Remembering Malcolm Bell III
Malcolm Bell (top center) on a 1995 trip to Tunisia; top from left: Laura Flusche, Leah Johnson, Richard Lim, Bell, Pam Gorgone, Karl Kirchwey, Katherine Jansen; bottom: Anders Wallace, Diana Minsky, Caroline Bruzelius, Anthony Corbeill, Gary Hilderbrand
The American Academy in Rome will host a seminar and concert honoring the life and work of the archaeologist Malcolm (“Mac”) Bell III, who died in January of this year. A 1970 Rome Prize Fellow, a 1989 Resident, and Professor-in-Charge of the School of Classical Studies from 1990 to 1996, Bell made extensive contributions to the Academy and beyond. Papers presented today will celebrate the range of his impact: from his time as humanities professor at AAR, to his longtime direction of the excavations of Morgantina on Sicily, to his historic work repatriating looted artifacts and negotiating a bilateral agreement between Italy and the United States aimed at curtailing illegal trade in Italian antiquities.
A cello concert by Malcolm Bell’s son, Raphael Bell, will follow the seminar. Raphael Bell is the leader of the cello section at the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, co–artistic director of La Loingtaine in Montigny-sur-Loing, cofounder of the Camerata Fontainebleau, and founder and co–artistic director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival in his Virginia hometown.
Program
Welcome
3:15pm
Allison Emmerson (2019 Fellow), Interim Andrew W. Mellon Humanities Professor
Rome and the American Academy
3:20pm
Caroline Bruzelius (1986 Fellow, 1989 Resident, 1994–98 Director), Anne Murnick Cogan Distinguished Professor Emerita of Art and Art History, Duke University
Malcolm Bell in Rome: Friend, Teacher, Leader
Anthony Corbeill (1995 Fellow), Basil L. Gildersleeve Professor of Classics, University of Virginia
The M(ac B)ellon Professorship at the AAR
Karl Kirchwey (1995 Fellow), Professor of English and Creative Writing, Boston University
“The Horologium of Augustus” (poem)
Repatriation (part 1)
4:05pm
Claire Lyons (2022 Resident), Curator, Department of Antiquities, J. Paul Getty Museum
Nostos. Malcolm Bell and the Returns of Sicily’s Ancient Heritage
Tea Break
4:30pm
Repatriation (part 2)
5:00pm
Stefano De Caro, Director-General Emeritus, ICCROM
Restituzioni: 17 anni dopo la mostra “Nostoi”
Morgantina: The Site and the Volume
5:20pm
Alex Walthall (2013 Fellow), Associate Professor, University of Texas; Director of the American Excavations at Morgantina
A Lifetime of Stories from Serra Orlando: Mac Bell & the American Excavations at Morgantina
Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, Accademia dei Lincei
Malcolm Bell e l’agora di Morgantina
Cello Concert: Raphael Bell
6:15pm
J. S. Bach
Suite No. 1 in G major
Prelude - Allemande - Courante - Sarabande - Minuet I & II - Gigue
Elliott Carter (1953 Fellow, 1968 Resident)
Figment for solo cello (1994)
J. S. Bach
Suite No. 2 in D minor
Prelude - Allemande - Courante - Sarabande - Minuet I & II - Gigue
Reception
7:00pm
For access to the Academy, guests will be asked to show a valid photo ID. Backpacks and luggage with dimensions larger than 40 x 35 x 15 cm (16 x 14 x 6 in.) are not permitted on the property. There are no locker facilities available. You may not bring animals (with the exception of seeing-eye/guide dogs).
The Academy is accessible to wheelchair users and others who need to avoid stairs. Please email us at events@aarome.org if you or someone in your party uses a wheelchair or other mobility devices so that we can ensure the best possible visitor experience. If you are someone with a disability or medical condition that may require special accommodation, please also email us at events@aarome.org.