Lecture 43 - Paola Ricciardi

We are pleased to be joined in this series by the Icon Heritage Science Group

Paola Ricciardi, Senior Research Scientist at the Fitzwilliam Museum

Overview

INSPIRE2020 (December 2019 - March 2020) was the first exhibition of work made by primary school children at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The exhibition resulted from a year-long project modelled on the National Gallery’s Take One Picture, which focused on the painting of Cupid and Psyche by Jacopo del Sellaio as a source of inspiration for creative cross-curricular enquiry on the part of teachers and pupils alike. Inspired by the children’s engagement with the artist’s materials and techniques, conservators and heritage scientists undertook their own technical research on the panel. Their work was integrated in the exhibition display and in a newly-developed AR app.

This talk will discuss the role played by Heritage Science in the INSPIRE project, as well as the range of opportunities that truly cross-disciplinary collaboration offers for meaningful, creative engagement of the Heritage Science community with teachers, schoolchildren and museum visitors.

About the speaker

Paola Ricciardi is Senior Research Scientist at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Her research focuses on the analysis of polychrome artworks with non-invasive methods. She is also interested in the transfer of knowledge between artists and craftsmen working in different media and the potential of object-based research for cross-disciplinary teaching of the school curriculum.