Conference Presentations by Pamela Gallicchio
Pamela Gallicchio, 2021
This paper investigates selected images representing human beings in mountain spaces in the encyc... more This paper investigates selected images representing human beings in mountain spaces in the encyclopedic compilation On the Properties of Things (13th century). In these images, mountains are more than a generic background: they are the setting where people live, work, discover resources –such as gemstones and colors – useful for everyday life and activities (painting, sumptuary arts, dye-works). I will focus on the interplay between human beings, mountainous environments, and natural resources, comparing woodcuts and miniatures taken from 15th-century editions of this text. What kind of idea of mountains do these images display? Why are natural resources, such as pigments, represented not as raw materials but as already finished goods looming among the rocks? Uncovering the opacity of these mountains, I will answer these questions and pursue the social agency of this kind of “resources/products” dialectic in the specific historical context where the images were produced.
Pamela Gallicchio, 2021
Workshop onlIne organIzzazIone scIentIfIca monIca latella stefano pIerguIdI katharIne stahlbuhk b... more Workshop onlIne organIzzazIone scIentIfIca monIca latella stefano pIerguIdI katharIne stahlbuhk bIblIotheca hertzIana IstItuto max planck per la storIa dell'arte bIblIotheca hertzIana-IstItuto max planck per la storIa dell'arte Via Gregoriana, 30 00187 Roma www.biblhertz.it contattI mara freIberg sImmen
Lucia Corrain e Pamela Gallicchio, 2017
Pamela Gallicchio, 2019
Il contributo intende indagare le forme espressive e i contenuti degli affreschi realizzati dal p... more Il contributo intende indagare le forme espressive e i contenuti degli affreschi realizzati dal pittore Hans Clemer, durante il primo decennio del Cinquecento, presso una residenza nobiliare situata nella città di Saluzzo, all’epoca centro nevralgico dell’omonimo marchesato.
Muovendo dalla biografia politica del committente – l’ascesa del borghese Francesco Cavassa – e dall’analisi del contesto storico-artistico e sociale, si tenterà di mettere in luce il processo di emulazione secondo cui alcuni esponenti della nuova classe dirigente del marchesato adottarono e manifestarono il gusto estetico di una pittura elitaria, quella in chiaroscuro monocromo, appannaggio e segno distintivo delle cerchie più potenti d’Europa. La scelta di commissionare un ciclo pittorico dal contenuto mitologico, nel dettaglio la storia di un semidio, Herakles, che aveva dovuto affrontare una lunga e tumultuosa serie di imprese, avversità e sacrifici allo scopo di poter ascendere alla divinità e far parte dunque di una dimensione altra, riecheggia le vicende vissute dal committente: la sua ascesa politica e il percorso svolto per il
conseguimento del titolo nobiliare. L’esperienza e il privilegio di esser entrato a far parte dell’entourage dei marchesi creano la necessità di acquisire una forma espressiva (la pittura in chiaroscuro) che traduca, in maniera efficace, la nuova condizione sociale raggiunta da parte del committente. Il risultato di una simile operazione distintiva trova espressione visiva negli affreschi dipinti sulle pareti del loggiato
del suo palazzo, i quali pertanto assurgono alla valenza di un messaggio politico, finalizzato al riconoscimento del committente quale membro del potere che gravita attorno al marchesato.
Pamela Gallicchio, 2017
Il paper si propone di indagare forme di pittura caratterizzate da una gamma cromatica ridotta de... more Il paper si propone di indagare forme di pittura caratterizzate da una gamma cromatica ridotta della tavolozza. La negazione della policromia può condurci sulle tracce della costruzione di senso inscritto nell’opera e indicarci qualcosa di intimamente legato alla dimensione ideativa e processuale del dipinto?
Una selezione di casi studio, incentrati sulla dialettica tra forme di riduzione cromatica e forme del potere, tenterà di evidenziarne caratteristiche e peculiarità, secondo una lettura che procede dal contesto per giungere alle strategie enunciative messe in atto dalle rappresentazioni. La rinuncia a una resa policroma della realtà, nell’ambito della pittura Occidentale, è documentata fin dall’Antichità e attraversa l’intera storia della pittura. Ciò spinge a interrogarsi sulle valenze semantiche di tale tipo di pittura, sulle modalità di costruzione dell’osservatore, sullo statuto ontologico della pittura stessa.
