Conference
Palacký University Olomouc
Faculty of Arts, Department of Art History
Programme
for the international conference
STUCCO DECORATION ACROSS EUROPE
Baldassarre Fontana and Other Travelling Stucco Artists
Date 16–18 June 2025
Venue Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
MONDAY, June 16
Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Arts, Department of Art History, Univerzitní 3, Auditorium maximum
8.00–9.00: Registration
9.00–9.15: Official greetings
Section I. Baldassarre Fontana between Chiasso, Rome and Moravia: education, life, patrons, and networking
Directed by Martin Krummholz and Ondřej Jakubec
9.15–9.50: Stefania Bianchi – Mark Bertogliati, Baldassare Fontana. Professional success and patrimonial fortune (Invited lecture)
9.50–10.10: Federico Bulfone Gransinigh, Baldassarre Fontana in Rome. Collaborations and apprenticeships between hypotheses and certainties
10.15–10.35: Laura Facchin, Baldassarre Fontana and Ercole Ferrata’s workshop in Rome: the legacy of Alessandro Algardi
10.40–11.00: Coffee break
11.00–11.20: Katarzyna Brzezina-Scheuerer, Hohenaschau and the stucco decorations in Bavaria at the end of seventeenth century
11.25–11.45: Jana Zapletalová, The unknown beginnings of Baldassarre Fontana's work in Moravia
11.45–12.15: Discussion
12.15–14.00: Lunch break
Section II. Baldassarre Fontana in Poland, his impact, and the art of stucco of his time
Directed by Ondřej Jakubec and Piotr Krasny
14.00–14.20: Michał Kurzej, Stuccoes in bookkeeping. The Cracow work of Baldassarre Fontana in light of the archival source
14.25–14.45: Mariusz Smoliński, Baldassarre Fontana and the Stucco Decoration of the Pawlowski Chapel in Doboszowice (Silesia)
14.50–15.20: Andrzej Betlej, Stucco decorations from early 18th century in Red Ruthenia – the problem of similarities to works of Baldassare Fontana
15.25–15.45: Martin Krummholz, Early commissions of Santino Bussi (1664–1736). Payments to stucco workers in Central Europe around 1700
15.45–16.15: Discussion
Optional Visit: Corpus Domini Chapel in former Jesuit Convict (by Jan Malý and Medea Uccelli)
19.00 Social meeting
TUESDAY, June 17
8.00 – Departure to Kroměříž Château
Section III. Baldassarre Fontana’s stucco decoration in the Sala Terrena, Kroměříž Château: historical sources, material science, conservation and restoration
Directed by Alberto Felici and Jana Zapletalová
Kroměříž, Archbishopric Château, Sala Terrena
9.30–9.40: Jana Zapletalová, Brief art historical introduction
9.45–10.05: Alberto Felici – Giovanni Nicoli, Emergency interventions
10.10–10.30: Jan Válek – Sylwia Svorová Pawełkowicz – Petr Kozlovcev, Materials and Manufacturing Techniques
10.30–10.45: break
10.45–11.05: Sylwia Svorová Pawełkowicz – Jan Válek, Original Finishes and Subsequent Coatings
11.10–11.30: Peter Majoroš, The Colour Conception
11.30–12.00: Discussion directed by Alberto Felici
12.00–15.00: Coffee/Light Lunch break/Free time to visit the Castle and Gardens
15.00: Departure from Kroměříž to Olomouc
16.00: Arrival to Olomouc
Section IV. Stucco manufacturing techniques by Baldassarre Fontana and other stucco artist and their conservation issues
Directed by Giacinta Jean and Alberto Felici
Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Arts, Department of Art History, Univerzitní 3, Auditorium maximum
16.30–15.50: Alberto Felici – Giovanni Nicoli – Medea Uccelli, The cleaning of stucco decorations: conservation treatments between historical-aesthetic instances and operational practice
16.55–17.15: Jan Vojtěchovský – Daniela Jakubů, Stucco decoration of the Chapel of St. Isidore in Křenov and its surface treatments
17.20–17.40: Blanka Veselá – Zuzana Wichterlová, Study of Original Stucco Techniques by Bartolomeo Muttoni and Their Polychromy in the Baroque Chapel of Kácov Castle
17.45–18.05: Marta Caroselli – Eleonora Cigognetti – Alberto Felici – Giovanni Nicoli – Alessia Grandoni: Consolidation of stucco decorations, laboratory tests and field applications
18.05–18.30 Discussion
WEDNESDAY, June 18
Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Arts, Department of Art History, Univerzitní 3, Auditorium maximum
Section V. Materiality, authenticity and perception of 17th and 18th century stucco decorations
Directed by Serena Quagliaroli and Edi Guerzoni
9.00–9.20: Serena Quagliaroli, Some Preliminary Observations on the History of Stucco Restoration: Comparing Cases from Piedmont and Eastern Europe
9.25–9.45: 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 the artistic legacy of Baldassarre Fontana
9.50–10.10: Daniela Russo – Marie-Claire Canepa – Annalisa Dameri – Andrea Longhi – Irene Malizia – Paola Manchinu – Chiara Ricci, The stucco decoration of the Sala Verde at the Castello del Valentino: study, preservation and proposals for conservation
10.15–10.45: Coffee break
10.45–11.05: Stefania De Blasi – 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
11.10–11.30: Renata Tišlová – Zdeněk Kovářík – Zdeňka Míchalová, Material and technological beginnings of stucco marble art in the Czech lands at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries
11.35–11.50: Discussion
12.00–13.30: Lunch break
Section VI. Predecessors and contemporaries of Baldassarre Fontana in Europe: interaction between stucco workers, architects and other artists.
