Biblioteca Berenson, Fototeca, Villa I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies
Address:
via di Vincigliata 26
50135 Florence
Italy
Contact:
Giovanni Pagliarulo, Andrew W. Mellon Librarian and Acting Curator of the Berenson Fototeca
Telephone:
+39-055-603 251
Fax:
+39-055-603 383
Email:
Repository website URL:
Description of repository / collection image holdings:
The Fototeca of the Biblioteca Berenson has long been recognized as one of the major resources for the history of art. In this collection, which was formed during Bernard Berenson's lifetime (1865-1959) and has continued to grow since his death, is embedded Berenson's pioneering dedication to photography as a primary document for the connoisseurship of art. The Fototeca currently holds some 300,000 photographic prints representing artworks in a variety of media from ancient times to the early modern period (paintings, drawings, miniatures, ivories, sculpture, and architecture). The core of the collection documents Italian art of the later Middle Ages and Renaissance between 1200 and 1600.
http://www.itatti.it/menu3/fototeca.html
What we have in VIA:
The cataloging project begun in 2008 focuses on an especially important category of materials in the Fototeca, that is, photographs of Italian drawings or paintings whose current location is unknown – or, following Bernard Berenson's classification, "homeless." This refers to works of art that have been lost or destroyed, or stolen, or sold on the antiquarian art market to anonymous private collectors, or whose present location is unidentified because pertinent information is unavailable. Photographs classified over time in the Fototeca in these categories number nearly 17,000, representing some 13,000 works of art. In addition, catalog records are being prepared for over 1,500 photographs documenting the frescoes in the Basilica of S. Francesco in Assisi during the 1974-1983 restoration, before the 1997 earthquake. The ultimate aim is to catalog at least the core collection of the Fototeca, which includes around 150,000 photographs of Renaissance Italian paintings and drawings.
How we use VIA:
Each photograph is cataloged as a surrogate and is linked to a work record that describes the artwork depicted in the photograph. The surrogate record includes descriptive data about the photographic object, pertaining to its technical, physical and historical features.
Each work record represents an original work of art (such as a painting, a drawing, a print, a miniature, etc.), and when possible it is shared with other repositories that contribute to VIA. The work record contains information concerning the creation of the artwork, its physical and technical description, subject matter, location and reference to related works. Particularly significant is the data about attribution of authorship and about provenance of the work that is derived from selected publications by Bernard Berenson and from the numerous inscriptions written on photographs and related materials by Berenson and other scholars active in the Fototeca. Such information is reported in the record in addition to the currently accepted attribution, which is derived from updated and authoritative sources cited in the record.
A composite work such as complex/dismembered polyptych, a fresco cycle or an illuminated manuscript is cataloged as a group, to which work records are associated, each one describing an individual panel, frescoed scene, or folio.
Copyright and Permissions:
The material in this collection is owned or held by the Biblioteca Berenson, Fototeca, Villa I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. Some of the images, text and other content in VIA (collectively, the "Content") is protected by copyright law. In some cases, the copyright is owned by other parties, and Harvard is making the Content available to you under license or under the fair use doctrine.
The Content is provided for your personal, noncommercial teaching and research use. You may not copy, publish, post, distribute, display, perform, or otherwise make available any of the Content protected by copyright, except as may be permitted under fair use or another copyright law exemption. If you wish to make any such use of the Content, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder, which may be Harvard or another party. Please contact Giovanni Pagliarulo.
Some of the Content may be subject to other restrictions - for example, those imposed by a license agreement. You must comply with any other restrictions and terms of use that are identified in connection with particular Content.
In accessing VIA, you agree to use the Content only in accordance with copyright law and any other identified restrictions, and you assume all liability for any copyright infringement caused by your use. Some information on copyright law and fair use for members of the Harvard community can be found at:
http://ogc.harvard.edu/copyright_docs/copyright_and_fair_use.php