Pamela Gallicchio, 2017
The Colors of Time: polychromy versus monochromy in painting (XV)
Reality is polychrome and dive... more The Colors of Time: polychromy versus monochromy in painting (XV)
Reality is polychrome and diversified, therefore which expressive possibilities are available to the painter in order to clearly tell a story through images? My paper aims to investigate the modes of artistic expression used by painters to figuratively render the idea of Time.
The painters indeed created narrative strategies by using monochrome painting, which was their advantage. In many examples, the idea of Time is represented by the deliberate opposition between polychromy and monochromy. In a sacred painting the monochrome detail makes evident the different level of temporal and conceptual reality, therefore sacred time is polychrome and profane time is monochrome.
My paper will investigate the features of these narrative strategies in selected Italian and Flemish paintings (XV century, works by Mantegna, Bellini, van Eyck, van der Weyden), by considering their similarities and above all their differences.
FOURTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ICONOGRAPHIC STUDIES Rijeka, 15 – 16 October 2020, 2020
This paper explores the two fresco cycles devoted to Saint Francesca Romana (Francesca Bussa de’ ... more This paper explores the two fresco cycles devoted to Saint Francesca Romana (Francesca Bussa de’ Leoni 1384-1440), in the monastery of Tor de’ Specchi in Rome, at the foot of Campidoglio, founded in 1433. The two cycles, created by different painters and realized twenty years apart, are situated in two adjoining spaces of the monastery.
The first, attributed to Antoniazzo Romano and his school, was frescoed in 1468 in a space used for prayer (ancient monastery chapel). These images, colorful, represent in twentyfive scenes her charitable actions and miracles. The second fresco, colorless (terra verde), is situated in the ancient refettorio, is dated 1485, and is composed by ten scenes depicting her conflicts with monstrous creatures.
This proposal will analyze the two parietal decorations in relation to their source, the Tractati della vita et delli visioni di santa Francesca Romana (1447), a collection of texts recording mainly her miracles and visions written in Roman vulgar by her confessor, Ianni Mattiotti. Each image of the cycles is presented by a caption from this agiographic source. The examination will thus highlight that words and images are linked by a participative relationship: they interact in order to build the sense of the whole scene, often composed by two consecutive moments of the same event.
The paper will then unearth the iconographical devices and narrative strategies employed in some of these paradigmatic pictures to translate visually the sainthood concept. The task is to grasp how images and words work together and how this interaction makes possible the visualization of the different polarities inherent to holiness. Indeed, whereas the polychrome cycle shows forms of holiness linked to a vivifying dimension – healing the sick, supplying food, her charitable activities occurring in a real urban space in her city – the terra verde cycle depicts a noxious dimension characterized by light deprivation, indoor spaces, and opposition to the Devil’s torments.
Finally, we will proceed with the articulation of a reflection focused on the gestures exhibited in the frescoes and consequently on the persecutory nature of the images that describe the female body of the saint. These accentuated gestures, together with the opposing categories present in the paintings (external vs interior, colorfull vs colorless, blocked action vs moving action, etc.), constitute the site of elaboration that allows the viewer to recognize the saving action of Francesca’s sainthood.
Papers by Pamela Gallicchio
IKON
This paper explores the two fresco cycles devoted to Saint Francesca Romana (Francesca Bussa de’ ... more This paper explores the two fresco cycles devoted to Saint Francesca Romana (Francesca Bussa de’ Leoni 1384-1440), in the monastery of Tor de’ Specchi in Rome, at the foot of Campidoglio, founded in 1433. The two cycles, created by different painters and realized twenty years apart, are situated in two adjoining spaces of the monastery. The first, attributed to Antoniazzo Romano and his school, was frescoed in 1468 in a space used for prayer (ancient monastery chapel). These images, colorful, represent in twentyfive scenes her charitable actions and miracles. The second fresco, colorless (terra verde), is situated in the ancient refettorio, is dated 1485, and is composed by ten scenes depicting her conflicts with monstrous creatures. This proposal will analyze the two parietal decorations in relation to their source, the Tractati della vita et delli visioni di santa Francesca Romana (1447), a collection of texts recording mainly her miracles and visions written in Roman vulgar by her confessor, Ianni Mattiotti. Each image of the cycles is presented by a caption from this agiographic source. The examination will thus highlight that words and images are linked by a participative relationship: they interact in order to build the sense of the whole scene, often composed by two consecutive moments of the same event. The paper will then unearth the iconographical devices and narrative strategies employed in some of these paradigmatic pictures to translate visually the sainthood concept. The task is to grasp how images and words work together and how this interaction makes possible the visualization of the different polarities inherent to holiness. Indeed, whereas the polychrome cycle shows forms of holiness linked to a vivifying dimension – healing the sick, supplying food, her charitable activities occurring in a real urban space in her city – the terra verde cycle depicts a noxious dimension characterized by light deprivation, indoor spaces, and opposition to the Devil’s torments. Finally, we will proceed with the articulation of a reflection focused on the gestures exhibited in the frescoes and consequently on the persecutory nature of the images that describe the female body of the saint. These accentuated gestures, together with the opposing categories present in the paintings (external vs interior, colorfull vs colorless, blocked action vs moving action, etc.), constitute the site of elaboration that allows the viewer to recognize the saving action of Francesca’s sainthood.
