RICERCA ITALIANA     

Humanistic research and new technologies - multimedia and diagnostic tools as scientific fundaments and technical resources for conservation, museology and art techniques

Università degli Studi di Firenze

Abstract

Aim of this study is to single out the technological tools meaningful for an arti-historical research integrating all disciplines purposeful from this viewpoint
The characteristic of the project proposed is that it revolves fully on the various areas leading the disciplinary sector L-Art/04. As known, it includes notably heterogeneous study addresses; the intention is to call in order to: 1) re-examine the specifics, the competencies, each other’s capacities; 2) study the possibilities for reciprocal integration; 3) identify the applicable cases in which introduce the competencies of the various Research Units; 4) Make a final balance of the work accomplished, addressing it to a real progress of the historical-artistic studies, in which to purpose a partially newer and more advanced model.
Moreover, from the point of view of museum research, it is intended to investigate, through a monitoring on the composition and extraction of the public, the peculiar communicative aspects of the museum implying sociological and economic aspects, to offer founding contributions also to the disciplines related to it, Museology and Museography.
The studies related to Collecting will submit various series of Italian paintings mentioned by sources and documents, in relation to their eventual appearances in auction houses, repertoires, antique websites, moving between paper and electronic databases, using the IT’s research facility; all not only in order to obtain more >>>

Principal Investigator

Giorgio Bonsanti Università degli Studi di FIRENZE

Research Objectives

The objectives that we intend to reach are of two different types: regarding content and method
Firstly, studies in museumology, founded on the monitoring of some sample museums in Florence and Bologna, can make it possible to update and complete some lines of research that until now have remained rather insignificant, acquiring precious data for the evaluation of situations relating to the visitors to the museums in the cities of art. In fact this monitoring revealed previously unseen catchment areas, therefore the research results will certainly be important. Innovative tools will also be studied for the fruition of cultural assets inside and outside of urban museum institutions and in the territory, a use that is increasingly more connected with their conservation and ever more complete and in depth knowledge. Among the new communication methods, it is also necessary to consider the insertion of documentary films inside the museums, shows, tourist trails, in addition to the usual multi-media systems; together all of these are however showing themselves to be increasingly more indispensable for the correct and complete work in the salvaging of cultural assets and the information relating to them. They in fact make it possible to take advantage of a complete documentation of the current situation and the operations necessary for the conservation of the works, and offer them to the public in a way that aims at their full appreciation. These communication strategies >>>

First Results

In the opinion of the National Coordinator, the principal result that we aim to achieve is of a methodological nature. Indeed, the Coordinator is sincerely convinced that an integral study, as proposed by the present project, is unprecedented, not only for its complexity and articulacy, but also for the fact that very different professional capabilities are aligned towards a common goal. It must also be underlined that it would be a very difficult task (indeed, it would be literally impossible) to realise a project of this kind without adequate funding to cover the costs of the study. There is no doubt that truly significant results could also lead into other areas of research that are already very well documented, such as the Tuscan Roman restoration carried out in the XVIII and XIX century. But other fields, such as the history of restoration, are still extremely open to research, such as the study proposed for the Udine Unit. This research would allow us to individualise: 1) the principal restorers who operated in North-east Italy; 2) the training centres, reference bibliography, and the materials used by nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century artists who worked in the restoration sector. The research will also describe the activities of the Institutions responsible for this task in the Venetia and Friuli regions, which became part of The Kingdom of Italy in 1866, and Venezia Giulia, which remained under the dominion of the Asburgic Empire until 1918. Therefore >>>

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

Describing the state of the art relating to this project is objectively a little complex, considering the multiformity of the lines of research that characterise it. For each one it is possible to go into great detail, with the risk of it becoming dispersive. Part of the project is made up of the study of a data-base of images, relating to the citation of Italian painters from the 14th to the 18th centuries (from those unheard of to others widely known) and on the possibility of finding them in various types of places thanks to the consultation of the information to be found on the internet. Regarding this it should be said that currently the data base of images available are generally organised in alphabetical order according to the authors, and a few, in particular those of the larger museums, carry the external data useful for linking the work to collections. In this case therefore the state of the art shows itself as being substantially embryonic, and requires working with particular methodological effort.
In terms of the methodologies, in the research and didactics covered relating to the museomological and museographical research we have noticed the importance of an interdisciplinary methodology to the work that, if applied from the planning stages and initial phases, certainly facilitates historical-critical knowledge. It favours the interventions of maintenance and eventual restoration, allowing a scientific and ethically correct approach. Finally, it leads to >>>