Format Paperback
Page Count 268
Imprint Northwestern University Press
Publisher Northwestern University Press
Weight(grams) 1100g
