On 14 December 1935, the Scuola Nazionale del Restauro was inaugurated in Milan, a modest institute that nevertheless aspired to serve as a national benchmark for conservation practice. At its origins stood Renato Mancia (1888-1985), an eclectic figure from Trevi (Umbria), who had worked as a sculptor, artist, and restorer. A strong advocate of “pina-cology” as a scientific discipline, Mancia authored in 1936 one of the earliest Italian pub-lications on the use of diagnostic techniques in the study and treatment of artworks. This article brings to light previously overlooked aspects of Mancia’s biography and situates the brief experience of the Milanese Scuola within the broader Italian context of the 1930s, a period marked by intense debate between those who promoted an uncompromisingly positivist reliance on scientific–diagnostic tools and those who argued for the necessary mediation of art-historical expertise. Within this contested field, establishing intellectual authority also required clear dissociation from the thriving contemporary market in art forgeries.
Renato Mancia and the Scuola Nazionale del Restauro (Milan 1935) in contemporary debate
Mara S.
2025-01-01
Abstract
On 14 December 1935, the Scuola Nazionale del Restauro was inaugurated in Milan, a modest institute that nevertheless aspired to serve as a national benchmark for conservation practice. At its origins stood Renato Mancia (1888-1985), an eclectic figure from Trevi (Umbria), who had worked as a sculptor, artist, and restorer. A strong advocate of “pina-cology” as a scientific discipline, Mancia authored in 1936 one of the earliest Italian pub-lications on the use of diagnostic techniques in the study and treatment of artworks. This article brings to light previously overlooked aspects of Mancia’s biography and situates the brief experience of the Milanese Scuola within the broader Italian context of the 1930s, a period marked by intense debate between those who promoted an uncompromisingly positivist reliance on scientific–diagnostic tools and those who argued for the necessary mediation of art-historical expertise. Within this contested field, establishing intellectual authority also required clear dissociation from the thriving contemporary market in art forgeries.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
