(Re)Presenting Roman History in Italy, 1911-1955 (original) (raw)
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Archaeology on Shifting Ground: Rodolfo Lanciani and Rome, 1871-1914.
Studia Archaeologica, 2019
No serious study of ancient Roman topography and its monuments is undertaken without consulting the work of Rodolfo Lanciani (1845-1929), the archaeologist and scholar of ancient Rome. His Forma Urbis Romae, a large map published in sections between 1893 and 1901, captures all that was then known of the existence of the built world in the city. His multi-volumed Storia degli Scavi (1902-1913) is a formidable reference work, filled with notices of archaeological finds made in Rome from c. 1000 to 1870. Beginning in c. 1871, Lanciani provided innumerable articles and notes for two primary journals published by the Italian state and Rome' s municipal government, respectively, Notizie degli Scavi and Bulletino della Commissione archeologica comunale di Roma, on artifacts or buildings being freshly unearthed in Rome. In addition, he wrote English-language books and articles, using the recent discoveries to educate an Anglo-American audience about ancient Roman culture. Although his life has been fully examined by Domenico Palombi in 2006, a rigorous examination of Lanciani' s formidable scholarly production has not yet been undertaken. This monograph will do this, positioning some of his fascinations, interpretations, and presentations of ancient Rome within a broad context of historical and cultural events in late 19th- / early 20th-century Rome. It scrutinizes Lanciani' s published work with the following in mind: the subtle transformations in the practice of archaeology in Italy, the extreme destruction of ancient Rome during the construction of the modern capital, the variable oversight of the bureaucratic archaeological services in Rome, and the heated political discourse over the ownership and display of cultural patrimony in the new nation. In addition, it takes into account that Lanciani's publications significantly contributed and responded to the interests of a nexus of international scholars, archaeologists, collectors, and museum professionals, including those from the United States. Susan M. Dixon is Chair of the Art Department and Associate Professor of Art History at La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA. Bibliography: 2006: Between the Real and the Ideal: The Accademia degli Arcadi and its garden in eighteenth-century Rome (Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press/Associated University Presses) Edited Books: 2015: Art and Social Change: Essays on the La Salle University Art Museum Collection, co-editor with Klare Scarborough (Philadelphia: La Salle University Art Museum) 2014: Printmakers of the Baroque: Explorations of Space and Light in 17th-Century Prints, editor, exhibition catalogue (Philadelphia: La Salle University Art Museum) - undergraduate student essays 2008: Italian Baroque Art: An Anthology of Teaching Sources, editor (London: Blackwell Publishing) Dixon Susan M. Year: 2019 Publisher: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER Series: Studia Archaeologica, 231 ISBN: 978-88-913-1874-9 Binding: Paperbacj Pages: 180, 40 ill. B/N Size: 17 x 24 cm
The National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini” in Rome: the Nation on Display
2012
This paper explores Luigi Pigorini’s role in the creation and consolidation of Museo Preistorico Etnografico, established by the Italian government in 1875. Pigorini trained as both a naturalist and an antiquarian. Since the creation of the chair of Paletnologia in Rome in 1877, he was one of the first professionals in prehistoric archaeology in Europe. Taking into account Pigorini’s theoretical propositions, this paper aims to analyse his role in the creation of the national museum that still bears his name. In the rooms of a former Collegio Romano, Pigorini gathered a collection of prehistoric materials from different regions of Italy and ethnographic artifacts from all over the world. By displaying both the material evidence of national (pre) history and universal ethnographic materials, Pigorini created in the rooms of his museum, a national master narrative on the formation of the Italian people, measured against the evolution of mankind through stages of progress.
Reimagining Ancient Italy: New Directions in Italian Archaeology
The Expedition, 2011
In the modern imagination, Italy is a land of rolling vineyards, dramatic coastal vistas, and of course, extraordinary food— infinite varieties of pasta, delicate pastries, rich cheeses, and earthy wines. Italian archaeology does not perhaps conjure up quite such an image of richness and diversity. The great monuments of Rome—the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, and the catacombs—have dominated foreigners’ experience of Italian archaeology since the era of the Grand Tour. The practice of archaeology was, until the 1960s, similarly limited: the search for Greco-Roman antiquities— sculpture, vases, temples, and rich houses—preoccupied Italian and foreign archaeologists alike, and modern archaeological technique was slow to take hold. Disciplines Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity | Arts and Humanities | Classical Archaeology and Art History | Classics This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/classics\_papers/168
In the last couple of years, public attitudes towards Fascist material legacies in Italy have been at the centre of a heated debate in the academic world, which has by now grown to involve the press and social media. This paper will look specifically at how this is reflected in a museum display at a heritage site that was once Mussolini’s residence in Rome. The underlying question of this paper is what role museums as heritage sites play in the renegotiation of a problematic past, and whether they can also have an active role in either supporting or challenging the official narrative. As heritage is socially constructed and defined through present circumstances, the narratives of this particular museum reveal a conflicting past as mirrored by the national narrative. The paper also questions whether public perception of this site has changed over time and considers how the recent transformation into a museum signifies a shift from the post-war interpretation, which may or may not reflect a high-level political agenda.