This course proposes to consider artistic works as the outcome not only of the creative talent of the artist, but also of his highly technical skills; artists were very well trained and qualified artisans, capable of dominating manufacturing techniques and to submit materials to the aesthetic results prefigured in their minds. Through the examination of the main artistic techniques used in the past, from fresco to mosaics, to marble sculpture, the course emphasizes the physical complexity of a work of art. Durable and delicate at the same time, art goes through alterations and deteriorations whose major causes and processes will be discussed during the course. Technical and practical aspects of restoration and conservation will be privileged, but adequate room will be given to theoretical and historical developments of the discipline. All the subjects discussed will be supported by examples taken from major works of art that have undergone recent important restorations. (3 credits)
Prerequisites:
This course is recommended for students who already have a basic knowledge of western Art History from Antiquity to XIX century and have a major in Art History. Other students are welcome, but an extra effort – including additional readings – is required.
Additional student cost:
$55
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course students will have:
- the ability to identify the basic technical features of main artifacts;
- the skill to recognize principal processes of alteration and deterioration;
- a basic knowledge of the historical developments of conservation ethics and practice
- an outline of the most important conservation methods and procedures;
- instruments to develop a critical approach to present-day conservation issues.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, slides, videos, visits to restoration worksites and laboratories (scheduled visits may change according to availability), museums and churches.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Required work and form of assessment:
Class participation (15%); midterm exam (25%); research paper based upon field observations and readings (25%); final exam based on lectures and readings (35%). The exams consist of slide identification, multiple choice questions, T/F questions and short essay questions.
content:
1. INTRODUCTION. MATERIALS AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE (4 weeks)
Presentation of the main topics of the course, of its aims and reasons.
Materials and procedures used in the past - from the Antiquity to XIX century - for the production of different typologies of artefacts are examined, with the help of famous examples: frescoes and mural paintings; panel and canvas paintings; stone sculpture; mosaics.
Field studies: S. Prassede; S. Pietro in Montorio
Required readings: n. 1 to n. 5
2. THE CONSERVATION PROJECT. THE SUPPORT OF SCIENTIFIC ANALYSES (1 week)
A multidisciplinary approach that includes historical, technical and scientific issues is necessary for a well-planned execution of a conservation intervention. Preliminary scientific analyses are useful to achieve a complete survey of the conditions of the objects to be restored, and thus choose the appropriate treatments, as well as to go deeply into their execution techniques. An outline of the specific purposes of different analyses (chemical, X, IR and UV rays use, etc.) will be traced.
Required reading: handout provided by the instructor
MIDTERM EXAM
3. HISTORY AND ETHICS OF CONSERVATION (2 weeks)
The history of conservation - quite a recent, fast growing discipline - has revealed to be a very fruitful field of research, a powerful method to explore the shifts of taste from Antiquity to present days. Different attitudes towards the preservation of works of art are always the outcome of a specific culture, and reflect transitory, but yet compulsory needs and demands. From destruction to restoration, from renewal to conservation, this part of the course traces the main stages of historical development of a modern and conscious culture of conservation, up to the foundation of the ethical principles that govern today conservation decisions, policies and practices. Room is given to some debates that animate the world of conservation today – i.e. the removal of historical integrations on paintings and sculptures, cleaning controversies, different methods of integrating missing parts – in order to stimulate discussion among the students.
Required readings: n. 6 to n. 10
4. CAUSES AND MECHANISMS OF DETERIORATION (1 week)
Many obstacles of different kinds and origins threaten the preservation of artifacts throughout their lives: the natural alteration of constitutional materials, the human intervention, environmental reasons, pollution, exceptional accidents like earthquake, fires, etc. All these problems are considered and their effects on artistic works explained through a series of slides shown in class and through direct observation during field studies.
Required reading: n. 11 + handout provided by the instructor
5. CONSERVATION TREATMENTS (3 weeks)
This part illustrates through direct observation during field studies or in class some of the basic methods and materials used nowadays to stabilize artifacts or delay their deterioration, and the restoration actions necessary to bring a deteriorated or damaged object closer to its original appearance with minimal sacrifice of aesthetic and historic integrity.
