Women of the Sky: From Muses to Scientists
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Sala Dante (via Magliabechi 2)
8 March – 8 June 2024
This exhibition focuses on the role of women in astronomical research and on the female images that most frequently recur in representations of the cosmos from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century.
Drawing on the rich holdings of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence, this exhibition presents scientific, literary and cartographic works that reveal the presence of female protagonists and/or authors in texts marked by the association between women and the celestial spheres. Part of the exhibition is devoted to astronomical themes presented in the so-called ‘querelle des femmes,’ i.e. in works arguing for intellectual and social equality between men and women. The texts from the National Library are presented in dialogue with scientific instruments from the Museo Galileo and private collections, and in conversation with astronomy-inspired artwork. An integral part of the exhibition are in fact The Variables of the Swan—a series of seven monumental canvases by the artist Ilaria Margutti inspired by Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s studies.
The exhibition, curated by Natacha Fabbri, Caterina Guiducci, and Simona Mammana, has been conceived by Museo Galileo and is co-organized with the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence.
The exhibition includes a programme of satellite events organized in collaboration with Opera di Santa Croce, Museo Horne, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri and Associazione Culturale La Nottola di Minerva.
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