Contending Representations III : Questioning Republicanism in Early Modern Genoa

Several studies have been devoted to the flowering of the republic of Genoa during the so-called 'siglo de los Genoveses', when Genoa became the hub of European trade and an important center of artistic and literary production. Yet, little attention has been granted to the political and cultural crisis that followed, starting in 1559 and culminating in 1684, when the French bombed Genoa. Addressing this chronological gap, the volume explores how the image of the Genoese Republic was shaped, exploited, or contested in the long seventeenth century. How did Genoese politicians and men of letters represent their homeland? How was Genoa represented in Spain or in the Low Countries? How was its political system conceived by Italian and foreign political writers, and how did the prevailing absolutist model influence such ideas? In order to answer these questions, the volume gathers contributions from art historians, literary scholars, political and cultural historians, thus adopting a comparative, multidisciplinary approach that has never been applied to the matter before.