Il metodo Semiotico E/C; n.25, 2019
Il contributo indaga le proprietà metodologiche distintive del paradigma semiotico greimasiano. M... more Il contributo indaga le proprietà metodologiche distintive del paradigma semiotico greimasiano. Muovendo dagli strumenti teorici e operativi che configurano l'analisi semiotica di un testo visivo, si dimostra come teoria e analisi si influenzino reciprocamente. Il livello metodologico stabilisce infatti i criteri e gli orientamenti da seguire nel corso dell'analisi, la quale rappresenta una procedura che si struttura a partire dalle peculiarità presenti in ciascun testo. Compito dell'analista sarà individuare le competenze specifiche convocate dal testo, al fine di restituirne il senso precipuo. Il metodo qui messo in azione su un dipinto, Il mercato di Polli, realizzato dal pittore cremonese Vincenzo Campi nel 1581 circa, permetterà di riportare in superficie una forma di parodia visiva.
Pamela Gallicchio; Carte Semiotiche Annali 5, 2017
The paper proposes a reflection on the pictorial cycle of the Virtues and Vices personifications ... more The paper proposes a reflection on the pictorial cycle of the Virtues and Vices personifications in the Scrovegni Chapel: its positioning and visibility in relation to the viewer and its interaction with the other polychrome pictures, in order to attempt a deepest comprehension of this kind of pictorial structure. According to Ejzenstejn’s theory of montage as a general formal principle that can be found in the arts, the article aims at investigating some aspects of the pictorial construction, such as the contrast between two palette-systems, bringing out the importance of the chromatic level for the purpose of producing sense.
Talks by Pamela Gallicchio
Lucia Corrain e Pamela Gallicchio, 2018
Journal Articles by Pamela Gallicchio
This article explores the two fresco cycles devoted to Saint Francesca Romana (Francesca Bussa de... more This article explores the two fresco cycles devoted to Saint Francesca Romana (Francesca Bussa de’ Leoni 1384-1440) in the monastery of Tor de’ Specchi in Rome, founded in 1433. The two cycles, created by different painters twenty years apart, are situated in two adjoining spaces of the monastery. The first, attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, was frescoed in 1468 in a space used for prayer and mass (the Oratorio) and represents her charitable actions, miracles, and celestial visions. The second cycle dated to 1485, in terra verde technique, is situated in the ancient refectory and depicts Francesca Romana’s encounter with demonic creatures. Intriguingly, although Francesca was not canonized until 1608, she is presented as a saint in both cycles. We analyze the two parietal decorations in relation to their sources, the Tractato delli visioni di santa Fran- cesca Romana and Tractato delle bactaglie. These two texts were written in Roman vulgar by Francesca’s confessor, Giovanni Mattiotti, in 1447 to record her divine visions and battles with evil. By focusing on selected scenes from both the cycles, we ascertain how closely the images adhere to Mattiotti’s written accounts or, instead, the autonomy of the images. The aim is to grasp how images and words work together in dialogue and how, thanks to this interaction, the different polarities inherent to holiness can be rendered visual. Indeed, whereas the colorful scenes show aspects of holiness linked to a vivifying dimen- sion – Francesca is welcomed into the heavenly realm in the presence of Christ and the Virgin – the terra verde images depict a noxious dimension characterized by light deprivation, indoor spaces, and opposition to the Devil’s torments. Ultimately, by investigating visual forms, material aspects, and narrative strategies, we unearth how Francesca’s sainthood status has been translated and codified.
