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The Newberry Library presents: Renaissance Invention: Nova Reperta

During a time of globalization, colonization, and warfare, Europeans in the Renaissance embraced new technology even as they lamented its disruptive, destructive, and destabilizing consequences. Sound familiar?

Renaissance Invention explores the conception of novelty and technology through an unprecedented study of Nova Reperta (New Discoveries). Nova Reperta is  a late sixteenth-century print series.  It celebrated the marvels of the age, including the stirrup, the cure for syphilis, and the so-called discovery of America. Designed in Florence and printed in Antwerp, the Nova Reperta images spread far and wide. They shaped Europeans’ perceptions of the innovations that were changing the world and breeding anxiety about the future.”

Materials from the Newberry’s collection will appear alongside armor from the Art Institute of Chicago and astronomical instruments from the Adler Planetarium. The hope is to transport visitors to a time of change, disruption, and technological development. A time that bears a striking resemblance to our own today.

Date of opening is set for the Fall 2020. Watch their site for exact opening dates.