Currently seeking papers for a session exploring the potential of historic libraries – whether intended explicitly for the study of art or not – to deepen and broaden our understanding of art historiography and its relationship to social, intellectual and geo-political currents. Libraries significant for these purposes include those of Count Leopoldo Cicognara and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which survive largely intact, and others that survive partially or in inventory form, such as those of John Ruskin or Stanisław Kostka Potocki. Count Cicognara's library, for example, offers a view of the history and geography of art available to scholars at a key moment for shifting geopolitical conceptualizations of his country and Europe as a whole. President of the Venetian Academy of Art when Venice shifted from Napoleonic French to Habsburg Austrian control, he wished his library to contribute to Italy's ability to compete with other nations for greatness through cultural eminence. But his collection, like others of its day, reflects more than patriotism. It underlines his effort to define an inchoate discipline through a wide spectrum of printed materials and demonstrates his active participation in art historical debates and connections with artists and arts administrators in Italy and beyond. Papers that examine any aspect of the historiography of art in relation to this or to other historic libraries will be welcomed.

Please send proposals for a paper including title, abstract (250 words maximum) and CV to Dr. Jeanne-Marie Musto ([email protected]).