B1667 - Italian Cultural Heritage (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to transmitting the basic notions related to the fruition and valorisation of the Italian cultural heritage, deepening the specific problems in the fields of museology and the protection of the historical-artistic heritage. The student devolops the necessary skills to recognise and analyse the characteristics of different kinds of museum, of the idea of the “widespread museum”, of the conservation of historical heritage and of the dialectic between citizenship and monuments. In addition to direct knowledge of some of the most important monuments and museum institutions, through participative teaching and workshops, the course aims to develop transversal skills, also in the field of the organisation and promotion of cultural projects at national and international level.

Course contents

Reviving Antiquity: Heritage, Villas, and Urban Art from the Renaissance to Today

Classes will be divided into three sections. The first one (I) will introduce students to the history of museums and historical sites in Italy, examining the principal typologies of cultural heritage institutions — national, civic, and ecclesiastical museums, historic palaces, and archaeological sites — alongside the concept of the "widespread museum" (museo diffuso). This year's focus will be on the Renaissance sites of Italy's leading dynasties, from the Este to the Medici, from the Gonzaga to the Bentivoglio, with case studies in Bologna, Ferrara, and Mantua and targeted visits to their most significant museums and monuments. The second section (II) will explore the history and art of the Renaissance as a process of rediscovery and rebirth of classical antiquity, with particular attention to the development of the villa — from its Roman imperial origins, through the Middle Ages, to its extraordinary flourishing in the Renaissance and beyond — as a privileged site where the dialogue between the ancient and the modern took shape. As a case study, this section will include visits to the Florentine villas (Museo delle Ville e Residenze Monumentali Fiorentine). The third section (III)will explore how contemporary art can reactivate our relationship with the past, focusing on the project Classicismo by street artist Andrea Ravo Mattoni, whose work reinterprets classical heritage within the urban space, opening it up to new audiences and new forms of engagement. This final part also aims to foster transversal competences in the organisation and promotion of cultural projects at national and international level.

Readings/Bibliography

(I) Together with their personal notes, students must carefully read and study one of the following texts. Each book can be studied in any of its editions. Students who will not attend classes must choose two books.

• S. Settis, Italia S.p.A. L'assalto al patrimonio culturale(Einaudi, 2002) – available only in Italian

• A. Hein, The Museum in Transition: A Philosophical Perspective(Smithsonian Books, 2000)

• J. Marstine, New Museum Theory and Practice (Wiley-Blackwell, 2006)

• G. Beltramini, I. Zannier, Carlo Scarpa: Architecture and Design (Rizzoli, 2007)

• S. Macdonald, A Companion to Museum Studies (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011)

• F. Bandarin & R. van Oers, The Historic Urban Landscape: Managing Heritage in an Urban Century (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)

(II) Together with their personal notes, students must carefully read and study one of the following texts, in English. Each book can be studied in any edition.

• W. L. MacDonald, J. A. Pinto, Hadrian's Villa and Its Legacy (Yale University Press 1995)

• A. Warburg, The Renewal of Pagan Antiquity (English edition, University of Chicago Press, 1999)

• U. Bazzoti, Palazzo Te: Giulio Romano's masterwork in Mantua (Thames & Hudson, 2013)

• K. Campbell, Cultivating the Renaissance A Social History of the Medici Tuscan Villas (Routledge, 2022)

(III) As no textbook is assigned for this section, attendance at lessons and participation in the guided visits are essential: together with personal notes, they constitute the primary study material, complemented by resources provided by the teacher on the Florentine Villas (Museo delle Ville e Residenze Monumentali Fiorentine) and on the project by street artist Andrea Ravo Mattoni.

Teaching methods

Lectures. Alongside the general syllabus, the course includes seminars and guided site visits led by the teacher, together with invited guest scholars, artists, and museum professionals. The definitive syllabus, including the schedule of lessons and of the selected monuments and museums to be visited — which constitute lectures to all effects — will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Assessment methods

The final assessment consists of an oral examination covering all three sections of the syllabus. Students will be tested on their knowledge of the assigned bibliography and course topics, and on their ability to critically analyse the case studies — museums, villas, monuments, and urban art interventions — presented in class, encountered during the guided site visits, or included in the materials available on Virtuale. Particular attention will be given to students' ability to situate these case studies within the broader issues of protection, valorisation, and reinterpretation of Italian cultural heritage, so as to better understand the museums and monuments of the past, engage critically with the museographic choices of the present, and envisage those of the future.

Teaching tools

Lectures are enriched by the projection of images (PowerPoint slides) and videos related to the most significant artworks, monuments, artists, and art historians in the history of Italian culture. Alongside classroom teaching, the course includes guided site visits, conceived as lessons in their own right and held directly within monumental sites: here, students will be able to engage with artworks, monuments, and museographic and display techniques in ways that are often rare and otherwise inaccessible in a classroom setting, gaining direct, first-hand experience of Italy's cultural heritage.

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Cova