Field studies: Vatican Museums Conservation Labs; ISCR laboratories; restoration worksites according to accessibility
Required readings: n. 12 to n. 14
FINAL EXAM
Required readings:
to be read, week by week, as home assignments
(all of them included in a course reader) :
CONTENT 1 (weeks 1 to 4):
1. Laura Mora, Paolo Mora, Paul Philippot, The conservation of wall paintings, Butterworth Publishers, London 1984 (pp. 10-16; 36; 63-66; 138-157)
(ISBN: 0-408-10912-6)
2. Jill Dunkerton, Susan Foister, Dillian Gordon, Nicholas Penny, Giotto to Dürer. Early Renaissance Painting in The National Gallery, Yale University Press, New Haven and London in association with National Gallery Publications Ltd, 1991, pp. 152-204
(ISBN: 0-300-05070-4; 0-300-05082-8 pbk)
3. G. M. Helms, The Materials and Techniques of Italian Renaissance Sculpture, in Looking at Italian Renaissance Sculpture, ed. by. Sarah Blake McHam, Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 18 –20
(ISBN: 0-521-47366-7 (hb); 0-521-47921-5 (pkb) )
4. Antonella Fuga, Artists’ Techniques and Materials, The John Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 2006, pp. 153-157
(ISBN-13: 978-0-89236-860-0; ISBN-10: 0-89236-860-8)
5. Ernst Kitzinger, Mosaic technique, in Encyclopaedia of World Art, vol. X, McGraw-Hill publ., London 1965, pp. 324-27
CONTENT 2 (week 5)
Handout provided by the instructor
CONTENT 3 (weeks 6 to 7)
6. Orietta Rossi Pinelli, The Surgery of Memory: Ancient Sculpture and Historical Restorations (1986), selected excerpts, in Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, ed. by Nicholas Stanley Price, M. Kirby Talley jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 1996, pp. 288-305
(ISBN: 0-89236-250-2 (cloth); 0-89236-398-3 (paper))
7. Marion True, Changing Approaches to Conservation, in The History of Restoration of Ancient Stone Sculptures, Papers delivered at a Symposium at J. Paul Getty Museum, 25-27 October 2001, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 2003, pp. 1-11
(ISBN: 0-89236-723-7)
8. Marguerite Yourcenar, That mighty sculptor. Time, selected excerpts, in Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, ed. by Nicholas Stanley Price, M. Kirby Talley jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 1996, pp. 212-215.
9. Cesare Brandi, Restoration and Conservation: general problems, in Encyclopaedia of World Art, vol. XII, McGraw-Hill, New York, Toronto, London 1966, pp. 179-184
(no ISBN code)
10. Paul Philippot, Historic Preservation: Philosophy, Criteria, Guidelines (1972), selected excerpts, in Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, ed. by Nicholas Stanley Price, M. Kirby Talley jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 1996, pp. 268-274
(ISBN: 0-89236-250-2 (cloth); 0-89236-398-3 (paper))
CONTENT 4 (week 8)
11. Laura Mora, Paolo Mora, Paul Philippot, The conservation of wall paintings, Butterworth Publishers, London 1984, pp. 166; 178-183 + handout provided by the instructor
CONTENT 5 (weeks 9 to 12)
12. Giorgio Bonsanti, Theory, Methodology and Practical Applications – Painting Conservation in Italy in the Twentieth Century, in Early Italian Paintings: Approaches to Conservation, Proceedings of a Symposium at the Yale University Art Gallery (April 2002), ed. by Patricia Sherwin Garland, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2003, pp. 82-97
(ISBN: 0-300-10078-7)
13. Laura Mora, Paolo Mora, Paul Philippot, The conservation of wall paintings, Butterworth Publishers, London 1984 (pp. 282-287; 301-312)
14. ed. by Alison Henry, Stone Conservation. Principles and Practice, Donhead Publishing, Shaftesbury 2006, pp. 126-132; 226-228; 101-105
(ISBN-10: 1 873394 78 0; ISBN-13: 978 1 873394 78 6)
Recommended readings:
further readings may be added during the course
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Federica Giacomini has achieved both technical-practical and theoretical-historical degrees in the field of conservation of works of art. In 1994 she obtained a four-year course diploma from Istituto Centrale del Restauro as Restorer of paintings and marbles; in 1999 she received a “laurea” in Art History from Università di Roma – La Sapienza and in 2005 a Ph.D. in Art History and Conservation from Università della Tuscia, with a dissertation on Painting Conservation in Rome in the XIX Century (published by edizioni Quasar in 2007). She has worked on conservation projects of important frescoes, canvas, marbles and stucco works (i.e. Carracci’s Gallery in Palazzo Farnese; Acqua Paola Fountain; Pantheon’s interior decorations). She is currently collaborating to the ordinary maintenance of the Galleria Borghese collections and, at the same time, pursuing researches in the field of conservation history and ethics. She currently teaches “Teoria e tecniche del restauro dei manufatti” at Università della Tuscia (Viterbo).
