Philosophy

The purpose of preserving cultural heritage is to enhance our awareness of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going.  The world is changing at extraordinary speed. Our heritage is under assault on many fronts: biological, environmental and cultural. Our world’s diverse cultural heritage is being rapidly replaced by a homogeneous global industrial culture. As we deal with these changes, it is imperative that we retain our cultural heritage and its valuable diversity either as a clear memory or, where appropriate, as a vital, living part of it.

Cultural objects are a material form of memory carrying evidence of all the complex historical and cultural forces that created them. Preserving and understanding such heritage requires a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach. All cultural events are the result of an infinite number of varied forces that generate them. Events can be best understood if they are viewed from different perspectives. We attempt, within our means, to study objects and cultural events from as many disciplines as are relevant.

We’ve directed our efforts at a singular territory, the hill town of San Gemini, in the central Italian region of Umbria. Our approach to studying culture is to thoroughly explore one particular place or object and then to follow the threads that connect it to events in the larger world. Focusing on one place has allowed us to better understand the cultural fabric that carries the objects we study. In this way we accomplish two things: first, we generate research and work that is useful to this particular town and second, we can also use this knowledge to teach our students about patterns of cultural interconnection, an important tool in preserving cultural heritage that can be applied anywhere in the world.

The process of studying and preserving our cultural heritage must be not be left only to experts but must be a process that engages our whole society. Any intelligent and curious person, regardless of background or expertise, can actively participate and profit from such study by bringing their effort, ability, experience and perception to our thinking process.

City of San Gemini

Umbria, Italy

San Gemini is a beautiful, small hill town in Umbria along the ancient Roman road, the Via Flaminia. Located between Rome and Florence, it is a convenient base for travel in central Italy. Rome can be reached in one hour; other cities such as Perugia, Spoleto, Todi, Assisi, and Orvieto are even closer. Situated within easy reach of a wealth of cultural resources (museums, libraries, and many of the world’s treasures of art and architecture), San Gemini is a friendly town where students can easily meet local people and enjoy life in the Italian countryside.

The town has been settled continuously since ancient Roman times to the present. On a small scale, its history and urban evolution parallel that of most Italian cities, making it a manageable and comprehensible microcosm of Italian life and history.

Travel

An important component of our program is travel so students will have an opportunity to visit significant cities and preservation sites in central Italy. Our trips include stops at places of general cultural and artistic interest such as major monuments and museums, as well as visits closely related to our study such as active restoration sites, historic gardens and centers for restoration research and education.

Some of the cities we’ve already visited include:

Rome,Florence, Siena, Perugia, Assisi, Orvieto, Todi, Lucca, Montepulciano, Pienza, San Gimignano.

Travel

Preservation-related visits we’ve made include:

Rome

   Istituto Centrale per il Restauro

   Restoration of the frescos in the Pyramid of Caius Cestius

   Cleaning of Michelangelo’s Statue of Moses

   Restoration of the column of the Virgin in Piazza di Spagna

   Cleaning of the facade of the Casa dei Rienzi

   Restoration of the fountain dell’Acqua Paola

Perugia

   Restoration of the Casa Canonica of San Lorenzo

   Restoration of Palazzo Priorio

Assisi

   Restoration of the Church of San Francesco

Florence

   Opificio della Pietra Dura painting restoration lab

   Restoration of the facade of Palazzo Pitti

   Adaptive reuse of the side wing of Palazzo Pitti

   Restoration of the sculptures in the Bobboli Gardens

   Restoration of the gardens at Villa di Castello

   Restoration of the lantern of the Sacrestia Nuova

   (by Michelangelo) at the Church of San Lorenzo

   Restoration of the Capella dei Principi at the Church of

   San Lorenzo

Siena

   Adaptive reuse of the Santa Maria della Scala hospital

Prato

   Restoration of the fresco cycle of San Giovanni Battista

   and San Stefano  (by Fra Filippo Lippi)

Schedule Summer 2007

Program A: *

5 weeks 

Saturday, May 20 - Sunday, June 26

Courses:

•  Introduction to Art Restoration in Italy

   534: Field Study (3 credits)

•  Surveying and Analyzing Historic Buildings

   561 Measured Drawings for Architects   (3 credits)

Program B:

3 Weeks course: 
Saturday, May 20 - Sunday, June 6

• History of Italian Gardens 
  landscape Architecture 383 (3 Credits)

Program C:*

5 weeks

Saturday, July 1 - Sunday, August 7

Courses:

•  Traditional Painting Methods, Deterioration Factors and

    Restoration Techniques

    562: Preservation Technology Laboratory (3 credits)***

•  Preservation Theory and Practice in Italy

    533: Topics in Architectural Theory (3 credits)

Note: 

*  All students in this session must take both course offered for a total of 6 credits.

Class sizes are limited. This course list and schedule are tentative, awaiting approval and enrollments.

