Umbra Professor Leads Fresco Painting Workshop
Umbra Institute Fresco Painting professor William Pettit III will be hosting a fresco painting workshop through fine arts collective The Bottega. Participants will study traditional fresco techniques and aid in the permanent restoration of Cottanello Chapel.
Professor Pettit explains the workshop in his own words:
“Since last May I have been directing the restoration/redecoration of a small chapel in Cottanello (RI) in the Sabina mountains. The project involves historical research and refinishing the chapel with fresco paintings.
I have been using this location to conduct courses and seminars in traditional fresco painting technique. The next workshop will take place from October 18 to 22. I would like to extend the invitation to anyone interested. There will be a limited number of participants. This is not a course for credit but an experience to work on-site in an ancient chapel and to live in a medieval hill town.
The Workshop will cover traditional materials, pigments, and iconography in the history of fresco painting, and engage students in hands-on fresco work in a permanent wall painting in this historic chapel. Some site visits are scheduled to familiarize students with local styles between 1000-1400 CE.
The Bottega offers a service to communities in recuperating abandoned historic structures, and to students to learn to reclaim them with respect to traditional techniques and content.
The October workshop will deal with the ceiling of the chapel in fresco and gold leaf, following the model of Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel in Padova.
Workshop cost of 380 euros covers:
– lessons, lectures and hands-on fresco painting and gilding (12-15 hours in four days)
– photographic and video documentation
– all necessary materials, (pigments, brushes, tools)
– room (4 nights) and half board (breakfast and lunch) in hostel or simple B&B setting, walking distance from the work site, shops, and restaurant.
– local transportation, train station transportation
– certificate of participation
Workshop will take place in the mornings and students will have afternoons free. Other activities will be organized according to interest.
Visit www.thebottega.it for info and pictures and see videos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAlpIs3OzZc, and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8zvxi3rDwc
Contact me for any further information.”
William A. Pettit III for The Bottega