Join us for a talk at the Zimmerli Art Museum, which focuses on the evolution of the image of the prophet Muhammad between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Particularly, it focuses on books of universal history, chronicles and humanistic orations. Columbia University assistant professor Pier Mattia Tommasino argues how the image of the prophet Muhammad as a wise lawgiver had been construct­ed in a specific genre, the book of histories, how it developed before and after Machiavelli’s Principe and Discorsi, and was adopted by pro-Ottoman Italian writers during the Early Modern Era.

Pier Mattia Tommasino is the Assistant Professor of Italian at Columbia University. His first book is: L’Alcorano di Macometto. Storia di un libro del Cinquecento europeeo, Bologna, il Mulino, 2013. He organizes The Italian and Mediterranean Colloquim at Columbia University and, currently, he is exploring the relations between religions and written cultures in the 17th century Mediterranean.

Event flyer can be found on the Rutgers Italian Department Website.