Environment and Resiliency in Italy

Readings for the shared module

Day 1:

• Brian Campbell, Rivers and the Power of Ancient Rome (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012) Ch. 1

Day 2:

• Caporali, Rinaldi and Casagli, “The Arno River Floods” Giornale di Geologia Applicata 1 (2005) 177-192
• Ken Shulman, “30 Years Later, Florence Warily Watches the Arno” New York Times (February 9, 1997)
• “Flood Risk in Florence: Forty Years On” Disaster Planning and Emergency Management (blog posting 27 Oct 2008)

Day 3:

• Robert Clark, Dark Water: Art, Disaster, and Redemption in Florence (New York, Anchor: 2008) 1-10; 129-90.

Readings and Resources for the Collaborative Group Presentations

• Allesandroni, Maria Gabriella and Gianrenzo Remedia. “The most severe floods of the Tiber River in Rome” The Extremes of the Extremes: Extraordinary Floods (Proceedings of a symposium held at Reykjavik, Iceland, July 2000) IAHS Publ. no. 272, 2002
• “The Floods the Plan did not Foresee” Economic and Political Weekly 1:15 (Nov 26, 1966) 617.
• Hall, Jonathan. “The Bones of St. Peter,” in Artifact and Artifice: Classical Archaeology and the Ancient Historian (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013) 187-206.
• McClendon, Charles. “The History of the Site of St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome,” Perspecta 25 (1989) 32-65.
• Natale, L. and F. Savi. “Monte Carlo analysis of probability of inundation of Rome” Environmental Modelling & Software 22 (2007) 1409-1416
• Sharing Conservation Decisions. Ed. Rosalia Varoli-Piazza. Rome: ICCROM, 2007. 175 pages.

Useful websites

http://thebournechronicles.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/rome-under-water/ – site has pictures of various historical markers of Rome flooding, as well as discussion of current possibilities for flooding.

http://www.romeartlover.it/Tevere.html – again, pictures of historical flood markers around Rome, as well as pictures of high water in 2008.

http://roma.andreapollett.com/S1/roma-c4.htm – more of the same; discussion of the role of human buildings along the river exacerbating the flooding problems

http://vitruviusfootsteps.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/week-19-%E2%80%93-water-water-everywhere-part-1/ – nice piece about the effects of flooding on historic preservation in Rome

http://terahatfield.com/85394/723632/play/decoding-the-tiber – very interesting piece on designing public spaces along the Tiber

http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/waters/first.html – very interesting project with lots of historical resources on water infrastructure of Rome;  includes a peer-reviewed journal on the topic, with an interesting paper on common spaces “Rome’s Uncertain Tiberscape: Tevereterno and the Urban Commons” by Kay Bea Jones (http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/waters/article.html)

http://caleblesselles.com/01-convergence/ – “During the 18th century, Rome built the embankments along the Tiber River to prevent flooding in the city, but suffered from a side effect of severing a historic link between the city and the riverfront. In response to the damaged ecosystem that suffers from pollution and a sheer condition created by a straightened river, this project brings the river into the city to create fluvian and riparian habitat amidst the site of the historical Villa Farnesina gardens. ”

Vatican City in its entirety is a World Heritage Site – The details of what this entails (descriptions, maps, documents, images, and a table of threat indicators) can found here: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/286

The Inventory and Catalogue of the Cultural Heritage of the Church – This documents steps that the Catholic Church is taking to preserve its art historical patrimony, and speaks to the importance of these objects of cultural heritage: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=2886

Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums – http://www.vatican-patrons.org/about-us

Vatican Museums – The Vatican Museums contain some of the most famous and unique artistic treasures in the world today. These works of art are irreplaceable, from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling to Caravaggio’s Deposition to the Augustus of Primaporta. This link provides access online to some of these objects: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Visite.html

The large number of visitors even in ordinary times has threatened the stability of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, leaving the frescoes vulnerable to atmospheric damage: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/uk-vatican-sistine-idUSLNE89U01X20121031

If these objects were to be destroyed, would a virtual experience be enough for future generations to appreciate their meaning and beauty?

Protection of Art in Vatican City – Vatican police chief talks to Interpol about protecting religious art: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1204693.htm