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

Classes will be divided into three sections. The first one (I) will introduce students to the History of museums in Italy, focusing on the different types of museum institutions in the Italian context, including national museums, civic museums, ecclesiastical museums, and the idea of the “widespread museum”. Particular attention will be given to methodological approaches to the protection, conservation, and valorisation of the historical-artistic heritage, with specific emphasis on the cases of Bologna, Ferrara, and Mantua, including targeted visits to the most important museums of these cities. The second section (II) will address, in chronological order, the history of the villa, from its origins in the Roman imperial age, through the Middle Ages, to its extraordinary development during the Renaissance and the Modern period. As a specific case study, this section will include visits to the Florentine Villas (Museo delle Ville e Residenze Monumentali Fiorentine). The third one (III) will be dedicated to the project Classicismo by the street artist Andrea Ravo Mattoni, analysed in relation to the urban space and to the opportunities for accessing and reinterpreting the Italian artistic heritage within a musealised context by new audiences. This final part also aims to foster transversal skills in the field of cultural project organisation and promotion, at both 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(Routledge, 2006)

• 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) Personal notes from the lessons. Students will study the materials provided by the teacher, including resources on the Florentine Villas (Museo delle Ville e Residenze Monumentali Fiorentine) and the case study of the street artist Andrea Ravo Mattoni.

Teaching methods

Lectures. Alongside the general syllabus, the course includes seminars and outdoor visits led by the teacher and their collaborators.

Assessment methods

The final assessment will consist of an oral examination covering all the three sections of the syllabus (see the relevant section above). For sections I and II, the interview will be based on specific questions concerning the bibliography and the topics discussed during the lessons, as well as on the recognition and analysis of selected case studies (museums, villas, monuments) presented in class and in the lecture materials available on Virtuale. For section III, the examination will include a critical discussion of the case study Classicismo by the street artist Andrea Ravo Mattoni, focusing on its relation to urban space and to the wider issues of access, valorisation, and reinterpretation of Italian cultural heritage.

Teaching tools

Projection of images (PowerPoint slides) or videos related to the most important artworks, monuments, artists, and art historians in Italian cultural history during the lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Cova