Are Comparisons Odious?
Re-examining Renaissance Florence and Venice

"No contrast can be imagined stronger than that which is offered us by these two (Florence and Venice), and neither can be compared to anything else which the world had hitherto produced."

Despite obvious and myriad differences presented by the "city of incessant movement" and "the city of apparent stagnation", Jacob Burckhardt recognized the value in comparing Florence and Venice, two exceptional Renaissance republics, economic hubs and centers of cultural diffusion. Yet much current scholarship on these cities tends to consider them largely in isolation rather than in relationship to one another. Following Paula Findlen's recent characterization of Italy as a "comparative laboratory", this panel is designed to examine the methodologies and value of comparison by presenting papers from a variety of disciplines that focus on diverse points of intersection and common experience in these two famous cities of the Renaissance.

Please submit abstracts of approximately 150 words via e-mail attachment to Holly Hurlburt, Department of History, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (hurlburt@siu.edu) and Julia DeLancey, Department of Art History, Truman State University (delancey@truman.edu) by May 10, 2004.