Madeline Delbé

Madeline Delbé is a doctoral student in art history at the Universities of Bonn, Florence and Paris-Sorbonne (Paris-IV), where she is affiliated with the international doctoral school European Founding Myths in Literature, Art and Music. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and English Studies from the University of Trier, a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of Bonn and a bi-national Master’s degree in Renaissance Studies from the Universities of Bonn and Florence. Her PhD project was supported by grants from the University of Bonn, the Franco-German University, the German Center for Art History Paris – DFK Paris, and the Warburg Institute in London. Since 2015, she has been a project collaborator in the rare book section of the library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max Planck Institute.

Practices of entanglement. Mediating art, knowledge and trade between Florence and Flanders in the early modern era (1550 – 1680) The thesis project focuses on the mobility of Flemish and Italian artists in the late 16th and 17th centuries, examining the cultural and artistic dynamics between Florence and Antwerp during this period. By identifying and linking the sites of artistic interrelations and mediation between artists, patrons, artistic centers and mediators such as merchants or diplomats, the thesis project analyzes artistic production and transfer between Florence and Flanders, as well as the commercial and cultural network linked to art. In doing so, it aims to investigate what types of transfer were taking place between these two metropolises in the early modern period, and whether this can be defined as a distinctive phenomenon, transferable to parallel artistic dynamics in Europe at the time.