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From ArtHist.net:

Stucco Decoration across Europe

Baldassarre Fontana and Other Travelling Stucco Artists

Online and in-person, Olomouc and Kroměříž, Czech Republic, 16–18 June 2025

Focusing on the the life and work of Baldassarre Fontana (1661–1733), this conference addresses stucco artists working across Europe in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Fontana created a number of remarkable works, particularly in the territories that are now the Czech Republic and Poland. The conference aims to present new findings pertaining to material studies within the broader context of the migration phenomenon, showcasing diverse methodological approaches and the latest techniques for studying, interpreting, restoring, preserving, and conserving stucco decorations across Europe.

The conference is organized as part of the Stucco Decoration across Europe project (STUDEC), co-financed by the European Union thanks to the Erasmus+ programme, KA220-HED – Cooperation partnerships in higher education. The conference is held under the auspices of the Swiss Embassy in the Czech Republic and the Italian Cultural Institute in Prague. Partners of the conference are Archbishopric of Olomouc and Archbishopric Château and Garden in Kroměříž.

Scientific Committee
Alberto Felici (SUPSI Mendrisio), Giacinta Jean (SUPSI Mendrisio), Martin Krummholz (Palacký University Olomouc), Ondřej Jakubec (Palacký University Olomouc), Michał Kurzej (Jagiellonian University in Cracow), Serena Quagliaroli (University of Turin), Jan Válek (Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences), Jana Zapletalová (Palacký University Olomouc)

Organising Committee
Jana Zapletalová, Martin Krummholz, Ondřej Jakubec

Organisational Assistance
Štěpánka Malíková, Jan Malý, Jiří Mikuš, Natálie Nosková, Anna Rýcová

m o n d a y ,  1 6  j u n e

8.00  Registration

9.00  Welcome and Greetings
• Marialuisa Pappalardo, Director of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Praga
• Lorenza Fässler Pascuzzo, Deputy head of Mission, Swiss Embassy to the Czech Republic
• Jana Zapletalová, Palacký University Olomouc

9.20  Section 1 | Baldassarre Fontana between Chiasso, Rome, and Moravia: Education, Life, Patrons, and Networking
Directed by Jana Zapletalová and Martin Krummholz
• Stefania Bianchi and Mark Bertogliati — Baldassarre Fontana: Professional Success and Patrimonial Fortune
• Federico Bulfone Gransinigh — Baldassarre Fontana in Rome: Collaborations and Apprenticeships between Hypotheses and Certainties
• Laura Facchin — Baldassarre Fontana and Ercole Ferrata’s Workshop in Rome: The Legacy of Alessandro Algardi
• Katarzyna Brzezina-Scheuerer — Hohenaschau and the Stucco Decorations in Bavaria in the Late 17th Century
• Jana Zapletalová — The Unknown Beginnings of Baldassarre Fontana’s Work in Moravia

12.15  Lunch break

14.00  Section 2 | Baldassarre Fontana in Poland: Impacts and the Art of Stucco of His Time
Directed by Matej Klemenčič and Piotr Krasny
• Michał Kurzej — Stuccoes in Bookkeeping: The Cracow Work of Baldassarre Fontana in Light of Archival Sources
• Mariusz Smoliński — Baldassarre Fontana and the Stucco Decoration of the Pawlowski Chapel in Doboszowice (Silesia)
• Martin Krummholz — Early Commissions of Santino Bussi (1664–1736): Payments to Stucco Workers in Central Europe around 1700
• Marina Dell´Omo — Stuccatori e pittori lombardi e ticinesi nell’Europa centrale, tra legami personali e rapporti con la committenza: Qualche esempio

16.15  Optional Visit: Corpus Domini Chapel in former Jesuit Convict, led by Jan Malý and Medea Uccelli

t u e s d a y ,  1 7  j u n e

8.00  Departure to Kroměříž Château

9.30  Section 3 | Baldassarre Fontana’s Stucco Decoration in the Sala Terrena, Kroměříž Château
Directed by Alberto Felici and Jana Zapletalová
• Jana Zapletalová — Brief Art Historical Introduction
• Alberto Felici and Giovanni Nicoli — Emergency Interventions
• Jan Válek, Sylwia Svorová Pawełkowicz, and Petr Kozlovcev — Materials and Manufacturing Techniques
• Sylwia Svorová Pawełkowicz and Jan Válek — Original Finishes and Subsequent Coatings
• Peter Majoroš — The Colour Conception

12.00  Lunch break / time to visit the Castle and Gardens

15.00  Departure from Kromeriz to Olomouc

16.30  Section 4 | Stucco Manufacturing Techniques and Their Conservation Issues
Directed by Giacinta Jean and Alberto Felici
• Alberto Felici, Giovanni Nicoli, and Medea Uccelli — The Cleaning of Stucco Decorations: Conservation Treatments between Historical-Aesthetic Instances and Operational Practice
• Jan Vojtěchovský and Daniela Jakubů — Stucco Decoration of the Chapel of St. Isidore in Křenov and Its Surface Treatments
• Blanka Veselá and Zuzana Wichterlová — Study of Original Stucco Techniques by Bartolomeo Muttoni and Their Polychromy in the Baroque Chapel of Kácov Castle
• Marta Caroselli, Eleonora Cigognetti, Alberto Felici, Giovanni Nicoli, and Alessia Grandoni — Consolidation of Stucco Decorations, Laboratory Tests, and Field Applications

w e d n e s d a y ,  1 8  j u n e

9.00  Section 5 | Materiality, Authenticity, and Perception of 17th- and 18th-Century Stucco Decorations
Directed by Serena Quagliaroli and Edi Guerzoni
• Serena Quagliaroli — Some Preliminary Observations on the History of Stucco Restoration: Comparing Cases from Piedmont and Eastern Europe
• Andrzej Siwek — Conservation Works on the Interior of St. Anne’s Church in Cracow in the 2nd Half of the 20th Century and Their Place in the State of Research on Fontana’s Artistic Legacy
• Daniela Russo, Marie-Claire Canepa, Annalisa Dameri, Andrea Longhi, Irene Malizia, Paola Manchinu, and Chiara Ricci — The Stucco Decoration of the Sala Verde at the Castello del Valentino: Study, Preservation, and Proposals for Conservation
• Stefania De Blasi and Edi Guerzoni — The Color of Stuccoes: Towards a History of Restoration in 1990s Piedmont from the Pinin Brambilla Barcilon Archive and the Case of the Former Santa Croce Convent in Turin
• Renata Tišlová, Zdeněk Kovářík, and Zdeňka Míchalová — Material and Technological Beginnings of Stucco Marble Art in the Czech Lands at the Turn of the 17th and 18th Centuries

12.00  Lunch break

13.30  Section 6 | Predecessors and Contemporaries of Fontana: Interactions between Stucco Workers, Architects and Other Artists
Directed by Ondřej Jakubec and Massimo Romeri
• Giuseppe Dardanello — Stuccatori luganesi to the Challenge of Painted Quadratura: Competition and Interaction between Decorative Techniques and Choices of Taste in the Decorative Worksite of Stupinigi
• Frančiška Oražem, Sara Turk Marolt, and Matej Klemenčič — From Lombard Tradition to Bavarian Innovation: The Transformation of Stucco and Altarpiece Production in Carniola in 1730s to 1750s
• Piotr Krasny — Gesamtkunstwerk, Bel Composto, or Homogenous Arrangement? On the Problems with Describing Early Modern Interior Decorations by Artists from the Region of Lake Como and Lake Lugano

14.45  Final discussion