International Symposium
The New Bronze Age
Artistic foundries in Italy after the Unification (1861-1915)
A heritage of art, business and technology
Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, 22-23 February 2023
Italy might be called a land of art foundries and founders. History has told of a country where the art of bronze casting was revived by masters from the Renaissance to the Baroque such as Donatello, Benvenuto Cellini and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, or by famous workshops such as the Fonderia Vaticana in Rome, the Fonderia del Granduca in Florence or the bell foundries in Agnone. But today also goes in the same direction. Today tells of a sector involving more than 1,000 companies and 30,000 employees, producing around 2.3 million tons of castings every year, for a turnover of 7 billion euro: these data ranks Italy second in Europe and ninth in the world.
A key moment in the history of Italian art foundries fell between 1861 and 1915. In the aftermath of the Unification, the country satisfied a growing demand for art objects and applied art in metal, which came from both inside and outside its borders. There was a need to pay public homage in the squares and streets of the Kingdom to the heroes of the Risorgimento, turning them into monuments, to furnish cities with cast iron, iron and then steel, or to respond to the new bourgeois taste for small salon bronzes, sometimes original by contemporary masters, more often reproductions from masterpieces of classical or Renaissance art.
These and other elements, linked and interconnected, explain the blossoming in many cities of Italy of a new generation of foundrymen. Interpreters of the Italian tradition but above all up-to-date with the technological advances of the industrial revolution, they superimposed themselves on previous local realities, often replacing them, to become a further side of that broader phenomenon known as the 'Recovery of the Renaissance'. Thus configured, this sector of the art industry triggered a mechanism of competition with the most advanced enterprises in Europe, from Paris and London to Munich, Berlin and Vienna.
Several Italian foundries and art districts of that period are quite well known. Milan, Brescia and its surroundings, Verona, Lucca and Pistoia, Rome and also Naples and Palermo are cases in point. On the other hand, a fair number remained awaiting adequate recognition. Most importantly, there is still a lack of research that can account for such a phenomenon on a national and international level, as well as express it in modern communicative terms. Such research could define a missing link in the long Italian tradition of the art of casting, capable of holding together yesterday’s artisan Peninsula and today’s Made in Italy.
The conference is the result of an institutional agreement between the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, the Polytechnic University of Milan, 'Roma Tre' University and the University of Teramo, Department of Communication Sciences, and is being held with the support of the non-profit 'Luigi Spezzaferro' Foundation, in collaboration with the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, the Central State Archives, the National Research Council, the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione and the International Museum of Cast Iron - Neri Foundation, and with the patronage of the Italian Foundry Association.
The conference will take place from 22 to 23 February 2023 at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. The Accademia, established in 1593, always aimed to expand and deepen the understanding of the art world and the work of artists. The conference proceedings will be published in a monographic issue of 'Il capitale culturale. Studies on the value of cultural heritage', a journal of remarkable academic value in the field of art history and geography.
Organizing Committee
Prof. Paolo Coen, Università degli Studi di Teramo
Prof. Mario Micheli, Università degli Studi Roma Tre
Prof. Sandro Scarrocchia, Politecnico di Milano
Academic Committee
Dott.ssa Raffaella Bassi, Fondazione Neri – Museo Italiano della Ghisa, Longiano, FC
Prof. Paolo Carafa, ‘Sapienza’ Università di Roma
Prof. Paolo Coen, Università degli Studi di Teramo
Prof.ssa Donata Levi, Università degli Studi di Udine
Prof. Fabio Mangone, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Prof. Mario Micheli, Università degli Studi Roma Tre
Prof. Simone Misiani, Università degli Studi di Teramo
Prof. Luca Monica, Politecnico di Milano
Prof. Pierfrancesco Palazzotto, Università di Palermo
Prof.ssa Annalisa B. Pesando, Politecnico di Torino
Prof. Pietro Petraroia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano
Prof. Stefano Pizzi, Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milano
Prof. Gaetano Sabatini, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Prof. Sandro Scarrocchia, Politecnico di Milano
Prof. Claudio Strinati, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Roma
Official Languages
Italian, English, French
Postal Address
Convegno internazionale di studi “La Nuova Età del Bronzo”, c/o prof. Paolo Coen, Università degli Studi di Teramo, Dipartimento di Scienze della Comunicazione, Via R. Balzarini, 64100, Teramo, TE
E-mail
e-mail: fonderieitaliane.1861-1915@gmail.com
Blog
https://fonderieartisticheitaliane1861-1915.blogspot.com/
International Symposium
The New Bronze Age
Artistic foundries in Italy after the Unification (1861-1915)
A heritage of art, business and technology
Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, 22-23 febbraio 2023
General Aims
The conference aims to stimulate reflection on the topic through various types of critical orientation and by encouraging interdisciplinary approaches.
