A workshop exploring the commissioning, making and marketing of sculpture in sixteenth century Rome, organized by Claudia La Malfa (Università Telematica Internazionale Uninettuno), Alessandro Scafi (Warburg Institute, University of London) and Marta Ajmar (Victoria and Albert Museum).

The Rome component of this three-part series of workshops focuses on the relationship between artists working in Rome and those based in other important as well as peripheral centers of the Italian peninsula. It draws attention to the early elaborations of sculptors’ ideas on paper, and highlights the activity of artists working in Rome in the 1540s, 1550s, and 1560s, such as Guglielmo della Porta, Pirro Ligorio, and Niccolò da Viggiù. It looks at the practices of stoneworkers’ workshops (scalpellini) working for these artists and explores the experience of ancient art in the practice of the restoration of classical statues. Finally, it examines the ideas behind the use of different materials when creating a new artwork, from bronze to white marble from Carrara to ancient coloured marbles found in archaeological sites near Rome.

Subjects discussed will include: the productions of the major artists; the impact of Michelangelo and Raphael; the importance of classical models; artists’ relations with patrons and humanists; painted sculpture; the role of sculptors in producing ephemeral architecture and decorations for festivals and momentous events; the relationship between sculpture and urbanism and between small bronzes and monumental sculpture; the identi-cation of sources and iconographic models; the economics of sculpture and the market; and the impact on sculpture of major historical events, such as the Sack of Rome and the Council of Trent.

Papers will be given in English and Italian.