Conservation and Controversy: An account of Alfonso Rubbiani’s Restorations in Piazza Maggiore and their Context in Europe

Maria Montcalm
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2011
BA

Subject: Architecture and Restoration
Country: Italy
Period: 19th and 20th Century

10,000 words

This dissertation is a study of Alfonso Rubbiani (1848-1913) and of his work in restoration. In particular, his work undertaken on the buildings of Piazza Maggiore in Bologna-Piazza Communale, Palazzo dei Notai, Palazzo del Podesta and Palazzo di Re Enzo will be discussed. In addition to an account of his approach to these specific restorations, there is a deep focus on the cultural, national and economic context of the work, from the local to the European. One of the main aims of this thesis is to introduce a major figure in Italian restoration to a wider audience by examining his theories, some of which have never been translated. From a historical perspective this aims to present Alfonso Rubbiani and his specific approach to restoration in a balanced light, in order that the extent of the restorer’s work is better appreciated and understood.

Irish Georgian Society

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Conservation and Controversy: An account of Alfonso Rubbiani’s Restorations in Piazza Maggiore and their Context in Europe