Program

Research Programs: Summer Stipends

Period of Performance

6/1/2021 - 7/31/2021

Funding Totals

$6,000.00 (approved)
$6,000.00 (awarded)


Pearls for the Crown: European Courtly Art and the Atlantic Pearl Trade, 1498-1728

FAIN: FT-269909-20

Monica Dominguez Torres
University of Delaware (Newark, DE 19711-3651)

Research and writing for a book on the history and influence of the Atlantic pearl industry on 15th-18th-century European art.

At times called the “Pearl Age,” the early modern period saw a sharp increase in the number of pearls that were fished, traded, and consumed around the globe. The discovery of rich pearling beds in the Americas, in particular, prompted the emergence in Europe of exquisite artworks featuring pearls and pearl-fishing scenes. Yet, such pieces have often been regarded as innocuous luxury items of interest only to art connoisseurs. "Pearls for the Crown" focuses on five under-studied artworks hailing from the Atlantic pearl industry in order to unveil the messages they conveyed within their geo-political contexts. Specifically, it looks at the discourses they articulated about imperial expansion and human mastery over nature, notions of great importance in courtly circles linked to the Spanish Crown. Such notions, moreover, helped legitimize the indiscriminate exploitation of natural and human resources that eventually laid out the foundations for the Anthropocene.





Associated Products

Pearls for the Crown: Art, Nature and Power in the Age of Spanish Empire (Book)
Title: Pearls for the Crown: Art, Nature and Power in the Age of Spanish Empire
Author: Monica Dominguez Torres
Abstract: In the age of Spanish expansion, pearls became potent symbols of imperial supremacy. Since direct access to the marine gems depended on political dominion over remote pearling grounds and the workforce needed for their extraction, pearls were appreciated not only for their beauty and price, but also for their ideological connotations. "Pearls for the Crown" studies a selection of under-studied artworks connected to the Spanish American pearl industry in order to examine the interplay between materiality, labor, and power that drove artistic production in the early modern period. In particular, it shows how each of these artifacts articulated early modern ideas about imperial expansion, providential wealth, European supremacy, and human mastery over nature, all notions of crucial importance in courtly circles linked to the Spanish empire.
Year: 2023
Access Model: Primarily sold to research libraries
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Type: Single author monograph
Copy sent to NEH?: No

Pearls for the Crown: Art, Nature and Power in the Age of Spanish Empire (Book)
Title: Pearls for the Crown: Art, Nature and Power in the Age of Spanish Empire
Author: Monica Dominguez Torres
Year: 2023
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Type: Single author monograph