Weaving the seasons

May 22-24, 2023

• • Monday, May 22: Out of doors. Visits reserved for symposium speakers

• • Tuesday, May 23, 9:30am-6:30pm: Villa Médicis, Grand Salon

• • Wednesday May 24, 9.15am-12.30pm : Bibliotheca Hertziana Villino Stroganoff. Free admission, subject to availability

In partnership with:École Pratique des Hautes Études, Fondazione Federico Zeri and the research group Decay, Loss and Conservation in Art History of Bibliotheca Hertziana and the support ofAccademia Belgica.

Organizers: Francesca Alberti (Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis), Audrey Nassieu Maupas (École Pratique des Hautes Études) with the collaboration of Francesca Borgo (Bibliotheca Hertziana)

For the day of May 23 at Villa Medici: free event, reservations recommended
➝ I RESERVE

➝ Download program

Follow the conference remotely:

• • Link for Tuesday, May 23

• • Link for Wednesday, May 24

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On the occasion of the completion of the restoration of the allegorical tapestries of Spring andAutumn, made in the early 17th^century in the Raes family workshop from designs by Francesco Salviati, the Weaving the Seasons symposium will explore the history, fortune and iconography of these hangings , while opening up new avenues of inquiry into creative processes, the circulation and seriality of motifs, materiality and conservation practices.

The theme of time is highlighted more than ever in the series devoted to the seasons, so common in 16th and 17th century textile art. Indeed, the creation of these decors requires several months of painstaking work, a long process that is once again called for during their restoration. Appreciated for their mobility, destined to travel and integrate into different contexts, antique tapestries are nevertheless characterized by great fragility, undergoing rapid and significant transformations over time.

Taking as its starting point a study of the oldest tapestries conserved at the Villa Medici, bequeathed to the Académie de France by art historian and collector Federico Zeri, the symposium will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the new layout of the Villa’s salons and the effects of the juxtaposition between modern and contemporary, which is constantly changing the perception of this place.

Program

Daniele Molajoli