Directed by Ondřej Jakubec and Massimo Romeri
13.30–13.50: 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
13.55–14.15: Marina Dell´Omo, Stuccatori e pittori lombardi e ticinesi nell’Europa centrale, tra legami personali e rapporti con la committenza: qualche esempio
14.20–14.40: Frančiška Oražem – Sara Turk Marolt – Matej Klemenčič, From Lombard Tradition to Bavarian Innovation: The Transformation of Stucco and Altarpiece Production in Carniola in 1730s to 1750s
14.45–15.05: Piotr Krasny, Gesamtkunstwerk, Bel Composto or Homogenous Arrangement? On the Problems with Describing Interior Decorations Made by Artists from Region of Lake Como and Lake Lugano in the Early Modern Era
15.05–15.30: Final discussion and conclusion
Transfer of some participants to Prague for the workshop organized by the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Conference language English
Call for Papers
Abstract
In the early modern history, fashionable and flamboyant stucco decoration spread across Europe, largely due to the influence of travelling artists from Lake Lugano and the adjacent areas of present-day Ticino and northern Lombardy. The art of stucco was thus part of a broader and intricate phenomenon of artistic migration. From a social, economic and cultural perspective, a number of specific mechanisms were at work, affecting the functioning of communities, the organisation of workshops, strategies for obtaining commissions and the form of the resulting works of art, both materially, technologically and artistically.
The objective of the conference is to present new findings pertaining to material studies within the broader context of the migration phenomenon. Additionally, the event will showcase diverse methodological approaches and the latest techniques for studying, interpreting, restoring, preserving, and conserving stucco decorations across a range of contemporary European countries. The conference welcomes submissions of papers with an international scope that adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the subject matter. These may be drawn from the fields of art history, restoration and conservation, materials science, heritage conservation and preservation, cultural history, and so forth.
The conference will commence with a joint reflection and mutual dialogue on the life and work of Baldassarre Fontana (1661–1733), a European stucco artist from Chiasso. Fontana created a number of remarkable works, particularly in the territories that are now the Czech Republic and Poland. Nevertheless, case studies focusing on other stucco artists (their collaborators and commissioners) working in the same or previous period across Europe are also welcomed.
Both renowned specialists and emerging junior researchers are invited to attend the conference.
Sections/Themes
The following preliminary sections and/or themes may be addressed:
- Baldassarre Fontana: education, life, patrons, networking, workshop, collaborators, and other collaborating artists such as architects, painters and sculptors, audience/reception, historiography and reflection on methodological approaches to study, etc.
- Predecessors and contemporaries of Baldassarre Fontana in Europe: interaction between stucco workers, architects and other artists.
- Materiality, authenticity and perception of 17th and 18th century stucco decorations. Specific attention towards the restoration and preservation of 17th and 18th century stucco decoration and their surfaces, with a focus on the works of Baldassarre Fontana and other stucco artists across Europe, will be particularly welcomed.
- Technical art history: case studies on the interdisciplinary study on stucco decorations, with a particular focus on the work of Fontana’s predecessors and contemporaries across Europe.
Conference language English
Committee
Directed by
Jana Zapletalová and Martin Krummholz
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
Schedule
Abstracts (up to 2,000 characters) and a brief biography (up to 500 characters) may be submitted in English by no later than 31 December 2024 to the following e-mail address: j.zapletalova@upol.cz.
A notification of acceptance will be provided by 28 February 2025.
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.