Alchemy in the Making: Matteo Martelli’s Lecture at Brown University

The development of alchemical theory and practice between Greco-Roman Egypt, Byzantium, and the Near East, from antiquity to the early Islamic period. This is the theme explored by the conference Alchemy in the Making: Ancient Practices, Theories and Experiments, organised as part of the Brown -University of Bologna Lecture Series. The event will take place on 18 September at the Watson School in Providence (USA). This year the conference will be held by Matteo Martelli, professor at the University of Bologna. The event will also be streamed live at 18:00 (Italian time) via the link: https://livestream.brown.edu/global.

The meeting proposes an original approach: alongside the analysis of ancient texts, it will feature experimental reconstructions of alchemical practices, based on laboratory experiments conducted using historical sources. The aim is to shed new light on the material processes underlying the writings of alchemists, offering new interpretations of the texts and literary forms through which this knowledge has been transmitted.

The conference will therefore offer a long-term perspective on the evolution of alchemy, presenting it not as a static body of knowledge,  but as a dynamic and diversified art, shaped by the encounter between different technical and intellectual traditions.

Matteo Martelli teaches History of Science and Techniques at the Department of Philosophy, University of Bologna. His research focuses on Greco-Roman and Byzantine science – with particular emphasis on alchemy and pharmacology – and its reception in the Syriac-Arabic tradition. His publications include The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus (2014) and Collecting Recipes. Byzantine and Jewish Pharmacology in Dialogue (2017, ed. L. Lehmhaus). As part of the AlchemEast project, he is currently working on a critical edition and translation of the alchemical writings of Zosimus of Panopolis, preserved in the Syriac tradition. 

The Brown-Bologna Lecture Series was established  in 2017 to celebrate the collaboration between Brown University and the University of Bologna. The initiative represents an opportunity to strengthen the bond between the two institutions, fostering innovative research, teaching and international exchange.