Mantova

Can a temporary manifestation generate long-term knowledge effects in the host region? This paper attempts to answer this question by presenting evidence of knowledge spillover effects created by an Italian literary festival on the surrounding region. To date the role of knowledge creation and dissemination are still mainly investigated in relation to the diffusion of scientific or organisational knowledge by scholars, which is seen as promoting general economic growth. Little attention has been paid to other forms of knowledge or the role of other actors in event-related knowledge generation. This paper reflects on the evidence-based role of a festival as both a knowledge-based creative activity generating intangible products; and as a hybrid and cross-sectoral space linking producers, consumers and places to enhance destination attractiveness. Through the integration of a cross-cutting theoretical approach and empirical analysis this study attempts to show how capitalising on these processes may add distinctiveness to the destination and generate long-term non-economic effects.

L'ingegnere e imprenditore Alberto Cristofori (Mantova, 1878-Milano, 1966), formatosi a Torino e attivo tra Mantova e Milano, fu un apprezzato professionista che operò sia come tecnico comunale sia come progettista per committenze pubbliche e private. La sua sensibilità progettuale, aggiornata al dibattito architettonico europeo, soprattutto in riferimento all'architettura ospedaliera e alle tematiche dell'igiene, nelle quali si era specializzato durante gli studi, si concretizzò a vari livelli e scale d'intervento, esplorando diversi temi architettonici, dall'edilizia cimiteriale a quella abitativa (ville unifamiliari, condomini, quartieri di case popolari), da quella ospedaliera, assistenziale e scolastica a quella industriale. Con l'amico e collaboratore architetto Bruno Sarti, partecipò a numerosi concorsi per le sedi di istituzioni fasciste. In quasi cinquant'anni di attività (1904-1950 circa), Cristofori seppe confrontarsi con mondi formali diversi rielaborandoli in modo personale e innovativo: il suo linguaggio evolve da un eclettismo ibridato da richiami Liberty, secessionisti e Decò, a un monumentalismo di ispirazione classica, fino alla sperimentazione di stilemi propri del Razionalismo. Fin dagli anni Venti, alla carriera professionale affiancò una importante attività imprenditoriale fondando la società Anonima porfidi d'Italia, della quale continuò a occuparsi anche dopo aver cessato la professione.

Riassunto: Si può in generale osservare che la storiografia militare italiana sull’età medievale abbia
riservato pochissima attenzione alla storia delle armi: ed è in particolare possibile affermare che
pochissimi – e per lo più invecchiati – sono gli studi disponibili sulla diffusione e l’uso, soprattutto per il
Trecento, delle armi da fuoco in Italia. Eppure, analizzando in tal senso la documentazione disponibile
per il dominio Visconteo, che fu senz’altro capace di mettere in campo eserciti imponenti, esse appaiono
come una presenza prima crescente e poi costante tra le armi disponibili. Scopo del presente lavoro è
quindi di colmare tale lacuna, proponendo una prima analisi sul problema, e mostrando la necessità di
più ampi e organici lavori, per definire con maggior precisione gli ambiti, le tecniche, e i contesti in cui le
armi da fuoco furono impiegate nell’Italia del XIV secolo.
Parole chiave: Storia Medievale, Storia Militare, Visconti, Armi, Armi da fuoco.
Resumen: La historiografía militar italiana sobre la Edad Media ha dedicado, en general, muy poca
atención a la Historia del armamento y, en particular, a la difusión y el uso de las armas de fuego,
especialmente durante el siglo XIV. Sin embargo, al analizar la documentación disponible para el
dominio de los Visconti (ciudad y ducado de Milán), quienes fueron capaces de movilizar ejércitos
imponentes, se observa que las armas de fuego fueron adquiriendo una importancia creciente entre los
recursos armamentísticos empleados. Con este trabajo se pretende contribuir a completar la citada
laguna historiográfica, proponiendo un primer análisis acerca de los ámbitos, las técnicas y los contextos
en los que se emplearon armas de fuego en la Italia del siglo XIV y, en particular, en los territorios
controlados por la Casa de los Visconti.
Palabras clave: Historia Medieval, Historia Militar, Visconti, Armamento, Armas de fuego.
Abstract: It may be generally observed that the military historiography about medieval Italy has been
paying very little attention to the history of weapons; and it is in particular possible to say that the
studies available on the diffusion and use of fire arms are very few –and mostly old– in Italy, especially
related to the 14th century. Yet, analyzing the documentation available for the Visconti domain, which
was certainly capable of fielding massive armies, they appear as an increasing presence and then
constant, among the various available weapons. The purpose of this work is, therefore, to fill this gap by
proposing an initial analysis of the problem, and showing the need for wider and organic work, to define
more precisely the scope, techniques, and contexts in which firearms were used in Italy during the
fourteenth century.
Although it is true that there are reports of the use of this type of weapons in the Italic Peninsula from
the earliest dates –specifically from 1326 in Florence and from 1327 in the Castle of Gassino– the
exhaustive scrutiny of unpublished sources coming from the visconteo domain made by the authors, has
allowed them to define the conditions in which the reception and diffusion of these important technical
innovations took place in this territory.
Among the results derived from their research, it is possible to verify the use of artillery machines in both
offensive and defensive operations. Nevertheless, the use of artillery was concentrated mainly in the
defense of cities and fortified places only from 1350 on, while the spread of portable firearms began later.
Indeed, the first examples of this instruments actual use of these instruments are dated in the middle of
the 1360s. However, the reception and effective use of these weapons are two phenomena synchronous
to the expansion of the artillery detonated with gunpowder and, in fact, as in the first case, its expansion
took place, in its initial phase, around the control and the defense of fortifications. On the other hand,
and beyond the technical level, it should also be noted that the manufacture and the commercialization
of firearms was strongly directed from power, as it was the lord who had the authority to grant licenses
of production of this type of armament.
Keywords: Medieval History, Military History, Visconti, Weapons, Firearms.

The Troy apartment in the Ducal Palace in Mantua was commissioned
by Federico the II Gonzaga to Giulio Romano, who
completed it in 1536-1539; the Apartment is an important exemplum
in understanding how Pippi’s laboratory worked. Its wall
paintings have been investigated with non-invasive diagnostic
methods by an équipe of international scholars in order to understand
the different procedures and the kind of work used in
the sections of the apartment. The data collected and the study
of the materials confirm that Giulio Romano prolonged the
tradition of his maestro by arranging his worksite according to
what he had learnt in Raphael’s laboratory in Rome. The analysis
unveiled the different phases of the genesis of the wall painting,
from the traditional fresco – used in the hall of Troy, where
some relevant ongoing changes have been detected – to the
Winged Victories, which were dry-painted probably by Giulio
Romano himself.

Paolo Bertelli, Paola Artoni, Miquel Herrero-Cortell, Marta Raïch, Isidro Puig, «Con ricetti riccamente ornati»: le tecniche artistiche di Giulio Romano nell’appartamento di Troia del Palazzo Ducale di Mantova, «Accademia Nazionale di San Luca - Quaderni degli Atti 2019-2020», 2021, pp. 67-74