An exhibition at Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, open from 9 October 2026 to 9 January 2027
From 9 October 2026 to 9 January 2027, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence will host: "Global Florence: The World of Francesco Carletti, c. 1573-1636", an exhibition exploring the early modern world through the remarkable travels of Florentine merchant Francesco Carletti, one of the first Europeans to circumnavigate the globe at the turn of the seventeenth century.
Curated by scholars from the European University Institute, Stanford University, Syracuse University, the University of Warwick and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, the exhibition brings together 69 objects, including manuscripts, maps, navigational instruments, textiles, artworks, and rare books.
Tracing Carletti's journey across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, the exhibition reveals Florence as a global hub of trade, diplomacy, and knowledge exchange during the early modern period.
Highlights include an atlas from Ming China annotated by Carletti, a magnificent copy of the Shahnameh (Persian national epic poem), a katana from the collection of the Stibbert Museum in Florence, and other exceptional objects illustrating cultural and commercial connections linking Tuscany with Asia and the wider world.
Alongside stories of discovery and exchange, the exhibition also examines the darker dimensions of this early modern globalisation, including Carletti's involvement in the slave trade and his reflections on its moral implications.
Global Florence offers visitors a compelling vision of an interconnected world in which people, goods, knowledge, and artistic traditions crossed oceans centuries before the modern age.
The exhibition will be open from 9 October 2026 to 9 January 2027, during the opening hours of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 8.15 to 13.45; Tuesday and Thursday from 8.15 to 17.15)
For further information and to plan your visit, please refer to the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana website