THE USE OF NATURAL STONE IN HISTORICAL BUILDINGS, FROM THE QUARRY TO THE CONSTRUCTION SITE (MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN PIEDMONT) Coordinator: M. Gomez Serito
Participants
Maurizio Gomez Serito, Assistant Professor – Aggregate Professor, Politecnico di Torino
Contact: maurizio.gomez@polito.it
Luca Finco (PhD), Carlo Baima Mion (PhD), have contributed to the research with their final dissertations for the Master of Architecture degree, Politecnico di Torino.
Short Bibliography
M.V. Cattaneo, C. Devoti, F.P. Di Teodoro, E. Gianasso, M. Gomez Serito, M. Santangelo (Eds), Leonardo. Tecnica e Territorio, open source, 2019, pp. 1-193.
Gomez, ‘La certosa di Casotto. Una storia di cantieri e materiali d’eccezione’, pp. 87-92, in E. Lusso (Ed.), Paesaggi, territori e insediamenti della val Tanaro Un itinerario tra storia e valorizzazione, La Morra: Scripta, 2019.
Gomez, L. Finco, ‘La facciata lapidea della chiesa della Madonna di Loreto adArona. Materiali e fasi costruttive’, pp. 219-227, in S. Monferrini, I. Teruggi (Eds), La chiesa di Santa Maria di Loreto e la confraternita di Santa Maria di Arona dai Borromeo a oggi: storia, restauro e valorizzazione. Proceedings ofthe conference (Arona 2017), Novara: Interlinea, 2018.
Gomez, E. Rulli, ‘I materiali lapidei della Domus dei Putti danzanti: marmibianchi e colorati’, pp. 309-316, in J. Bonetto, M. Salvadori (Eds), L’architettura privata ad Aquileia in età romana. Proceedings of the conference (Padova 2011), Padova: Padova University Press, 2012.
Gomez, V. Badino, ‘I marmi del Monregalese. I marmi policromi negli altari allaromana delle Valli Monregalesi’, pp. 399-417, in G. Galante Garrone, A. Griseri, S Lombardini, L. Mamino, A. Torre (Eds), I marmi del Monregalese. I marmi policromi negli altari alla romana delle Valli Monregalesi, Savigliano: L’Artistica, 1999.
PhD thesis
PhD student: Luca Finco
Tutor: Carlo Mario Tosco, Maurizio Gomez Serito
Title: Officine nelle Marittime. Pietre da costruzione e da scultura lungo le vie delle Alpi Liguri nel tardo Medioevo / Stones for architecture and sculpture along the roads of the Ligurian Alps in the late Middle Ages
Status: defended in 2019
Link: here
Abstract: The interest is focused on the use of the stone in the medieval architectural artefacts, to analyse in conjunction with the historical, political and local context; the stone material is investigated as a document, following it from the quarry to the on-site assembly. During the fourteenth and fifteenth century, the picture offered by the documents in the notarial archives on the Ligurian Alps seems to be in contrast to the apparently logical deduction that in the Middle Ages the mountains represented a physical boundary, an obstacle to the movement of men and goods. In the late Middle Ages the area between the sea and the plain outlined by these movements can be identified by considering the dense and variable road network, whose main poles are Savona and Nizza (under Savoy control since 1388) to the south, and Tenda, Cuneo and Acqui to the north. Also the workers responsible for the processing of the stones used for architecture and sculpture move in this area: they follow their clients’ preferences, whose identification, in the absence of a strong centralizing power, either laical or ecclesiastical, and in the multiplicity of the certified dioceses, becomes one of the aims of the research.
PhD student: Carlo Balma Mion
Tutor: M. Gomez Serito
Title: I marmi ‘statuari’ piemontesi della seconda metà del Settecento
Status: defended in 2011
Link: here
Master of Science thesis
Student: Elisa Muceli
Tutors: Maurizio Gomez Serito, Luca Finco
Title: ‘One way to heaven’. The stone cladding of the tower of Fruttuaria: materials, ages and stages
Status: defended in 2013
Link: here
Abstract: (from webthesis) The subject of the thesis delves into a very well known monument, the campanile of Fruttuaria in San Benigno Canavese, probably built at the beginning of the eleventh century, by the monk – architect Guglielmo da Volpiano. The impressive achievement, with its exceptional size, emerges as a landmark; his elevations punctuated by regular blocks of stone arranged as if they were following a precise project, have always attracted the attention of passers-by and scholars. Our research, adopting a multidisciplinary approach, has focused on the specific stone used for the tower. The survey has intersected the theme of stone material with the analysis of the area in the Middle Ages, taking an interest, therefore, also on the historical aspects. While recognizing that the issue will require further investigation, our research concluded that the bell tower has no equals in the region, and can be classified as unique: with its magnificence and well-defined lines it leads the eye towards heaven.
