Research topics
Here are some research guidelines suggested by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Research Institutes and Centers. Applicants could elaborate an independent research project, provided it is specifically focused on the materials held in the Fondazione libraries and archives.
Art History
Vittorio Cini as art collector and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini art collections.
Emilian drawings of architecture, perspective, quadraturaand decorations: study and cataloguing of the Antonio Certani collection in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
Drawings for the decorative arts in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini collections: study and cataloguing.
Landscape drawings: study and cataloguing of the works in Fondazione Giorgio Cini collections.
Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Emilian and Bolognese figurative drawings: study and cataloguing of the works in the Antonio Certani collection in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
Nicolò Cipriani’s “Italian Photo Library” in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini: study, reordering, inventorying (and cataloguing) of a section of the photo library.
Giuseppe Fiocco’s photographic collection in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini: study, reordering, inventorying (and cataloguing) of a section of the collection.
Rodolfo Pallucchini’s photo library: study and cataloguing of a section of the photo library.
Twentieth-century art galleries and collecting: study of the documentary archives of the Cardazzo galleries in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Manlio Malabotta’s twentieth-century graphic art collection: drawings, prints and illustrated books: research and cataloguing
N.B. Candidates are invited to contact the Institute (arte@cini.it) to view the collections and archives involved in their chosen research themes.
Ancient and rare books
Ancient book collections in the 20th century
Illustration and mise en page of Venetian 15th and 16th century books
17th century printed books held in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini: personal libraries (Munoz, Dudan, Savadori); illustrated books
Chivalric and courtly topics in the illustrated early printed books collection at Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Religious treaties for popular use: Arte del ben morire and Imitatio Christi from the Fondazione Giorgio Cini early printed books collection. Exchanges, relations and collaborations among typographers in 15th and 16th century-Venice
Comparative Studies of Cultures and Spiritualities
A comparative approach in research – seen as the main antidote to any forms of fundamentalism – and promotion of a dialogue among civilisations, meant as exchange of ideas and comparison among different political, theoretical and aesthetic experiences.
Emphasis on religious and spiritual sphere and sapiential traditions of civilisations that are object of study and comparison. By “sapiential tradition”, we refer to the answers human beings have given, in different cultural contexts, to any questions concerning their sense of existence in this world, ideals of self perfection and life paths to reach such perfection
Recognizing the transforming potential of religious traditions. When facing crisis (ecological, economic and moral crisis) that tear our societies apart, only religious and spiritual traditions seem to trigger emotions and generate the necessary energy to produce radical paradigmatic changes
Research projects on the most important sapiential traditions in the world – not only Eastern traditions – with a particular attention to the traditions that helped shape a European identity
Research projects focused on study and valorisation of the Tiziano Terzani Archive, donated by his family to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Ethnomusicology
Studies on the manuscripts of Indian music theory kept in the Giorgio Cini Foundation
Alain Daniélou and research into Indian music
The Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies at the Giorgio Cini Foundation and the popularizing of Indian music in Italy: a history of forty years of courses, seminars and concerts
For a history of IISMC: birth and development of a new idea of popularization and research on world music
History of the Venetian State and Society
The Archive of the History of the Venetian State contains not only a microfilm library of over 2 million slides reproducing material on the Venetian Republic kept in non-Venetian archives, but also collections of Italian and international books and periodicals on the history and culture of territories influenced by Venetian culture. It thus provides opportunities for detailed, multifaceted studies on the role played by Venice in European diplomacy. Examples of specific themes that may be referred to are:
The relationship between the Serenissima and the Holy See
The knowledge of the territory ruled by the government of the Republic – both on land and at sea – at Palazzo Ducale
Venice’s perception of the world “expanded” by discoveries, as a privileged observatory of changing horizons and therefore as an “eye on the world”
Venice in the “Grand Tour”
Mixing and sharing ideas: arrivals, departures and in loco elaboration
Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi
The Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi of the Giorgio Cini Foundation is an indispensable resource for any kind of research on the Venetian composer, comprising digital scans, microfilms and photocopies of manuscripts and printed editions of all the compositions of Antonio Vivaldi (instrumental music, sacred and secular vocal music) preserved in libraries and archives worldwide; modern editions of music; literature (books and articles) on Vivaldi from all countries; and a large collection of audio and video recordings and discs. Research projects exploring new lines of enquiry and still little known aspects of Antonio Vivaldi’s life and works are welcomed.
Literature
The artistic-literary debate in the years of early Futurism, based on documents in the Botta Bequest
Venetian scholarly journals in the mid-18th century
The 18th-century Repubblica letteraria from Ludovico Antonio Muratori to Angelo Calogerà
The Arrigo Boito-Eleonora Duse correspondence: a man of letters and an actress in the late 19th century
Giovanni Pascoli and Vittorio Cian: the correspondence between a poet and an intellectual in the early 20th century
Gabriele D’Annunzio and the “Fiume exploit,” based on the documents in the Frumi Bequest
Art and literature in Italy, Germany and the rest of Europe in the mid-20th century, based on the documents in the Geiger Bequest
Women’s literature at the turn of the 20th century: Sibilla Aleramo
Italian literary circles in the early 20th century, based on the documents in the Nardi Bequest
The “Veneto tradition” in 20th-century culture and the role of Diego Valeri
Musicology
The Institute of Music promotes historical and philological research projects aimed at studying its musical archives: see http://archivi.cini.it/cini-we
Theatre
Theatre works by Giovanni Poli
Theatre theory and practice in Arnaldo Momo’s works
Theatre and Movie Direction by Maurizio Scaparro
The theatre of Eleonora Duse
The life and art of Aurel A. Milloss
Luigi Squarzina as stage director and playwright
The art of Titina Rota
History of drama, based on opera librettos in the Ulderico Rolandi’s Bequest – specifically focused on Veneto and Venetian opera production.
Stage design in the Veneto from 17th to 20th century
20th- century Italian author’s set design in cinema and theatre
Pierluigi Samaritani’s set design
Studies on scenic space (space stage) by Elena Povoledo
Museography focused on performing arts
Iconography as a study source for the history of theatre
The iconography of the 19th-century actor