87519 - Laboratory A (1) (LM) (G.D)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the workshop the student is able to organize and collect complex information in a coherent form, he can apply critical analysis methodologies on the visual arts. Can make appropriate use of the sources of information needed to deal with research in the various areas of the visual arts.

Course contents

LAB – FROM ARCHIVE TO COLLECTION:

ART HISTORY IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Lab course coordinated by Sonia Cavicchioli and Fabio Massaccesi, with the collaboration of Gianluca del Monaco.

The lab course is intended to foster the practical use of personal art historical knowledge through digitizing and cataloguing photographs of artworks dating to ca. 1200–1600 AD. The acquisition of skills related to digitization and cataloguing will allow to organize the proper contents of an artwork according to its iconography, iconology, context, form and function.

The lab stems from three different courses, although it is open to all students enrolled in the two-year Master in Visual Arts: Iconography and Iconology taught by Prof. Sonia Cavicchioli, Contesti e significati dell’Arte medievale and Arte in Europa in età medievale taught by Prof. Fabio Massaccesi.

In particular, these theoretical and practical methodologies will be applied to the photo archive of Carlo Volpe (1926-1984), an eminent art historian and professor at the University of Bologna, acquired by the Istituto per i Beni Culturali (IBC) of Regione Emilia-Romagna and become a portion of the photo archive of the I. B. Supino library of the Department of Arts in 2006, Biblioteca delle Arti, section of visual arts I. B. Supino (ABIS) since 2020. A few photographs concerning European art (painting, manuscript illumination, sculpture etc.) ca. 1200–1600 will be selected from the Volpe archive, with a special focus on artworks still held in the churches or museum and library collections of the city.

The lab will consist of three main activities: the first one (I) will be directed by Prof. Sonia Cavicchioli and Prof. Fabio Massaccesi alternatively, for one third of the class hours; during this activity, the methodological principles and the theoretical skills for the art-historical analysis of the selected images will be provided according to the following points:

1. Matter: support, techniques, object type etc.
2. Culture, creation place and date
3. Iconography and iconology
4. Form and function
5. Patronage

The second activity (II), directed by dr. Gianluca del Monaco, will include the digitization of the selected photos according to the standards of image scanning and their cataloguing, following cataloguing rules grounded on the guidelines of ICCD (F and OA catalogue records) and CONA (Getty Research Institute); the students will be guided to organize the contents (I) in an effective way; furthermore, the bibliographical material already provided (I) on the artworks depicted in photos will be expanded.

The third activity (III), directed by dr. Gianluca del Monaco, will involve the use of web-based platform (es. Omeka.net, Archiui) for cataloguing the selected photos and creating a digital collection.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Documetazione, 2018. http://www.iccd.beniculturali.it/getFile.php?id=6787 .

Scheda F: versione 4.00, Rome: Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, 2016. http://www.iccd.beniculturali.it/getFile.php?id=5403 .

As for CONA (Getty Research Institute) cataloguing rules:

Harpring, Patricia. Cultural Objects Name Authority® (CONA): Introduction and Overview. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2019. https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/cona_intro.pdf .

Recommended readings:

Brown, Kathryn, ed. The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities and Art History, New York: Routledge, 2020. https://doi-org.ezproxy.unibo.it/10.4324/9780429505188 .

Grau, Oliver, ed. Museum and Archive on the Move: Changing Cultural Institutions in the Digital Era, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2017.

Massaccesi, Fabio. “Il linguaggio dell’archivio: dalla storia allo storytelling”, in Teca 2020.

Specific necessary references for the selected photos will be provided during the lab.

Teaching methods

Lab activities: digitization of photographs, creation of digital collections, catalogue records and online exhibition on a web-based platform.

Assessment methods

There is no exam at the end of the lab. The proficiency will be recognized through compulsory class attendance. Due to the special character of the workshop, no more than 25 students can be enrolled in the course.

Teaching tools

Power point presentations, photographs held in the archive of Carlo Volpe, digital color photographs of the same artworks, scanner, personal laptop (strongly recommended).

Office hours

See the website of Sonia Cavicchioli