Navigating Byzantine Italy

Title: Navigating Byzantine Italy: An Online Catalog for the Understanding and Enhancement of Submerged Artistic Heritage

Principal Investigator: Antonio Iacobini (Sapienza – University of Rome)

Researchers:

Prof. M. R. Menna (University of Tuscia)

Start/End: January 2020/ December 2022

Brief Description and Research Objectives:

The primary objective of the project is to create an online database cataloging Byzantine objects preserved in Italy within the chronological limits of the Byzantine Millennium (330-1453 AD). This comprehensive corpus, hitherto lacking, will enable the reconstruction of a phenomenon of Mediterranean artistic circulation that has over the centuries facilitated the transmission of culture and visual models between East and West.

Based on preliminary reconnaissance, the works amount to over 1500 and encompass a wide variety of techniques: from panel painting to sculpture in marble and wood, from ivory carving, bone, and steatite to goldsmithing and ceramics, from textiles to miniature, including detached frescoes and mosaics on walls and floors.

The database will be linked to an interactive map and will be publicly accessible on the MiBACT and AISB websites. It is designed as an open system, capable of future expansion with new acquisitions.

In addition to the database, two other products are planned: an institutional workshop and a printed historical-critical volume.

Collaborating Institutions: Sapienza University of Rome, Roma3 University, University of Milan, University of Lecce

Funding Type: MIUR