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Diplomatic gifts
In the modern and contemporary eras
02.03 - 03.03.2026
On March 2–3, 2026, the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici will host an international symposium dedicated to diplomatic gifts in the modern and contemporary periods, examined in terms of their definitions, transformations, and processes of heritage-making on a global scale. These “ambassador objects” will be studied in their material, political and symbolic dimensions, as well as in their role in shaping international relations and ritualizing exchanges. The symposium will also include visits to relevant sites and collections, along with a comparison with contemporary practices of protocol exchanges. Adopting polycentric perspectives, the conference encourages cross-views and bilateral or multilateral analysis of the sources.
Call for Contributions
As part of this symposium, a call for papers is open until October 15, 2025. Interested researchers are invited to submit, by 15 October 2025, a contribution proposal (title and abstract of no more than 3,000 characters) accompanied by a brief biographical note (5–10 lines) and their current affiliation. Contributions are particularly welcome, though not exclusively, on broad geographical areas – from the Viceroyalty of New Spain to the Mughal or Chinese courts, from Versailles or Venice to Topkapi or Damascus, from the Oba’s court to that of Portugal – and addressing the definitions, circulation, and uses of diplomatic gifts.
Organizing Committee
- PATRIZIA CELLI, Assistant Lectures and Secretariat Manager, Department of Art History, Archives Coordinator, Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis ;
- ALESSANDRO GALLICCHIO, Director of the Department of Art History, Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis ;
- VALENTINA HRISTOVA, senior lecturer in History of Modern Art, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens;
- NATACHA PERNAC, senior lecturer in History of Modern Art, Université Paris-Nanterre.
Scientific Committee
- LUCIEN BÉLY, professor emeritus of modern history, Paris, Sorbonne University, member of the Institut, Académie des sciences morales et politiques;
- FRANCESCO FREDDOLINI, Associate professor of modern art history, Rome, Sapienza – University of Rome ;
- SERGE GRUZINSKI, Director Emeritus of Historical Research, Paris, CNRS / EHESS ;
- GUIDO GUERZONI, historian and economist, Milan, Luigi Bocconi University ;
- MEI MEI RADO, assistant professor of Textile and Dress History, New York, Bard Graduate Center.
Organized in collaboration with
