AHA Session 127
German Studies Association 2
Society for Italian Historical Studies 3
Society for Reformation Research 2
German Studies Association 2
Society for Italian Historical Studies 3
Society for Reformation Research 2
Friday, January 8, 2027: 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Studio 9 (New Orleans Marriott, 2nd Floor)
Chair:
Stefania Tutino, University of California, Los Angeles
Papers:
Session Abstract
This panel, the second in a series, provides case studies of how Italians reacted to the 1527 Sack of Rome, both in its immediate aftermath and over the next several decades. William Connell explores how both Machiavelli’s writings (which he was arranging for publication in the spring of 1527) and the Sack served as caesuras in the European consciousness. Elena Cavillo examines how the artist Giulio Clovio’s account of the Sack contributed to his defense of the centrality of cult images, most particularly the image of the Madonna Grande at Santa Maria Maggiore, Treviso. Finally, Nicholas Baker considers how Florentine merchants included responses to the Sack in their business letters, interpolating their assessments of currents events into their more personal and immediate concerns. In short, the panel explores the Sack not just as a catastrophic event but as one that impacted how Italians thought about history and political theory, icons and their veneration, and their own daily business.