This summer I will travel to Florence, Italy to assume the internship role within the Medici Archive Project. The opportunity is a dream come true, as a student of Italian Renaissance and a lover of Italy.
I will be working for eight weeks alongside the staff of the Archive Project and assisting in their research. I will begin working with Dr. Arfaioli, who is working on the ducal guard, "I Lanzi". His research will be the subject of an exhibition at the Uffizi opening in June that I will assist. I then have the opportunity to work with Dr. Mancuso, who is working on the reconstruction of the Jewish Ghetto in Florence, working both on a 3D project and on a new database. Finally, I will work with Dr. Assonitis on two projects, one related to the letters of Ferdinando de Medici, and one on the Florentine academies. The internship will be rigorous in nature but extremely rewarding. To see exhibitions for the Uffizi gallery in process is unimaginable. I know I will soak up every moment of the experience and come back a more determined and passionate student of art history and specifically the Italian Renaissance.
While the Internship offers all of my academic wishes, it does not offer a stipend. I will be spending the money I made working at GWU this year for my living expenses. I would greatly appreciate support from the Humphries Fund as I travel on my own to another country. I have greatly benefited from the Humphries Fund for the Paris study abroad trip and I see its benevolence. I would be so thankful to receive support again in my studies and career goals for this internship.
I have now been at the Medici Archive Project for 5 weeks, which seems impossible as time has flown by. I am thoroughly enjoying the work and my colleagues at MAP. Once I arrived and got a better idea of the work I could assist, I chose to work solely with Dr. Mancuso on the Jewish Ghetto in Florence. His program is very rigorous and I was drawn to it because I knew it would be challenging and the most help for my Italian. I have transcribed and translated many 16th-17th documents that will soon be published under my name. I will also have created in a database for every Florentine document that mentions the Jews, which will also be under my name. As I said before, the work is rigorous but very rewarding. On the weekends I have had the pleasure to travel around Italy, including Rome, Venice, Verona, Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Sperlonga to see major art historical sights. I wish that I was not in the later half of my time here in Italy, but I am so thankful for this opportunity.
