The Art of Diplomacy: Cross-Cultural Exchange in France, c. 1660-1860
(Seminar) FINH-GA 3033-001
Meredith Martin
Spring 2015

This seminar explores the dynamic relationship among art, diplomacy and global exchange in France from the reign of Louis XIV to the mid-nineteenth century. By closely studying diplomatic embassies sent to France from different parts of Europe as well as the Ottoman Empire, Persia, North Africa, and Southeast Asia, we examine the bidirectional impact that these encounters had on art and culture, science and technology, economic and colonial policies, politics, and identity. Central to our approach will be the idea that art objects—among them images of ambassadors and diplomatic gifts such as porcelain, lacquer, and textiles—played an active role in mediating diplomatic relations and in communicating the desires, ambitions, and beliefs of their makers and consumers. In addition to analyzing specific historical encounters, in the first half of the semester we consider broader issues related to the topic of art and diplomacy, among them ceremonial protocol and performance, gift-giving, and the rhetoric of the diplomatic image.