85187 - History of Restoration and Theory of Preservation

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student: - knows the theory and processes of restoration carried out in the past; - is able to recognize restoration work done in the past; - is able to develop a critical approach to the preservation science; - can interact with other professionals involved in conservative interventions in both advanced and routine subjects.

Course contents

The course will focus on history, art history and restoration history. Particular care will be devoted to the evolution of the concept of restoration along the centuries according to operations of great importance and, as for the contemporaneity, the results of some interventions of particular significance performed on some paintings by Raphael, namely the Madonna del Cardellino, Florence, Uffizi, the Madonna del baldacchino, Florence, Palazzo Pitti, Santa Cecilia of the Pinacoteca of Bologna, and Saints, the Rooms of the Vatican Palace, the cartoons for the Tapestries, today conserved in London at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

This investigation is also in preparation for the exhibitions to be held for the fifth centenary of the artist's death.

Readings/Bibliography

• A. CONTI, Storia del restauro e della conservazione delle opere d'arte, Electa, Milano 2010 (or previous editions).
  
• M. DE LUCA, Raffaello nelle Stanze del Papa, in Verità nascoste sui muri dei Maestri. Michelangelo, Raffaello, Perugino, Pintoricchio e gli altri in Vaticano, Artemide, Roma 2016, pp. 95-126.
• A. CERASUOLO, Diligenza e prestezza. La tecnica nella pittura e nella letteratura artistica del Cinquecento, Edifir edizioni Firenze, Firenze 2014.

Non-attending students and those who have a modest knowledge of the paths of art history will add to these texts the book of A. PINELLI, La storia dell'arte. Istruzioni per l'uso, Economica Laterza, Roma-Bari 2014.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons will be integrated with visits to restoration laboratories and museums. Audiovisual material will also be used.

An educational travel is planned to complement the experiences performed during the course, to be considered of a laboratory character.

Assessment methods

The examination consists of an oral interview to verify the critical and methodological skills acquired by the student. The mastery of content, appropriate expression and appropriate language for the subject matter, as well as the ability to summarize and analyze the concepts discussed in the lessons will be evaluated.

The interview will focus on what was investigated in class and with the autonomous study of the texts indicated in the bibliography.

Teaching tools

Video projector, slide projector.

Office hours

See the website of Donatella Biagi