The Medici Archive Project (MAP) is an independent research institute whose aim is to preserve and valorize the archives of the Medici dynasty, which comprise over fifteen million documents (many of them are featured in the MIA DATABASE). MAP also serves as a major academic hub for scholars and students worldwide in the field of Italian Renaissance and early modern studies.
In her latest work, Dopfel argues that representations of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood responded to contemporary concerns about fertility, population decline, infant survival, and the continuation of families and lineages. Dopfel places these images within the broader politics of reproduction, showing how private concerns surrounding marriage, conception, birth, and maternal health intersected with civic and political anxieties about the demographic future of the city. Combining art history with demographic, social, medical, and reproductive history, the book considers a wide range of visual and material evidence, from images of the pregnant Virgin and the Nativity to objects associated with childbirth and the domestic sphere.
In her latest work, Dopfel argues that representations of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood responded to contemporary concerns about fertility, population decline, infant survival, and the continuation of families and lineages. Dopfel places these images within the broader politics of reproduction, showing how private concerns surrounding marriage, conception, birth, and maternal health intersected with civic and political anxieties about the demographic future of the city. Combining art history with demographic, social, medical, and reproductive history, the book considers a wide range of visual and material evidence, from images of the pregnant Virgin and the Nativity to objects associated with childbirth and the domestic sphere.
Individuals who join Friends of MAP share in the thrill of historical discovery thanks to special experiences reserved just for them, including the MAP Forum (our online lecture series), and a host of other features such as weekly free lessons in reading Italian documents called “Friday Lunch Letters.”
