Sean Nelson

Predoctoral Research Fellow

University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Residence: April 1 - April 30, 2012

Profile

Sean Nelson is a PhD candidate in the Art History Department of the University of Southern California. His project “Antonio de’ Medici and the Art of Alchemy” addresses the intersections between artistic production and alchemical investigation at the court of the Grand Duchy of Florence in the early seicento. Observing recipes found in several “Books of Secrets” written by the Medici prince, Don Antonio de’ Medici, this project examines how the processes of glassmaking and the production of colored pigments fit within the larger art of alchemy. Sean’s broader research interests include the history of artistic innovation under the Grand Duchy, and the manner in which certain falsified histories (such as Giorgio Vasari’s history of intaglio printmaking in Le Vite) promoted the virtues of the Medici state.