IFA | Conservation

On Friday, November 4, 1966, after a month of heavy rain, the Arno River overflowed its banks, flooding the city of Florence and causing incalculable damage to life, property, and cultural patrimony. Now known as “l’Alluvione,” the Florence Flood revolutionized the field of art restoration as no other single event.

The Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and Villa la Pietra, New York University, are pleased to invite you to participate in an international symposium commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Florence Flood. “Conservation Legacies of l’Alluvione” will take place in Florence at the Villa la Pietra and Palazzo Vecchio on November 10 and 11, 2006. It will bring together many of the surviving participants in the rescue effort—both the leaders and the so-called “mud angels” who were in the field. They will consider the Flood and its legacy for art conservation and international emergency response in sessions focusing on the development of mass treatments, innovations in conservation materials and techniques, building a network of support for conservation, working with students and the student experience in disaster recovery, and disaster recovery now and in the future.

We are honored that Mayor Leonardo Domenici of Florence, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, and the mayors of New Orleans, Dresden and Prague—cities which experienced significant flooding—will join us on Saturday, November 11, for the signing of a declaration of commitment to conservation and protection of art treasures in case of disasters.

During the afternoons of November 9 and November 11, symposium participants will have the opportunity to tour Villa la Pietra, a grand home bequeathed to New York University by Sir Harold Acton.
We hope that you will be able to join us for this historic event. As registration is limited, we urge you to reply as soon as possible.

You can download the entire information packet here in PDF format.

- Registration Form [This document can be filled out on the computer, then printed out and faxed]
- Payment Authorization Form [This document can be filled out on the computer, then printed out and faxed]
- Flood Conference Program [English Version] [in Italiano]
- Hotel Information

CONSERVATION LEGACIES OF L’ALLUVIONE
A Symposium Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Florence Flood

November 10-11, 2006
Florence, Italy

PROGRAM

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2006 – VILLA LA PIETRA

9:00 – 9:10am Welcome
Ellyn Toscano, Director of Villa la Pietra and Global Initiatives, NYU

9:10 – 9:20am Opening remarks
Michele Marincola, Sherman Fairchild Chairman and Professor of Conservation,
Institute of Fine Arts, NYU

9:20 – 9:55am
A moment by moment history of the events of November 4th and the following days
Sandro Pintus

SESSION ONE: The Experience of Book and Paper Conservators

10:00 – 10:30am
The development of mass treatments: an overview of the experience of book and paper
conservators
Sheila Waters

10:30 – 11:00am Coffee break

SESSION ONE PANEL DISCUSSION: What current practice in the treatment of large groups of objects owes to the experience of the Flood

11:00 – 12:30pm
The work of the restoration center in the Biblioteca Nazionale, 1967-1971
Anthony Cains

Training in book conservation after the Flood
Christopher Clarkson

Conservation ‘en masse’
Joe Nkrumah

Improvements in the treatment of individual books as a result of the Flood
Dag-Ernst Petersen

12:30 – 2:00pm Lunch break with talk
The Florence Flood in the Popular Imagination
Joanna Hines

SESSION TWO: Innovations in Conservation Materials and Techniques

2:00-2:10 Introductory Remarks
Mariët Westermann, Judy and Michael Steinhardt
Director, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU

2:10 – 2:30pm
Innovations in conservation materials and techniques: an overview
Marco Grassi

SESSION TWO PANEL DISCUSSION: Innovations in conservation materials and techniques: case studies in the treatment of frescoes, easel paintings sculptures and the decorative art

2:30 – 4:50pm
Technical innovations in Italian conservation as a result of the Flood
Giorgio Bonsanti

The scientific restoration of sculpture soaked and damaged by the flood waters
Kenneth Hempel

New Methods of Paintings conservation developed in response to the Flood
Andrea Rothe

The establishment of the conservation laboratories in the Palazzo Davanzati and the
development of decorative arts conservation
Kirsten Aschengreen Piacenti

The transfer of panel paintings in Florence, 1967-1970
Erling Skaug

4:20 – 4:50pm Coffee Break

SESSION THREE: Building a network of support for conservation

4:50 – 5:30pm*
The Italian Art and Archives Restoration Fund
Lady Frances Clarke

The Committee to Rescue Italian Art
Fred Licht

SESSION FOUR: Working with students and the student experience in disaster recovery

4:50 – 5:30pm*
The experience of a CRIA and Fulbright Fellow in the months after the Flood
Alan Farancz

The experience of an American “Mud Angel”
Peter Mallory

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2006 – PALAZZO VECCHIO

9:00 – 9:15am Opening remarks
Cristina Acidini, Soprintendente, Opificio delle Pietre Dure

SESSION FIVE: Disaster recovery now and in the future

9:15 – 10:15am
Forty years of rescue, recovery and triage of artworks damaged by disasters
Alan Farancz

The Heritage Emergency National Task Force and its initiatives
Debbie Hess-Norris

10:15 – 10:45am Coffee break

10:45 – 11:15am Keynote Address
Senator Edward M. Kennedy

11:15 – 12:30pm Declaration of Commitment to Conservation Ceremony
Leonardo Domenici, Mayor of Florence

*Please note: Sessions Three and Four will occur at the same time.

Ted Kennedy with Mud Angels

The Floodwater fills Piazza Duomo

Piazza Santa Croce after the disaster

The mud angels rescuing a work of art

Ted Kennedy with Mayor of Florence

Prof. Baldini examines the Cimabue.”
Above photographs from the book "4th november 1966. The flood in Florence" by Silvia Messeri and Sandro Pintus - Ibiskos Editrice Risolo, Italy - www.florenceflood.com