This first seminar on the relationship between Picasso and the Mediterranean – promoted by the Institute of Art History in collaboration with the Musée Picasso, Paris – will explore two fundamental aspects of Pablo Picasso's bond with the Mediterranean world: his discovery of objects from the distant past, and his journey in Italy in 1917. With its ancient Roman ruins or more lively Neapolitan traditions, Italy was thus a country in which to see this ancient culture through its still vital traces and practitioners.

Valentina Moncada, art historian, is lecturer of the conference with a speech entitled Picasso in Rome. Via Margutta traditions, acquaintances and influences.