The World of Renowned Historian Arnaldo Momigliano

CIMA, the Center for Italian Modern Art along with the Centro Primo Levi New York teamed up to organize an event dedicated to one of the most distinguished intellectuals of the 20th century in the fields of ancient and modern history, Arnaldo Momigliano. CIMA was founded by Laura Mattiolo and Heather Ewing in 2013 and is a public nonprofit exhibition and research center that aims to promote the study of contemporary Italian art all over the globe. They are excited to put together this unique program that explores the work of one of Italy's most prominent historians. 

The historian Arnaldo Momigliano made great contributions to academia

Professor Anthony Grafton will be speaking at the event

Carlo Ginzburg will also be commenting on the influence of Momigliano

A scene from the seminar "Models of Social Change in History and Anthropology (1976)", funded by the Social Science Research Council of the U.K. held in Cambridge in March 1977 with Arnaldo Momigliano

Momigliano was born in 1908 in the region of Piedmont and later in his life, went on to work as a Professor of Roman History at the University of Turin. However, because of the Racial Laws that were put into effect after the Fascist regime took control in 1938, he was forced to leave the country since he was Jewish. He moved to England and would remain there until his death in 1987. During his long scholarly career, he taught at major academic institutions such as Oxford University, University College London, University of Chicago, and the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. He is well known because his studies are essential to contemporary debates regarding religion, politics, and how we understand historical events. 

This special event at CIMA celebrates the first anniversary of the print edition of Tablet magazine, whose first issue featured a long essay on Arnaldo Momigliano by Anthony Grafton. Grafton is one of the speakers who works at the Henry Putnam University Professor of History at the prestigious Princeton University. His main focus is on the cultural history of Renaissance Europe but he is currently working on a large-scale study that traces the science of chronology in 16th and 17th century Europe. He has also written many prize-winning books on similar topics and was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989. 

The other guest that will be talking with Grafton is Carlo Ginzburg who is a notable Italian historian in the field of microhistory. This means he intensively examines smaller units of research such as a specific individual or town. He is best known for his book “The Cheese and the Worms” which investigates the life a man who worked as a miller in the tiny village of Montereale during the 16th century. The subject is famous for being burnt at the stake for heresy by the Inquisition in 1599. Ginzburg’s scholarly work delves into this man’s turbulent life as a way to better understand cultural history as well as the history of mentalities. 

Together, Anthony Grafton and Carlo Ginzburg will discuss the substantial work of Arnaldo Momigliano and his overwhelming influence on issues that are still relevant today. In addition to this conversation, don't miss the chance to see the annual art installation that CIMA hosts which will be on display until June 2017. This year's installation is a joint exhibition featuring the work of Italy's most celebrated living artists, Giorgio de Chirico and Giulio Paolini.