Madrid - Spain
The International Conference “Mediterranean Gothic: Networks, Artists and Forms between Italy and Spain 1320-1420” was launched at the Prado National Museum in the Spanish capital, Madrid, with the participation of researchers and specialists in the history of art. Its sessions will continue until September 11.

How did art move across the medium?

The conference focuses on the movement of artists, works and artistic styles between Italy and the Iberian Peninsula during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and on the influence that the Italian “Trecento” art models had on shaping Spanish art during the late Middle Ages.

Participants also discuss the role played by trade routes, diplomacy, and religious institutions in the transmission of images, techniques, and artists between the two shores of the Mediterranean, and how Spanish artists reinterpreted Italian influences and transformed them into new local styles.

An extension of the large gallery in the Prado

The conference comes as an extension of the exhibition hosted by the Prado Museum entitled “In the Italian Way... Spain and the Mediterranean in the Late Gothic Age 1320-1420,” which reviews the influence of Italian art on the visual culture of the Spanish kingdoms during that historical stage.
The exhibition includes various works, including paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, jewelry, embroidery, textiles, and luxury works, in an attempt to rebuild the network of cultural and artistic exchange that linked Mediterranean cities about six centuries ago.

Madrid strengthens its cultural presence

The event adds a new dimension to the cultural tourism agenda in Madrid, as it combines academic research with a visit to one of the most famous museums in the world, and gives visitors an opportunity to understand the works on display through a broader context that tells how Mediterranean routes transported art and ideas alongside trade and travellers.

The conference represents a model for using major museums as platforms that not only display heritage, but also re-present it as a cultural story capable of attracting researchers and visitors and enhancing the status of cities as destinations for art tourism.