Ugo Monneret de Villard (Milan 1881–Rome 1954) devoted his life to the study of artistic interchange between the Christian and Islamic cultures of the medieval world. Born in a recently unified Italy, his life and career were set against the backdrop of historical events and disruptions, such as the two world wars and the rise and fall of the Fascist regime. Monneret’s multifaceted profile will be outlined based on unpublished documents and correspondence, as well as on the critical analysis of his extensive publications. The life, work and travels of this eclectic scholar, illustrated by his extraordinary photographic archives, will thus become a lens on Italian cultural history, among nationalism, colonialism, and Orientalism.

Silvia Armando is the Italian Fellow in medieval studies at the American Academy in Rome.

The shoptalk will be held in English.