HE-Arc
Conservation-restauration
Fashion Victims? – Restoring and Inventing Ancient Vases in the Nineteenth Century

Fashion Victims? – Restoring and Inventing Ancient Vases in the Nineteenth Century

Conservation-restauration
Date
2024 — 2026

The project is devoted to the restorations and alterations carried out in the nineteenth century on ancient vases unearthed at that time in Etruscan necropolises

Project team
Hortense de Corneillan

OBJECTIVES

The project is devoted to the restorations and alterations carried out in the nineteenth century on ancient vases unearthed at that time in Etruscan necropolises. It seeks to highlight the heritage value of these early restorations and to demonstrate their fundamental importance for research.

PROGRAM

Through the study of a group of ceramics from historic collections preserved in Switzerland and Italy, the project proposes:

  1. The development of a methodology for the study and characterization of nineteenth-century restorations present on ancient vases.
  2. The application of this methodology to a corpus of vases from nineteenth-century collections.
  3. The recognition of the heritage value of these material testimonies. Restoration practices were analyzed through the lens of a dual influence: on the one hand, the reception of Etruscan art at the moment of its rediscovery; on the other, the geopolitical dynamics underlying the formation of Etruscan art collections in the nineteenth century.

RESULTS

The project gathered all the data necessary to understand the processes of discovery, circulation, sale, and restoration of Etruscan antiquities in the Papal States from the early nineteenth century to Italian unification.

The material study of collections in Switzerland and Italy made it possible to identify previously unknown restorers, recontextualize certain vases, and show that most objects had lost important information following de-restoration.

A specific methodology and non-invasive tests were developed to document these interventions, laying the groundwork for a future database.

FUNDINGS

  • Réseau de Compétences Design et Arts visuels HES-SO hes-so.ch
  • Office fédéral de la culture, Service transfert des biens culturels bak.admin.ch
  • Fondation UBS pour la culture ubs.com

PARTNERS

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