Inside Art: An Approach To Conservation
This course proposes to consider artistic works as the outcome not only of the creative talent of the artist, but also of his highly technical skills; artists were very well trained and qualified artisans, capable of dominating manufacturing techniques and to submit materials to the aesthetic results prefigured in their minds. Through the examination of the main artistic techniques used in the past, from fresco to mosaics, to marble sculpture, the course emphasizes the physical complexity of a work of art. Durable and delicate at the same time, art goes through alterations and deteriorations whose major causes and processes will be discussed during the course. Technical and practical aspects of restoration and conservation will be privileged, but adequate room will be given to theoretical and historical developments of the discipline. All the subjects discussed will be supported by examples taken from major works of art that have undergone recent important restorations. (3 credits)
This course is recommended for students who already have a basic knowledge of western Art History from Antiquity to XIX century and have a major in Art History. Other students are welcome, but an extra effort – including additional readings – is required.
$55
By the end of the course students will have:
- the ability to identify the basic technical features of main artifacts;
- the skill to recognize principal processes of alteration and deterioration;
- a basic knowledge of the historical developments of conservation ethics and practice
- an outline of the most important conservation methods and procedures;
- instruments to develop a critical approach to present-day conservation issues.
Lectures, slides, videos, visits to restoration worksites and laboratories (scheduled visits may change according to availability), museums and churches.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Class participation (15%); midterm exam (25%); research paper based upon field observations and readings (25%); final exam based on lectures and readings (35%). The exams consist of slide identification, multiple choice questions, T/F questions and short essay questions.
1. INTRODUCTION. MATERIALS AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE (4 weeks)
Presentation of the main topics of the course, of its aims and reasons.
Materials and procedures used in the past - from the Antiquity to XIX century - for the production of different typologies of artefacts are examined, with the help of famous examples: frescoes and mural paintings; panel and canvas paintings; stone sculpture; mosaics.
Field studies: S. Prassede; S. Pietro in Montorio
Required readings: n. 1 to n. 5
2. THE CONSERVATION PROJECT. THE SUPPORT OF SCIENTIFIC ANALYSES (1 week)
A multidisciplinary approach that includes historical, technical and scientific issues is necessary for a well-planned execution of a conservation intervention. Preliminary scientific analyses are useful to achieve a complete survey of the conditions of the objects to be restored, and thus choose the appropriate treatments, as well as to go deeply into their execution techniques. An outline of the specific purposes of different analyses (chemical, X, IR and UV rays use, etc.) will be traced.
Required reading: handout provided by the instructor
MIDTERM EXAM
3. HISTORY AND ETHICS OF CONSERVATION (2 weeks)
The history of conservation - quite a recent, fast growing discipline - has revealed to be a very fruitful field of research, a powerful method to explore the shifts of taste from Antiquity to present days. Different attitudes towards the preservation of works of art are always the outcome of a specific culture, and reflect transitory, but yet compulsory needs and demands. From destruction to restoration, from renewal to conservation, this part of the course traces the main stages of historical development of a modern and conscious culture of conservation, up to the foundation of the ethical principles that govern today conservation decisions, policies and practices. Room is given to some debates that animate the world of conservation today – i.e. the removal of historical integrations on paintings and sculptures, cleaning controversies, different methods of integrating missing parts – in order to stimulate discussion among the students.
Required readings: n. 6 to n. 10
4. CAUSES AND MECHANISMS OF DETERIORATION (1 week)
Many obstacles of different kinds and origins threaten the preservation of artifacts throughout their lives: the natural alteration of constitutional materials, the human intervention, environmental reasons, pollution, exceptional accidents like earthquake, fires, etc. All these problems are considered and their effects on artistic works explained through a series of slides shown in class and through direct observation during field studies.
Required reading: n. 11 + handout provided by the instructor
5. CONSERVATION TREATMENTS (3 weeks)
This part illustrates through direct observation during field studies or in class some of the basic methods and materials used nowadays to stabilize artifacts or delay their deterioration, and the restoration actions necessary to bring a deteriorated or damaged object closer to its original appearance with minimal sacrifice of aesthetic and historic integrity.