One may refer to history of art or history of archaeology and thus, among other things, analyzing the linguistic-formal, iconographic, material and technical aspects of monuments and/or other metal artefacts from Italian foundries, as well as the commissioning, collecting, market, public and criticism - including the consideration and evaluation of individual artists - or finally the fruition, possibly through the mechanism of the museum.
The same theme gives way to an urban and architectural interpretation. Where, how, by whom and on what grounds were the products of Italian foundries placed, from large bronze monuments to street furniture? Were there several criteria, or just one? These are just some of the possible questions.
A considerable room is given to history and economic history. Some questions posed are the following: what weight did Italian foundries add to the overall economic framework of the Kingdom of Italy and/or to the iron and steel sector? Or to the new industrial districts that were just making their way, in Milan as well as in and around Verona? A third question, important among other things for 'material history' or the history of domestic consumption, focuses on the fashion for bronze objects: did this fashion, recorded in France from at least 1830-1840, find a counterpart in post-unification Italy, possibly on the basis of evidence from inventories of goods?
The component of technology also had its dimension and specific weight. Compared to the previous master foundrymen, who were rooted in a centuries-old workshop tradition, Italian bronze entrepreneurs took a considerable step forward, leading to confrontation between art and the industrial revolution, which in Italy at that time was more alive than ever. This technological step forward was often echoed in promotional publications, in chronicles or in the motivations for prizes awarded in various competitions.
The theme of communication is also important. Since their appearance, monuments from Italian art foundries were subject to written descriptions and reviews, as well as reproductions, both lithographic and in photographs. Magazine series such as 'Emporium' or 'Arte Italiana Decorativa e Industriale' or 'L'Illustrazione italiana' spoke very clearly in this respect. Understanding which subjects were most represented or even the instruments, recipients and objectives of communication could certainly broaden our knowledge of the phenomenon and lead to unexpected results.
Call for Papers Topics
1. The relationship between artists and founders: languages, dynamics and tools in the production process
2. Italian magazines and their role in promoting and communicating the products of artistic foundries
3. Original bronzes, reproductions and serial products, from ancient times to contemporary age
4. The participation of Italian foundries in universal, national and/or local exhibitions
5. The material and immaterial memory of artistic foundries: issues of protection and enhancement, inside and outside the Museum
6. From Italy to the rest of the world: geography and geology of exports of men and art objects
7. Art market issues: agents, intermediaries and distributors
8. From the workshop to the design cycle: professional and artistic training
9. From the spoon to the city: micro architecture and large infrastructures connected to bronze/metal
10. The state of the art: sources and archives
11. The demand for artistic bronzes: value and economic cycle; public demand and private demand; demand for industrial production purposes and demand for final consumption of artistic or ornamental products
12. The artistic bronze foundry enterprise and its networks in the territory: quantitative and social analysis; contribution to income of the iron and steel sector; quantitative consistency and types (artisan or industrial enterprises); geographical concentration of capital, etc.
13. The effects of trade policies on the foundry sector: from laissez faire to national protection measures in the 19th century
14. Social history of the liberal bourgeoisie: the entry of bronzes into homes as a symbol of social identity; aesthetics of the new bourgeois cities; legacy and consequences in the 20th century
Call for paper drafting and deadline
Each proposal must consist of two parts: the abstract of the paper (maximum length: 400 words); the profile of the speaker (maximum length: 800 words), highlighting his/her CV and current professional position. The two parts must be included in a single Word or PDF file.
The file must be sent by 15 December 2022 to the following email addresses:
fonderieitaliane1861.1915@gmail.com (main address); pcoen@unite.it (Cc).
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