This roundtable considers case studies (early printed books, paintings, literary texts, sermons) normally treated by scholars in separate disciplines. In the spirit of the recently established research cluster ‘Early Italian Studies at Bristol’, and in collaboration with the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society, we aim to reap the benefits of breaking down boundaries between departments and periods in order to explore networks in cultural production that themselves inherently cross boundaries of time and place.

The communicative potential of paratextual elements in sixteenth-century editions of Boccaccio will be juxtaposed with dedication and friendship around the paintings and prints of Salvator Rosa; sound and silence in Dante’s Commedia will be considered alongside the preacher’s voice in medieval sermons. Bringing these case studies and these scholars together in conversation will facilitate the analysis not just of successful instances of persuasion and mutual understanding, but also failures in, and limitations of, communication in renaissance Italy.