90620 - Conservative Prevention and Restoration (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to understand the requirements and practices related to the environmental safety of artworks and their correct conservation. Moreover, they will develop their knowledge of the theories of restoration, starting from Cesare Brandi to current virtual restoration techniques. In particular, students will develop critical and methodological skills through the in-depth study of the technical characteristics of artworks.

Course contents

This course aims to provide the students with the basic features of the discipline through the investigation of the different theories and practices that have marked the history of the restoration and preservation of monuments and works of art from the Renaissance to our day. All the lectures will be focused on a very contemporary theme such as conservation and preservation of contemporary art, with particular interest to Urban Art. For some time now, disciplines such as writing and street art have been the subject of the attention of renovation works and restoration experts who, in their work, are contributing to the formulation of an appropriate theory for the preservation of these proofs of contemporary pictorial art. In this regard, this course will deal with the circumstances that in 2015 determined the posting and subsequent musealization of some contemporary murals in Bologna.

Readings/Bibliography

Istitutional: A. CONTI, Storia del restauro e della conservazione delle opere d'arte, Milano 1988 or alternatively M. CIATTI, Appunti per un manuale di storia e di teoria del restauro. Dispense per gli studenti, con la collaborazione di F. Martusciello, Firenze 2009 (tutto tranne il capitolo 9); H. JEDRZEJEWSKA, Principi di restauro, Opus, 1983; M. C. MAZZI, Museografia come restauro preventivo in M. ANDALORO (a cura di), La teoria del restauro nel Novecento da Riegl a Brandi, Firenze 2006, pp. 199-213; B. ZANARDI, Giovanni Urbani e Cesare Brandi. Due teorie a confronto, Skira 2009.

Monographic: L. CIANCABILLA, Per una prima mostra storica degli estrattisti in L’incanto dell’affresco. Capolavori strappati da Pompei a Giotto, da Correggio a Tiepolo, catalogo della mostra, Vol. I, a cura di L. CIANCABILLA, C. SPADONI, Silvane editore, Cinisello Balsamo, 2014, pp. 29-72 L. CIANCABILLA, The sight gallery. Salvaguardia e conservazione della pittura murale urbana contemporanea a Bologna, BUP, Bologna, 2015; C. OMODEO, L'arte allo stato urbano o L. CIANCABILLA, Il distacco dei graffiti o in Street art. Banksy & co. L'arte allo stato urbano, catalogo della mostra, a cura di L. CIANCABILLA, C. OMODEO, Bup, Bologna 2016, pp. 9-16 o pp. 17-25; L. CIANCABILLA, Fotografare o musealizzare l'Arte Urbana, Il grigio di Blu e la sua nemesi in L. CIANCABILLA, G. TUSINI (a cura di), Oltre il grigio. Conservare, musealizzare e restaurare l’Arte Urbana fra tradizione e memoria, Bologna 2019, pp. 75-102

One book between: H. ALTHOFER, Il restauro delle opere d'arte moderne e contemporanee, Nardini, Firenze 1991; O. CHIANTORE, A. RAVA, Conservare l’arte contemporanea, Electa, Milano, 2005.

Teaching methods

This course involves the use of presentations, through which students will be introduced to the visual knowledge of works and interventions of the past and of the present, continuously referring to and comparing theory and practice, from the origins to the present. As one of the purposes of this course is getting used to the direct visual examination of art works and artistic artefacts, the thirty-hour visits to museums, sacred buildings, public and private collections and restoration yards are deemed as its integrating part.

Assessment methods

Oral examination on the institutional and monograph parts, including the use of images.

Teaching tools

Color/black and white slides

• Visits to museums and public collections

• Visits to public and private restoration laboratories

• Visits to restoration work sites

Office hours

See the website of Luca Ciancabilla