A lecture by Gastòn Javier Basile
Gastòn Javier Basile tells stories of the Medici involvement with South America from his research in the Medici Archives.
Without harbouring imperialist ambitions, the Medici treasured experiences and foreign objects from the non-European world, gathered from their commercial agents, patronage systems, and cabinets of curiosities. Travel accounts and the hoarding of exotica were the hallmark of the Medici's engagement with the New World. Their interest in the unexplored southern cone of the American continent in particular was informed by travellers’ tales, such as those of the celebrated adventurer Francesco Carletti, which inspired Ferdinand I's short-lived attempt to found a Tuscan settlement.
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This lecture is sponsored by Bernadette Delaney