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20. A 1546 Christmas List
By Ellie Doran (@Elena_Doran) The Mediceo del Principato is a collection of over four million letters from the Medici court, dating from 1537 to 1743.[1] The collection has survived ‘virtually intact’ and now occupies a mile of shelf space at the Archivio di Stato di Firenze (State Archives of Florence).These letters are fascinating sources, offering insight into the personal and…
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22. A Hand-Coloured Fashion Print
By Marlo Avidon (@MarloAvidon) In the nearly two centuries between the decline of the sixteenth-century costume book and the rise of the late eighteenth and nineteenth-century fashion plate, the late seventeenth century experienced a brief resurgence in printing images of contemporary dress. Created almost exclusively in France and either depicting ambiguous, unnamed mannequins known only…
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23. Perhaps the Most Famous New Year’s Gift in Science
By Floris Winckel It’s the season of gift-giving. Some of you might be cash-strapped or lost for ideas of what to give (or indeed both). In December 1610, Johannes Kepler, imperial mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor and one of the most renowned intellectual figures of early modern Europe, found himself in exactly this position.…
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24. Birthday Candles for Good Luck – A Look at Georges de la Tour’s Chiaroscuro
by Tiffany Laloy At the height of Counter-Reformation France in the XVIIth century, Baroque art was in part used as a tool to promote the Catholic faith and to inspire and impress the masses.[1] And whilst the extravagance and opulence of some of these religious paintings did indeed arouse emotion and religious fervor, Georges de…
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In Defense of Anachronism: A Historian’s Perspective
By Marlo Avidon (@MarloAvidon) Sitting in my first year of undergrad, I remember the stern admonishment of my seminar leader prepping us for the submission of our coursework: anachronism doesn’t belong in the study of history. As historians, there is a constant expectation to maintain distance from the figures we study and to be constantly…
doinghistoryinpublic.org 