Organized by Elizabeth Fazzare, NYU Florence Student 

“[It is] a structure so immense, so steeply rising toward the sky, that it covers all Tuscans with its shadow.” - Leon Battista Alberti on Filippo Brunelleschi’s 1434 dome of La Basilica di Santa Maria dei Fiori, De pictura, 1435

Florence is famed around the world as the historic birthplace of the Renaissance. From the 14th to 16th centuries, Italy flourished in a variety of scientific, cultural, and artistic pursuits whose influences changed the world in which we live, influencing both modernity and contemporary society. Still today, Italian and foreign tourists flock to Florence to see the fruits of the Renaissance in its art and architecture. Its contemporary art scene, however, is another story. Since the 2012 demise of Ex3 Toscana Contemporanea, the City of Florence provides partial funding to just one contemporary art institution. Recently, several private galleries have sprung up in the historic center and outskirts; but, in proportion to the 1.875 million visitors who viewed the Renaissance works of the Uffizi Museum last year, public visibility is scarce. With a group of voices from both the practical and cultural spheres of the art world, this roundtable conversation will explore the shape of the contemporary art scene in Florence and its relationship with Renaissance art tourism. Are contemporary Florentine artists shadowed by their city’s Renaissance heritage?