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Conference Presentations by Pamela Gallicchio
Muovendo dalla biografia politica del committente – l’ascesa del borghese Francesco Cavassa – e dall’analisi del contesto storico-artistico e sociale, si tenterà di mettere in luce il processo di emulazione secondo cui alcuni esponenti della nuova classe dirigente del marchesato adottarono e manifestarono il gusto estetico di una pittura elitaria, quella in chiaroscuro monocromo, appannaggio e segno distintivo delle cerchie più potenti d’Europa. La scelta di commissionare un ciclo pittorico dal contenuto mitologico, nel dettaglio la storia di un semidio, Herakles, che aveva dovuto affrontare una lunga e tumultuosa serie di imprese, avversità e sacrifici allo scopo di poter ascendere alla divinità e far parte dunque di una dimensione altra, riecheggia le vicende vissute dal committente: la sua ascesa politica e il percorso svolto per il
conseguimento del titolo nobiliare. L’esperienza e il privilegio di esser entrato a far parte dell’entourage dei marchesi creano la necessità di acquisire una forma espressiva (la pittura in chiaroscuro) che traduca, in maniera efficace, la nuova condizione sociale raggiunta da parte del committente. Il risultato di una simile operazione distintiva trova espressione visiva negli affreschi dipinti sulle pareti del loggiato
del suo palazzo, i quali pertanto assurgono alla valenza di un messaggio politico, finalizzato al riconoscimento del committente quale membro del potere che gravita attorno al marchesato.
Una selezione di casi studio, incentrati sulla dialettica tra forme di riduzione cromatica e forme del potere, tenterà di evidenziarne caratteristiche e peculiarità, secondo una lettura che procede dal contesto per giungere alle strategie enunciative messe in atto dalle rappresentazioni. La rinuncia a una resa policroma della realtà, nell’ambito della pittura Occidentale, è documentata fin dall’Antichità e attraversa l’intera storia della pittura. Ciò spinge a interrogarsi sulle valenze semantiche di tale tipo di pittura, sulle modalità di costruzione dell’osservatore, sullo statuto ontologico della pittura stessa.
Reality is polychrome and diversified, therefore which expressive possibilities are available to the painter in order to clearly tell a story through images? My paper aims to investigate the modes of artistic expression used by painters to figuratively render the idea of Time.
The painters indeed created narrative strategies by using monochrome painting, which was their advantage. In many examples, the idea of Time is represented by the deliberate opposition between polychromy and monochromy. In a sacred painting the monochrome detail makes evident the different level of temporal and conceptual reality, therefore sacred time is polychrome and profane time is monochrome.
My paper will investigate the features of these narrative strategies in selected Italian and Flemish paintings (XV century, works by Mantegna, Bellini, van Eyck, van der Weyden), by considering their similarities and above all their differences.
The first, attributed to Antoniazzo Romano and his school, was frescoed in 1468 in a space used for prayer (ancient monastery chapel). These images, colorful, represent in twentyfive scenes her charitable actions and miracles. The second fresco, colorless (terra verde), is situated in the ancient refettorio, is dated 1485, and is composed by ten scenes depicting her conflicts with monstrous creatures.
This proposal will analyze the two parietal decorations in relation to their source, the Tractati della vita et delli visioni di santa Francesca Romana (1447), a collection of texts recording mainly her miracles and visions written in Roman vulgar by her confessor, Ianni Mattiotti. Each image of the cycles is presented by a caption from this agiographic source. The examination will thus highlight that words and images are linked by a participative relationship: they interact in order to build the sense of the whole scene, often composed by two consecutive moments of the same event.
The paper will then unearth the iconographical devices and narrative strategies employed in some of these paradigmatic pictures to translate visually the sainthood concept. The task is to grasp how images and words work together and how this interaction makes possible the visualization of the different polarities inherent to holiness. Indeed, whereas the polychrome cycle shows forms of holiness linked to a vivifying dimension – healing the sick, supplying food, her charitable activities occurring in a real urban space in her city – the terra verde cycle depicts a noxious dimension characterized by light deprivation, indoor spaces, and opposition to the Devil’s torments.
Finally, we will proceed with the articulation of a reflection focused on the gestures exhibited in the frescoes and consequently on the persecutory nature of the images that describe the female body of the saint. These accentuated gestures, together with the opposing categories present in the paintings (external vs interior, colorfull vs colorless, blocked action vs moving action, etc.), constitute the site of elaboration that allows the viewer to recognize the saving action of Francesca’s sainthood.
