C9279 - STORIA DELLE TECNICHE DELL'ARTE

Learning outcomes

This course studies the evolution over time of several art techniques and investigates the relationship between the history of taste and styles, and the techniques adopted to make art, as technique influences artists’ creativity. At the end of the course, students will have in-depth knowledge of the different executive techniques of works of art and will be able to determine what materials have been used for the realization of the support and the image of work of art over time, which is the first step to determine its conditions of conservation.

Course contents

The course focuses on the techniques that shaped the development and renewal of Italian mural painting between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Through the study of the most important fresco cycles and the works of the leading Italian masters, students will explore the creative process behind these masterpieces, with particular attention to the relationship between mural paintings and their preparatory drawings. Special emphasis will be placed on the study of sinopie (underdrawings), which have long been the subject of scholarly debate. While many art historians regard them as preliminary sketches or general preparatory designs for the final painted composition, derived from designs previously developed on other supports, other researchers consider them autonomous drawings that do not necessarily depend on an earlier graphic project. Equal attention will be devoted to cartoons, whose widespread adoption from the second quarter of the fourteenth century profoundly transformed the planning and execution of fresco painting. The course will therefore offer an engaging journey through the major Italian mural painting cycles, constantly relating the works to historical sources, documentary evidence, and recent research on artistic techniques. Classroom lectures will be complemented by site visits, enabling students to examine firsthand a selection of the artworks discussed during the course. This direct, empirical approach will provide an exceptional opportunity to investigate the materials, techniques, and working methods employed by Italian painters of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Students will also have the opportunity to visit active conservation sites, where they will observe current restoration practices and methods of technical investigation at first hand.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary Sources:

PLINIO IL VECCHIO, Naturalis historia, ed. cons. Storia delle arti antiche, libri XXXIV-XXXVI, trad. a cura di S. Ferri, BUR, Milano, 2000; C. CENNINI, Il libro dell'arte, a cura di F. FREZZATO, con la prefazione di G. BONSANTI, Neri Pozza, Vicenza 2009; G. VASARI, Le vite dei più eccellenti pitturi, scultori et architettori, Firenze 1568, ed cons., Einaudi, Torino, 1995. Core Course:

Core course: 

C. GIANNINI, Materiali e procedimenti esecutivi della pittura murale, Firenze, 2009; L. GRASSI, I disegni italiani del Trecento e Quattrocento. Scuole fiorentina, senese, marchigiana ed umbra, Venezia 1960; F. NEGRI ARNOLDI, S. PROSPERI VALENTI, Il disegno nella storia dell’arte italiana, Roma 1986; P. e L. MORA, P. PHILIPPOT, La conservazione delle pitture murali, ICCROM, Bologna 1999; U. PROCACCI, Sinopie e affreschi, Milano 1960

Monographic Course:

U. BALDINI, Dalla sinopia al cartone in Studies in late medieval and Renaissance painting in honor of Millard Meiss a cura di I. Lavin, J. Plummer, M. Meiss, New York 1977, vol. I, pp. 43-47; B. ZANARDI, Giotto e Pietro Cavallini. La questione di Assisi e il cantiere medievale della pittura a fresco, Milano 2002; C. BAMBACH, Piero della Francesca, the study of perspective and the development of the cartoon in the Quattrocento, in Piero della Francesca tra arte e scienza, atti del convegno internazionale di studi (Arezzo-Sansepolcro, 8-12 ottobre 1992) a cura di M. Dalai Emiliani, V. Curzi, Venezia 1996, pp. 143-166; L. CIANCABILLA, “Sinopie e affreschi” sessant’anni dopo in Restauri restauratori in Italia fra gli anni Venti e gli anni Cinquanta del Novecento. Il Friuli-Venezia Giulia nel contesto nazionale, Atti del convegno (Udine, 17-18 ottobre 2022), a cura di G. Perusini, M. Visentin, Udine 2024, pp. 53-68; L. CIANCABILLA, Le sinopie come «veri e autentici primi disegni»: il caso del Maestro del Pozzo a Mezzaratta (in press, 2026); L. CIANCABILLA, La fortuna delle sinopie nella storia del gusto e delle tecniche artistiche: arte grafica o disegno preparatorio? Manifestazione prima dell’idea o disegno di modello? (in press, 2026)

Teaching methods

During the lessons the professor will show slides to the students to introduce them to the visul knowledge of the works of art and ancient techniques. Lectures will be complemented by visits to museums and art galleries and public or private laboratories of restoration, and restoration sites.

Assessment methods

The oral examination is based on the required readings listed in both the general and the specialized sections of the syllabus. It also assesses the student's critical thinking, clarity of presentation, and ability to develop coherent and well-supported arguments.

Students wishing to take the oral examination must register through the dedicated AlmaEsami page and are required to prepare the entire examination syllabus. Students who have prepared only part of the syllabus will not be admitted to the oral examination.

The result of the exam will be: insufficient in case of linguistic and expressive deficiencies, as well as of missed or erroneous comment to the texts; sufficient in case of correct linguistic expression, possession of basic historic and artistic knowledge and understanding of subject in its chronological development; good in case of correct linguistic expression and knowledge of the texts and authors; excellent in case of excellent expressive ability, and in-depth knowledge of the texts and authors.

The syllabus and examination requirements are as outlined above. Students who require further clarification are encouraged to contact the professor by email and to attend office hours. The professor will also be available to answer students' questions at the beginning and end of each class.

Students who are unable to attend classes regularly are required to arrange an alternative reading programme with the professor.

With regard to the assessment of learning outcomes, the limited, declared, and non-substantive use of artificial intelligence (AI) is permitted for support activities, such as summarising and rephrasing. The substantive use of AI to complete any part of the assessment is not permitted.

Teaching tools

• Color/black and white slides
• Visits to museums and public collections
• Educational videos curated by the teacher for RAI-CULTURA (https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/isegretidelcolore)
• Visits to public and private restoration laboratories
• Visits to restoration sites
• Meetings with experts of subject and restorers

Students who are affected by learning disability (DSA) and in need of special strategies to compensate it, are kindly requested to contact the Teacher, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.”

Office hours

See the website of Luca Ciancabilla