A Zoom webinar of the #Raffaello500 series with Marco Leona, Head of Scientific Research at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Antonio Sgamellotti, Accedemia dei Lincei Fellow, and Virginia Lapenta, Chief Curator at Villa Farnesina.
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The series of webinars offered by the network of Italian Cultural Institutes of US and Canada on the occasion of the Raphael 500 celebrations continues with a conversation on the execution technique and materials employed by Raphael on his fresco paintings, in comparison with the most up-to-date scientific investigations carried out during recent restorations.
Most notably, the conversation will focus on Raphael’s work in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche at Villa Farnesina in Rome, on the heels of a digital project developed by Antonio Sgamellotti and Virginia Lapenta, in collaboration with the ISTI-CNR Visual Computing Lab. The digital results of the project have been recently made available online, providing an amazingly close look at the frescoes made by Raphael and his workshop on the Loggia domed ceiling.
Marco Leona is the David H. Koch Scientist in Charge of the Department of Scientific Research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He studied in Italy where he earned a Ph.D. in Crystallography and Mineralogy from the Universita’ degli Studi di Pavia. Prior to joining the Metropolitan Museum, Leona worked at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Leona pioneered the use of Surface Enhanced Raman spectroscopy to investigate natural and synthetic dyes in works of art.
Antonio Sgamellotti is Professor Emeritus of the University of Perugia; Fellow of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei; Co-founder and Honorary President of the SMAART Center (Scientific Methodologies applied to Archaeology and Art) of Perugia; Co-founder of the Mobile Laboratory, MOLAB, for non invasive in-situ investigations on artifacts; and President of the CERHER (Center of Resilience on Heritage).
Virginia Lapenta is Chief Curator of Villa Farnesina – Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. She studied Art conservation in Bologna and Naples and teaches Roman Art History at the Tor Vergata University of Rome. Her most recent studies focus on the recovery and restoration of the 16th and 17th century decorations of the Villa Farnesina rooms that recently re-opened to the public.