Emanuel Lugli
Stanford University

The Erasures of Measurement
During the Renaissance, measurement was celebrated for its role in fostering political unity, promoting fairness in the marketplace, improving warfare, and even creating a sense of connection with both the past and the future. In stark contrast, this discussion explores the often overlooked manipulations and distorting aspects of measurement, which should often be viewed as a flexible and even creative process, rather than an objective quantification of the world.

Emanuele Lugli, Stanford University, specializes in the study of medieval and early modern Italian art, architecture, fashion, and cartography. He is particularly interested in measurement practices, having authored three books on the subject: Unità di misura: Breve storia del metro in Italia (Bologna 2014); The Making of Measure and the Promise of Sameness (Chicago 2019); and Measuring in the Renaissance: An Introduction (Cambridge 2023). He also researches questions of scale and the clouds of knowledge that cross seemingly disparate disciplines. His latest publication, Knots, or the Violence of Desire in Renaissance Florence (Chicago 2023), explores how hair evolved into a repository of moral and erotic ideals during the time of the painter Sandro Botticelli.

Tuesday, January 23, 12:15 pm
38 West 86th Street, Lecture Hall

Lunch will be served starting at noon. Registration required.