Winckelmann Laboratory
Director: Prof. Marco Meli
(Phone 055/2756654;marco.meli@unifi.it)
Year of establishment:
2008
Research Activity
The Winckelmann Laboratory is a study and research group focusing on the work of Johann Joachim Winckelmann and, more generally, on Classical-Romantic European culture.
The Winckelmann Laboratory is collaborating with the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn, in the organization of the “Italian-German Days”, which enrich the educational and scientific offer of the “Italian-German Bilateral Studies” international curricula with a double degree both in the bachelor and master’s degrees in Languages of the University of Florence.
Finally, the laboratory aims to extend the field of research to the modern reception of classical culture and aesthetics, as well as reflect on contemporary aesthetics; it is open to all scholars interested in research on J. J. Winckelmann, but also to writers and artists who make constant reference to such historical experience.
PREMISES
The idea of creating a laboratory of Winckelmannian studies in Florence dates back to the early 1990s when an international conference on the theme Winckelmann between archaeology and literature was organized by the then “Institute of Germanic, Slavic and Finno-Ugric Languages and Literature” (14-15 December 1990). In addition to the publication of the related documents, edited by Maria Fancelli in 1993 in Venice, the most notable result of those studies was the edition of the important manuscript kept at the Accademia della Colombaria Das Florentiner Winckelmann-Manuskript (the Florentine manuscript of Winckelmann), edited by Max Kunze, Olschki, Florence, 1994. The manuscript was presented at Palazzo Pitti in the Palatine Gallery during an exhibition on the main archival treasures of Florence (28 January - 27 April 2014).
Studies and publications in this field continued (Il primato dell’occhio, Artemide, Rome 1997, edited by Emilio Bonfatti and Maria Fancelli); in addition, relations with the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft of Stendal were established and increasingly intensified.
Establishment of the Winckelmann Laboratory:
The official establishment of the Winckelmann Laboratory in 2008 at the Department of Languages, Literature and Intercultural Studies (LILSI) of the University of Florence coincided with the start of the project of the complete Italian edition of J.J. Winckelmann’s Lettere (published in 2017 by Maria Fancelli and Joselita Raspi Serra with the scientific coordination of Paolo Chiarini, followed by Fabrizio Cambi), which marked a fruitful collaboration between the University of Florence, Istituto Italiano di Studi Germanici of Rome, promoter of the above publication, and the Accademia della Colombaria.
In 2014, the laboratory experienced a new impetus in its research activity in view of the double jubilee 2017-2018 of J.J. Winckelmann. Among the numerous events to which the laboratory has made an important contribution of ideas and research, the exhibitions Winckelmann, Florence and the Etruscans and The father of archaeology in Tuscany curated by S. Bruni and G. Camporeale, set up in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence from 26 May 2017 to 30 January 2017 are worth mentioning together with the International Conference, Winckelmann, Florence and the Etruscans, held in Florence on 26-27 January 2017, the proceedings of which were curated by Stefano Bruni and Marco Meli for ETS.
More conferences were planned for 2018 and 2019, as well as the publication by Massimo Fanfani of the Parisian manuscript containing the Italian proverbs transcribed by Winckelmann and the exhibition Italian ways of saying and proverbs from Winckelmann’s pen held in the Humanities Library of the University of Florence from February to April 2019.
Location and contacts:
Department of Languages, Literatures and Intercultural Studies
Via Santa Reparata 93, 50129 FLORENCE
Tel: 055/2756-602-603-660
Fax: 055/2756605
segr-dip@lilsi.unifi.it
Scientific Committee:
Prof. Stefano Bruni (University of Ferrara)
Prof. Fabrizio Cambi (University of Trento)
Prof. Patrizio Collini (University of Florence)
Prof. Maria Fancelli (University of Florence)
Prof. Massimo Fanfani (University of Florence)
Prof. Marco Meli (University of Florence)
Prof. Rita Svandrlik (University of Florence)
Prof. Vivetta Vivarelli (University of Florence)
Affiliates:
Dr. Diana Battisti (University of Florence)
Dr. Barbara Di Noi (University of Florence)
Dr. Martina Ristori (University of Florence)
Partnerships:
Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere ‘La Colombaria’
Accademia della Crusca
Accademia Etrusca di Cortona
Istituto Italiano di Studi Germanici
Winckelmann-Gesellschaft, Stendal