Papers by Pamela Gallicchio
Talks by Pamela Gallicchio
Journal Articles by Pamela Gallicchio
Muovendo dalla biografia politica del committente – l’ascesa del borghese Francesco Cavassa – e dall’analisi del contesto storico-artistico e sociale, si tenterà di mettere in luce il processo di emulazione secondo cui alcuni esponenti della nuova classe dirigente del marchesato adottarono e manifestarono il gusto estetico di una pittura elitaria, quella in chiaroscuro monocromo, appannaggio e segno distintivo delle cerchie più potenti d’Europa. La scelta di commissionare un ciclo pittorico dal contenuto mitologico, nel dettaglio la storia di un semidio, Herakles, che aveva dovuto affrontare una lunga e tumultuosa serie di imprese, avversità e sacrifici allo scopo di poter ascendere alla divinità e far parte dunque di una dimensione altra, riecheggia le vicende vissute dal committente: la sua ascesa politica e il percorso svolto per il
conseguimento del titolo nobiliare. L’esperienza e il privilegio di esser entrato a far parte dell’entourage dei marchesi creano la necessità di acquisire una forma espressiva (la pittura in chiaroscuro) che traduca, in maniera efficace, la nuova condizione sociale raggiunta da parte del committente. Il risultato di una simile operazione distintiva trova espressione visiva negli affreschi dipinti sulle pareti del loggiato
del suo palazzo, i quali pertanto assurgono alla valenza di un messaggio politico, finalizzato al riconoscimento del committente quale membro del potere che gravita attorno al marchesato.
Una selezione di casi studio, incentrati sulla dialettica tra forme di riduzione cromatica e forme del potere, tenterà di evidenziarne caratteristiche e peculiarità, secondo una lettura che procede dal contesto per giungere alle strategie enunciative messe in atto dalle rappresentazioni. La rinuncia a una resa policroma della realtà, nell’ambito della pittura Occidentale, è documentata fin dall’Antichità e attraversa l’intera storia della pittura. Ciò spinge a interrogarsi sulle valenze semantiche di tale tipo di pittura, sulle modalità di costruzione dell’osservatore, sullo statuto ontologico della pittura stessa.
Reality is polychrome and diversified, therefore which expressive possibilities are available to the painter in order to clearly tell a story through images? My paper aims to investigate the modes of artistic expression used by painters to figuratively render the idea of Time.
The painters indeed created narrative strategies by using monochrome painting, which was their advantage. In many examples, the idea of Time is represented by the deliberate opposition between polychromy and monochromy. In a sacred painting the monochrome detail makes evident the different level of temporal and conceptual reality, therefore sacred time is polychrome and profane time is monochrome.
My paper will investigate the features of these narrative strategies in selected Italian and Flemish paintings (XV century, works by Mantegna, Bellini, van Eyck, van der Weyden), by considering their similarities and above all their differences.
The first, attributed to Antoniazzo Romano and his school, was frescoed in 1468 in a space used for prayer (ancient monastery chapel). These images, colorful, represent in twentyfive scenes her charitable actions and miracles. The second fresco, colorless (terra verde), is situated in the ancient refettorio, is dated 1485, and is composed by ten scenes depicting her conflicts with monstrous creatures.
This proposal will analyze the two parietal decorations in relation to their source, the Tractati della vita et delli visioni di santa Francesca Romana (1447), a collection of texts recording mainly her miracles and visions written in Roman vulgar by her confessor, Ianni Mattiotti. Each image of the cycles is presented by a caption from this agiographic source. The examination will thus highlight that words and images are linked by a participative relationship: they interact in order to build the sense of the whole scene, often composed by two consecutive moments of the same event.
The paper will then unearth the iconographical devices and narrative strategies employed in some of these paradigmatic pictures to translate visually the sainthood concept. The task is to grasp how images and words work together and how this interaction makes possible the visualization of the different polarities inherent to holiness. Indeed, whereas the polychrome cycle shows forms of holiness linked to a vivifying dimension – healing the sick, supplying food, her charitable activities occurring in a real urban space in her city – the terra verde cycle depicts a noxious dimension characterized by light deprivation, indoor spaces, and opposition to the Devil’s torments.
Finally, we will proceed with the articulation of a reflection focused on the gestures exhibited in the frescoes and consequently on the persecutory nature of the images that describe the female body of the saint. These accentuated gestures, together with the opposing categories present in the paintings (external vs interior, colorfull vs colorless, blocked action vs moving action, etc.), constitute the site of elaboration that allows the viewer to recognize the saving action of Francesca’s sainthood.