Circoscrivere e descrivere i beni mobili nel XV secolo: quali strutture documentarie?

The paper examines the ways in which movable goods were delimited and described in Genoese notarial documentation from the mid-fifteenth century, drawing on a sample of imbreviatures selected within the Objects in Network project and on a comparison with contemporary notarial productions from overseas contexts. Adopting the perspective of the diplomatics of private documents, the study interprets objects as elements intrinsically embedded in networks of social, legal, and economic relations, rather than as mere material entities. Particular attention is devoted to the notary’s role as a mediator and to specific documentary typologies—especially inventories, appraisals, and auction records—which entail more articulated processes of listing, valuation, and transfer of goods, highlighting the relationship between documentary practices, legal rituality, and the circulation of material culture in late medieval Genoa.