Know - How for a New Era: City Living / City Learning, circa 1400 - 1550

An exhibition showcasing over fifty illustrated books, images, and objects that capture the dynamism of city living and intellectual life in northern Europe between roughly 1400 and 1550. About The Hunter College Art Galleries are pleased to present Know-How for a New Era: City Living / City Learning, circa 1400-1550, an exhibition that showcases over fifty illustrated books, images, and objects that capture the dynamism of city living and intellectual life between roughly 1400 and 1550 in northern Europe. The century-and-a-half covered in the show was an era of rapid change—social, technological, economic, intellectual, and artistic. In this period, lay people claimed the city as their own, often outright dismissing the authority of the Church. They amassed great wealth through entrepreneurship and global trade and orchestrated a dynamic intervention into governance. The show focuses on illuminated manuscripts and printed books commissioned by the newly rich and is organized around five themes: City Living; Travel and Astronomy; Technology and Labor; Home Life and Leisure; and Health: Living and Dying Well. The volumes taught fundamentals for self-care, medicine, and natural history. They flaunted both knowledge of antiquity and excitement for navigation and technology. They celebrated relationships and home life with images and objects depicting games, music, and dance. Public programming will feature academic lectures and workshops related to crafts—including perfume production, spinning, and manuscript making. Lenders include: The Morgan Library and Museum, New York, NY; The New York Public Library, New York, NY; The New York Academy of Medicine Library, New York, NY; Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ; University of Pennsylvania Library, Kislak Special Collections, Philadelphia, PA; The Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; Les Enluminures Gallery, Paris and Chicago; and Private Collections. Curated by Cynthia Hahn (Distinguished Professor, Hunter College and the CUNY Grad Center) and Nina Rowe (John L. Marion Professor, Fordham University), with Harper Montgomery, Susan and David Bershad Professor of Art History & Director of the Hunter College Art Galleries, and MA, MFA, and PhD students at Hunter and CUNY Grad, including those enrolled in the Advanced Curatorial Certificate Seminar. Curatorial fellows: Cole Ashby, Emily Da Silva-Prado, Julia Smart, and Elizabeth Wickersham. This show is sponsored by the International Center of Medieval Art (www.medievalart.org), the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the New York Medieval Society. With special thanks to Urban Umbrella. PUBLIC PROGRAMS Astrology, Magic, and Technology in City Life, 1400-1550 with Anthony Grafton November 3, 2026 6:30–7:30 PM 2nd Floor Flex Space, 205 Hudson Street Anthony Grafton, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University and author of several acclaimed books on Renaissance Europe, will speak on a variety of ways of negotiating city life in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, including astrology and magic as well as what now look like more practical disciplines. Roundtable: Merchants, Money, and Material Culture in Renaissance Europe with Ittai Weinryb, Stefano Locatelli, and Areli Marina November 17, 2026 4:00–6:00 PM 205 Hudson Gallery, HCAG A roundtable discussion guided by Cynthia Hahn and Marlene V. Hennessy with Ittai Weinryb (Professor of Medieval Art History, Bard Graduate Center) who will speak on his upcoming book Art and Frontier: The Black Sea in the Global Middle Ages, Stefano Locatelli (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, University of Milan & Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies), who will speak on "Learning the Art of Trade: Merchants' Notebooks between Knowledge and Uncertainty in Renaissance Florence," and Areli Marina (Professor of Art History, University of Kansas), who will speak on "Paradise Before War: Pietro Azario's Canavese Territory in an Uncourtly Register." Medieval Robots: Mechanism, Magic, Nature, and Art with Elly Truitt & Leah DeVun December 8, 2026 6:30–7:30 PM 2nd Floor Flex Space, 205 Hudson Street A conversation between Elly Truitt (Professor, University of Pennsylvania), author of several influential books on medieval science and technology, and Leah DeVun (Distinguished Professor of History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Rutgers University), author of several award-winning books on gender, science, and religion in premodern Europe. Truitt will discuss her book Medieval Robots, on the history of automata and mechanical invention in medieval Europe. WORKSHOPS The Art of Feasting: Food and Splendor in Sixteenth-Century Italy January 30, 2027 3-5pm 2nd Floor Flex Space, 205 Hudson Street In this interactive workshop, Sarah Huck (chef, cookbook author, and Hunter art history MA) will introduce us to the lavish world of late medieval dining via the elite Italian courts, where exotica and spectacle reigned supreme. Drawing from the work of early sixteenth century chef to the stars, Cristofaro di Messisbugo, we'll peek behind the scenes of some of the most lavish banquets of his time and recreate (and taste!) prized recipes from his popular cookbooks Banchetti and Libro Novo.