Objects, Spaces and Material Culture. Gender and Politics in Early Modern European Republics (Venice, Genova, XV-XVIII centuries)

Project Information

OSpaMa

Grant agreement ID: 101109269

DOI

10.3030/101109269

EC signature date 13 April 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2026

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 288 859,20

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI VERONA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OSpaMa (Objects, Spaces and Material Culture. Gender and Politics in Early Modern European Republics (Venice, Genova, XV-XVIII centuries))

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project OSPaMa – Objects, Spaces and Material Culture: Gender and Politics in Early Modern European Republics (Venice and Genoa, 15th–18th centuries) addresses a major historiographical gap in the study of early modern republics. Traditional political history has relied primarily on institutional and normative sources that privilege male actors, thereby reinforcing the idea that women played no meaningful role in republican systems such as Venice and Genoa.

This project challenges that assumption by shifting the focus from formal political documentation to material culture—objects, clothing, jewels, domestic interiors, ceremonial spaces, and visual representations—as alternative sources for reconstructing women’s presence and influence in spaces of power.

The overall objectives are:

- to develop an interdisciplinary methodological framework combining written, visual, and material sources, supported by Digital Humanities tools;

- to reassess the role of dogaresse and the wives of Procurators, ambassadors, and other republican leaders, investigating how they exercised agency through material display, networks, and spatial proximity to power;

- to refine key conceptual categories such as public/private and formal/informal power in early modern political culture.

By integrating Early Modern History, Gender Studies, Material Culture, and Digital Humanities, the project demonstrates how humanities research can offer new perspectives on political authority, visibility, and gendered power in European historical contexts.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the reporting period, the project progressed substantially in its scientific and technical components.

Extensive archival research was carried out in Venice (Archivio di Stato di Venezia) and in other relevant archives (Verona, Mantua, Florence, Vatican Apostolic Archive). The Venetian corpus has been systematically collected and catalogued, and the main female profiles under study have been completed. The Genoese component is at an initial stage and will be developed in the next phase.

Iconographic and material sources were also collected and analyzed, strengthening the integration of written, visual, and material evidence.

A key achievement has been the consolidation of an interdisciplinary methodological framework combining historical research, material culture analysis, and Digital Humanities tools. Research data have been structured within the OCHRE database (University of Chicago), ensuring systematic documentation and digital integration of heterogeneous sources. Training in database architecture, GIS, and network analysis reinforced the methodological robustness of the project.

Overall, the project has established a solid empirical base, refined its methodological approach, and remains fully aligned with its original objectives.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project advances beyond the current state of the art by challenging the established view that women were politically irrelevant in early modern republican systems due to their exclusion from formal office.

By systematically integrating written, visual, and material sources within a structured digital framework, the project demonstrates how material culture can reveal informal forms of influence and proximity to power that remain invisible in traditional institutional history.

The combination of Gender Studies, Material Culture analysis, and Digital Humanities (database structuring, spatial and relational tools) offers a transferable methodological model applicable to other contexts where women are under-represented in written sources.

Further development will include expansion of the comparative analysis (notably the Genoese component) and continued consolidation of the digital corpus.

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