Student: Roberta Amato
Tutors: Maurizio Gomez Serito
Title: Il modello del campanile gotico-delfinale tra Alta Valle di Susa e Briançonnais: uso della pietra, tecnica costruttiva e proporzioni geometriche
Status: defended in 2013
Link: here
Abstract: Parish churches, with their bell towers, are a widespread presence in the area that today corresponds to two distinct territories, the upper Susa Valley and the Briançonnais. Historically represented a territory in which the two valleys were separated by an alpine pass, they were in reality linked by a common historical, economic, cultural and artistic destiny.
Student: Stefania Baldizzone, Luca Finco
Tutors: Maurizio Gomez Serito, Enrico Lusso
Title: The ‘Pietra da Cantoni’ in central Piedmont’s architectures (11th-12th century)
Status: defended in 2012
Link: here
Abstract: (from webthesis) The study aims at focusing on the meaning of a specific stone variety, the Pietra da Cantoni, as a preferred choice of the stonecutters for the architectures of XI and XII centuries in central Piedmont. This subject has never been approached in a systematic way until today, whilst on the contrary the Romanesque architectures have been analyzed on many occasions. The research draws inspiration from Le chiese romaniche delle campagne astigiane (1984) edited by L. Pittarello (in many ways a still unequalled and topical publication); it acquires its methodology and supplements it with a petrografic subject. A mere monographic analysis upon completion of the case-study survey, however, would be inappropriate, because it would not allow to fully understand the significance of the use of the Pietra da Cantoni in these buildings; a multidisciplinary approach, developed in parallel themes (petrographic analysis, ancient quarries, roads in the Middle Ages, examination of Romanesque buildings in central Piedmont and their history in the X-XII centuries) was therefore adopted. The documentary evidence of the Pietra da Cantoni has been interpreted in a much more wider context as compared to what previous studies proposed on this subject.
Student: Emanuela Monte
Tutors: Maurizio Gomez Serito
Title: I marmi romani dagli scavi archeologici di Palazzo Roero ad Asti
Status: defended in 2012
Link: here
Student: Lidia Cutillo
Tutors: Maurizio Gomez Serito, Silvia Beltramo
Title: La chiesa della certosa di Casotto: studio dei materiali e delle techiche costruttive
Status: defended in 2011
Link: here
Abstract: This research thesis aims to study the construction materials, in particular the use of green Casotto stone, in the façade and bell tower of the church of the Casotto certosa. The first part of the study took place during the restoration of the Certosa-castle. The on-site activity was dedicated to the acquisition of the metric data of the stone cladding of the facade of the church, with the study of the stone elements. A second phase of the research focused on the sorting and restitution of the data obtained from the surveys, and on the elaboration of analysis sheets of the individual stones. In parallel, a bibliographic research on the works of Bernardo Antonio Vittone was carried out with the aim to understand the construction techniques and materials used by the architect, comparing other constructions with what was built in Casotto.
Student: Silvia Plos
Tutors: Maurizio Gomez Serito
Title: I marmi romani dagli scavi archeologici di Palazzo Roero ad Asti
Status: defended in 2011
Link: here
Student: Carlo Balma Mion
Tutors: Vera Comoli Mandracci, Mauro Volpiano
Title: Lodovico Bò (1721-1800). Misuratore, soprastante, architetto
Status: defended in 2004
Link: here
Abstract: (from webthesis)
The purpose of my thesis was to throw light on the architect Lodovico Bo, born in San Maurizio Canavese (a little town near Turin). Until now he had been studied only with reference to few spheres of activity, notably some parts of the Palazzina di Stupinigi, and the San Maurizio Canavese and Valperga bell towers. Starting from well-known documents I deepened my research in the public archives (Archivio Storico dell’Ordine Mauriziano, Archivio di Stato, Archivio della Città di Torino, Archivio Storico dell’Università) and in some private archives to find out all that I could concerning both the architect’s professional and private life. My thesis was therefore structured in two volumes, the first analizing the most important projects (realized or not by the architect), the second dedicated to the reproduction of documents: letters taken from the very rich Stupinigi building yard epistolary; unpublished writings; and the whole set of the architect’s drawings known up to today.