Disguising Disease in Italian Political and Visual Culture: From Post-Unification to Covid-19

Although considered an isolated event, the Italian government’s initial resistant response to COVID-19 has deep historical roots. This is the first interdisciplinary book to critically examine the ongoing phenomenon of disguising contagious disease in Italy from Unification to the present.

Sharon Hecker is an art historian and curator specializing in Modern and Contemporary Italian art. She is the author of A Moment’s Monument: Medardo Rosso and the International Origins of Modern Sculpture and co-editor of Curating Fascism: Exhibitions and Memory from the Fall of Mussolini to Today.

Arianna Arisi Rota is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Pavia. She specializes in the history of politics and diplomacy in the nineteenth century, with special attention to generations, and memory-building. Her publications include I piccoli cospiratori; Risorgimento; Il cappello dell’imperatore; and Profughi.