Inventing Past Narratives: Venice and the Adriatic Space (13th-15th centuries)

This conference aims to explore the dialogue between Venice and the centres of the Adriatic area from a specific perspective, that of the construction of the past. We would like to create a dialogue between specialists from various disciplines and also examine the validity of interdisciplinary approaches (textual and visual, material, and historiographic). The chronological and geographical perspective chosen covers the late Middle Ages and the early modern age and focuses on the interaction between Venice and other centres in the Adriatic space. This will enable us to describe how the past is used to explore the mechanism of memory and recognition through which, when looking at artefacts or reading texts staging the Venetian past, beholders are reminded of the shared values this past embodies.