Field studies: Vatican Museums Conservation Labs; ISCR laboratories; restoration worksites according to accessibility
Required readings: n. 12 to n. 14
FINAL EXAM
to be read, week by week, as home assignments
(all of them included in a course reader) :
CONTENT 1 (weeks 1 to 4):
1. Laura Mora, Paolo Mora, Paul Philippot, The conservation of wall paintings, Butterworth Publishers, London 1984 (pp. 10-16; 36; 63-66; 138-157)
(ISBN: 0-408-10912-6)
2. Jill Dunkerton, Susan Foister, Dillian Gordon, Nicholas Penny, Giotto to Dürer. Early Renaissance Painting in The National Gallery, Yale University Press, New Haven and London in association with National Gallery Publications Ltd, 1991, pp. 152-204
(ISBN: 0-300-05070-4; 0-300-05082-8 pbk)
3. G. M. Helms, The Materials and Techniques of Italian Renaissance Sculpture, in Looking at Italian Renaissance Sculpture, ed. by. Sarah Blake McHam, Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 18 –20
(ISBN: 0-521-47366-7 (hb); 0-521-47921-5 (pkb) )
4. Antonella Fuga, Artists’ Techniques and Materials, The John Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 2006, pp. 153-157
(ISBN-13: 978-0-89236-860-0; ISBN-10: 0-89236-860-8)
5. Ernst Kitzinger, Mosaic technique, in Encyclopaedia of World Art, vol. X, McGraw-Hill publ., London 1965, pp. 324-27
CONTENT 2 (week 5)
Handout provided by the instructor
CONTENT 3 (weeks 6 to 7)
6. Orietta Rossi Pinelli, The Surgery of Memory: Ancient Sculpture and Historical Restorations (1986), selected excerpts, in Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, ed. by Nicholas Stanley Price, M. Kirby Talley jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 1996, pp. 288-305
(ISBN: 0-89236-250-2 (cloth); 0-89236-398-3 (paper))
7. Marion True, Changing Approaches to Conservation, in The History of Restoration of Ancient Stone Sculptures, Papers delivered at a Symposium at J. Paul Getty Museum, 25-27 October 2001, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 2003, pp. 1-11
(ISBN: 0-89236-723-7)
8. Marguerite Yourcenar, That mighty sculptor. Time, selected excerpts, in Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, ed. by Nicholas Stanley Price, M. Kirby Talley jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 1996, pp. 212-215.
9. Cesare Brandi, Restoration and Conservation: general problems, in Encyclopaedia of World Art, vol. XII, McGraw-Hill, New York, Toronto, London 1966, pp. 179-184
(no ISBN code)
10. Paul Philippot, Historic Preservation: Philosophy, Criteria, Guidelines (1972), selected excerpts, in Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, ed. by Nicholas Stanley Price, M. Kirby Talley jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 1996, pp. 268-274
(ISBN: 0-89236-250-2 (cloth); 0-89236-398-3 (paper))
CONTENT 4 (week 8)
11. Laura Mora, Paolo Mora, Paul Philippot, The conservation of wall paintings, Butterworth Publishers, London 1984, pp. 166; 178-183 + handout provided by the instructor
CONTENT 5 (weeks 9 to 12)
12. Giorgio Bonsanti, Theory, Methodology and Practical Applications – Painting Conservation in Italy in the Twentieth Century, in Early Italian Paintings: Approaches to Conservation, Proceedings of a Symposium at the Yale University Art Gallery (April 2002), ed. by Patricia Sherwin Garland, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2003, pp. 82-97
(ISBN: 0-300-10078-7)
13. Laura Mora, Paolo Mora, Paul Philippot, The conservation of wall paintings, Butterworth Publishers, London 1984 (pp. 282-287; 301-312)
14. ed. by Alison Henry, Stone Conservation. Principles and Practice, Donhead Publishing, Shaftesbury 2006, pp. 126-132; 226-228; 101-105
(ISBN-10: 1 873394 78 0; ISBN-13: 978 1 873394 78 6)
further readings may be added during the course
Federica Giacomini has achieved both technical-practical and theoretical-historical degrees in the field of conservation of works of art. In 1994 she obtained a four-year course diploma from Istituto Centrale del Restauro as Restorer of paintings and marbles; in 1999 she received a “laurea” in Art History from Università di Roma – La Sapienza and in 2005 a Ph.D. in Art History and Conservation from Università della Tuscia, with a dissertation on Painting Conservation in Rome in the XIX Century (published by edizioni Quasar in 2007). She has worked on conservation projects of important frescoes, canvas, marbles and stucco works (i.e. Carracci’s Gallery in Palazzo Farnese; Acqua Paola Fountain; Pantheon’s interior decorations). She is currently collaborating to the ordinary maintenance of the Galleria Borghese collections and, at the same time, pursuing researches in the field of conservation history and ethics. She currently teaches “Teoria e tecniche del restauro dei manufatti” at Università della Tuscia (Viterbo).
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