Arte e tecnica nel dibattito sul restauro fra le due guerre. Il contributo di Roberto Papini
In: Quaderni dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Architettura: n.s. 2019, 2020
DOI: 10.48255/1189
Art and Science in the debate on Architectural Preservation between the two World Wars. The
Contribution of Roberto Papini
The essay focuses on the theoretical approach of the Historian of Art Roberto Papini (1883-1957) to
architectural preservation in the years between the two wars. In those years, when art and politics intertwined
a solid relationship and restoration became a medium for attracting ideological consensus, Papini tried to
study an approach for the project of restoration which, free from any prevalent theory, had to be only ruled
by a dialectical connection between technique and art, hence between the artistic values of the historical
building and the specific competences of technicians. However, ambiguities and contradictions characterize
his theoretical approach to restoration and even if Papini is considered an exponent of the “restauro critico”,
his ideas in relation to architectural preservation reflects the difficulties of that generation of scholars who had
grown up in the phase of cultural transition from Positivism to Idealism.