Laura, Petrarch, poetry and love

»[...] as if she knew consolation for my lamentations«
The sculptor Francesco Laurana was apparently inspired by the thoughts of Francesco Petrarch for his famous, enigmatic female bust in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. For almost 700 years, his poems about his unsuccessful love for the beautiful but withdrawn Laura have touched the public again and again. But how do subsequent generations of poets deal with this legacy? What significance does the Canzoniere have for art history and how can poetry slip through the “fold of time and language”?

On the podium:
Moderation: Andrea Zederbauer (co-editor of the magazine wespennest)
Ulrike Draesner (writer and professor at the German Literature Institute Leipzig)
Konrad Schlegel (curator of the exhibition "In Love with Laura")