A study of fire, water and power in Europe
Our Dr Philippa Woodcock's chapter, 'Fire and Water on the Seine: the Venetian Ambassador's Fireworks Party' is part of a new multidisciplinary publication.
Dénes Harai and Gaëlle Lafage's Potestas Elementorum. L’eau, le feu et le pouvoir en Europe. Water, fire and power in Europe. (ca. 1400 - ca. 1800) explores the political uses of these diametrically opposed elements, with reflections from history, art history and literary history coming together to examine the contexts, the modalities and the perceptions of the simultaneous presence of fire and water in the staging of political power from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment.
The full edited volume, including Dr Woodcock's chapter is now available to read on open access. You can find the chapter by scrolling towards the bottom of the page.
Dr Woodcock is a historian of early modern European history and visual culture. Her interests cover the European Reformation, landscape and fashion history, as well as political and cultural interchange, especially between France and Italy.