Course:

Introduction to Art Restoration in Italy  

534: Field Study   (3 credits)   Syllabus

Surveying and Analyzing Historic Buildings  

561 Measured Drawings for Architects  (3 credits ) Syllabus

Program A May 20 - June 25   (5 weeks)

Instructor: Max Cardillo  

This course teaches students to perform complex, multidisciplinary surveys of historic buildings that record and document both the physical aspects of a

building and also the historic and cultural context in which it evolves. Topics explored in the course are:

   • Contextual overview

            Historical overview of Italy

            History of urban evolution in Italy

            History of San Gemini and the region

            Italian building types

            Traditional construction methods in Italy            

   • The architectural survey methods

            Measuring buildings

            Using surveying tools

            Architectural drawing and documentation

  •  Analysis and documentation of the state of conservation     

            Structural condition

            Weather enclosure

            Condition of finished surfaces

            Condition of mechanical systems

            Condition of art and contents of building

  •  Historical and cultural survey includes:

            Historical documentation of the building

            The building’s evolution

            Urban context

            Archaeological evidence

            Stylistic analysis of its art and architecture

            Survey and documentation of artwork

            Building contents,

            Iconography

            Social and religious contexts

The course includes lectures and fieldwork on one of the following projects:

•  Surveying the 12^th-century San Giovanni Battista Church complex

            Architectural survey

            Archival research (open only to qualified students)

• Survey of the Church of Santo Gemine

• Archaeological survey of the public baths in Carsulae

Course: 

History of Gardens in Italy 
383 Landscape Architecture (3 credits)
Program B May 27 – June 16 (3 Weeks)

This course is being offered in association with the Department of Landscape Architecture UW Madison.

Instructors: Brian  Wishne, Max Cardillo, UW Madison Faculty, and visiting lecturers

A long tradition of gardens in Italy, going back thousands of years from classical times to the present, offers a great opportunity to study a very important aspect of man made environments. Gardens over time not only represent an important expression of design but also offer a window into other aspects of culture such as art, science, literature, religion, philosophy, and perhaps most importantly the attitude that people have towards nature.

The course will be organized around a series of Lectures given in San Gemini and field trips to various gardens and cities in Central Italy.

Topics to be studied:

·   Climate and natural flora of Italy

·   Garden plants in Italian gardens

    Food plants

    Spices and medicinal herbs

    Decorative flowers

·   Evolution of the Garden in Italy

"Paradeize”, Garden of Eden and gardens of the Ancient World

Roman and Greek gardens:

            Domus

            Villa rustica

            Palace gardens

            Plant decoration in architecture

Medieval vegetable and medicinal gardens:

            Hortus inclusus

            Convent gardens and cloisters

Renaissance gardens:

            Formal Gardens

            Limonaie and the greenhouse

            Modern horticulture

            Floral decoration

Baroque gardens:

            The garden as architecture

The ornamental garden

            The amusement park

            Flowers, fruits, and landscapes in art

Botanical gardens

            Padua and Pisa Botanical Gardens

            18^th-century Illuminis

19^th-century romantic gardens

            Public urban parks

Natural reserves

The cultural role of the Garden

·   Gardens as:

            Scientific laboratories botany and medicine

            Urban space

            Architecture

            Architectural decoration

            Symbol : art, religion, philosophy and literature

            Connection point between man and nature

Visits will include:

Pompeii, Caserta, Ninfa, Naples, Villa Borghese, Villa Medici, Villa Giulia

Villa d’Este, Hadrian’s Villa, Caprarola, Villa Lante, Bomarzo

Boboli Gardens, La Petraia, Villa Castello, Giardino dei Semplici

 Course:

Traditional Painting Methods and Restoration Techniques

562: Preservation Technology Laboratory (3 credits)  Syllabus

Program C Saturday, July1 - Sunday, August 4 (5 weeks)

Instructor : Nikos Vakalis

This course aims at doing an in-depth study of traditional painting techniques and materials common in Italy during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, factors that hastened their deterioration and approaches to their restoration.

The course focuses on the methods and materials. It includes lectures, field trips and a workshop in which students create paintings using traditional methods.

This course is aimed primarily at art historians, museum curators, restoration students and artists.

Part I

Traditional methods and materials in painting:. 

•   Frescos painting traditions:

            Ancient Roman

            Renaissance

•   Painting on wood board using 14^th  Century methods

            Board preparation

            Gesso rendering

            Gilding

            Pigments & temperas

            Painting

•   Oil painting on canvas using 17^th Century methods

            Stretchers

            Canvas

            Rendering

            Pigments & oil binders

Part II

Causes of material deterioration:

•   Wear and tear

•   Environmental

•   Biological attack

Part III

Methods of restoration for painting :

•   Analysis

•   Consolidation

•   Cleaning

•   Lacunae and retouching

Course: