Beth Saunders is the winner of the Marian and Andrew Heiskell Pre-Doctoral Rome Prize in Modern Italian Studies and a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
What part of the United States did you come from?
I grew up in North Carolina. Most recently I have been living in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, though my doctoral program—the Graduate Center—is in New York.
Why did you apply for the Rome Prize?
The American Academy in Rome seemed like an ideal home base for the archival research I needed to do this year (and it is!). Also, the idea of a community comprised of artists and scholars based on traditional national academies in Rome really appealed to the nineteenth century historian in me.
Describe a particularly inspiring moment or location you've experienced in Rome thus far.
Rather than a single moment or location, I have found the experience of the city as a whole—its monuments and their spatial and temporal relationships—to be very inspiring. I study Italian photographs of the 1840s and 1850s. Before I came to Rome this year, those photographs really informed the mental picture I had of the city. Of course, Rome has changed a great deal between then and now, so understanding the topography of the city, and the transformation of certain sites and monuments has greatly affected my work.
Tracing the footsteps of my photographers across the city has also been inspiring. For example, many of them socialized at the Caffè Greco near the Spanish Steps, where you can still go for an (overpriced) coffee. Closer to the Academy, one of my photographers documented the aftermath of the 1849 battles to defend the Roman Republic. Much of the fighting happened on the Janiculum, so every day I am reminded of that history, and it helps energize me to learn more.
To what extent, if any, has your proposed project changed since your arrival?
It has gotten bigger: more photographers and painters seem important now that I’ve seen their work in person. Figuring out how to address them without taking on too much is my current challenge.
Have you had any "eureka!" moments or unanticipated breakthroughs in the course of your work here?
Holding letters written by William Henry Fox Talbot, the British inventor of photography, to Giovanni Battista Amici, an optician and protagonist of early photography in Italy, was a pretty thrilling moment!
What part of your project has been or do you anticipate will be the most challenging?
Understanding the complexities of the Italian Risorgimento has been a challenge. There are so many competing narratives, and a vast historiography. Mastering the material and balancing that historical context within my project—which is at its core a history of photography—has been a challenge.
How have you managed the balance between your work (time in the studio/study) and engagement with Rome and Italy (travel, sightseeing, interactions with locals)?
Because I need to juggle research and writing in my studio with going out to archives, which often depends on others’ schedules, I don’t have a strict routine. I try to log a certain number of work hours a day, and then enjoy the Academy trips and shop talks. On weekends and during research trips I try to get out and see as much of Rome and Italy as I can. Some of the other fellows are often willing to go on Saturday adventures where we explore parts of Rome that are a little farther afield, like EUR or Pigneto.
How do you anticipate your Rome Prize Fellowship will influence future work?
I think it will lead me to seek out conversations with people outside of my field more frequently. That has been one of the greatest treats of this year: being inspired by the creativity and processes of people who do things unrelated to what I do.
What is your favorite spot at the Academy? or in Rome?
There are too many. In Rome: the Passeggiata del Gianicolo in early morning, the streets of Monti or the Ghetto, the Caravaggios in San Luigi dei Francesi, or walking around the back side of the Pantheon before getting to the facade.
At the Academy: hearing the cooling sound of the fountain from my studio, the bar at breakfast, the fourth floor terrace with friends and a glass of wine at dusk.