The Looting of Artworks in the Wake of the Italian Wars (1494–1559): The Case of Rome and Its Collections

Francesco Guidi

Knife Grinder (also known as the Scythian), 2nd century AD, marble from Asia Minor, 105 cm (height). Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi, inv. 1914 n. 230. Photo: https://www.uffizi.it/opere/arrotino — *Knife Grinder* (also known as the *Scythian*), 2nd century AD, marble from Asia Minor, 105 cm (height). Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi, inv. 1914 n. 230. Photo: https://www.uffizi.it/opere/arrotino

*Knife Grinder* (also known as the *Scythian*), 2nd century AD, marble from Asia Minor, 105 cm (height). Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi, inv. 1914 n. 230. Photo: https://www.uffizi.it/opere/arrotino

The project undertook a comprehensive excavation of Roman collections to tackle the acquisition, gifting, sale, display, and reuse of objects illicitly obtained during and after the Italian wars. It examined the impact of plunder on the history and configuration of Roman collections, considered in their layered role as both sources and recipients of looted objects. This research shed new light on well-known events like the 1527 Sack of Rome and its aftermath around Italy and Europe, exploring cases of plundering as well as episodes in which looting was prevented.
I have also carried out a large survey of the contemporary sources concerning sacks from the end of the fifteenth century to the first half of the seventeenth century, focusing on the events that took place in Florence (1495), in Rome (1526 and 1527), and in Mantua (1630). I have considered how major political shifts, not necessarily depending on military activities, such as the Devolution of Ferrara in 1598, triggered the movement of artworks both to and away from Rome, listing some notable cases. At the same time, the project looked beyond painting and sculpture galleries into material culture more broadly, considering militaria and ethnographic objects, as well as devotional items.