Giovanni Colonna Papers on small italic votive bronzes
Scope and Contents
Giovanni Colonna’s scholarly records represent a unique, comprehensive, monothematic study of Italian pre-Roman small votive bronzes. They are a significant resource for scholars dealing with the religious phenomenon of such bronzes and, more broadly, with religion in pre-Roman Italy. From 1955 to 2014, Giovanni Colonna collected over 10,000 documents to support his research, currently forming the bulk of his papers: catalogue cards, photographs, notebooks, sketches, negative films, correspondence, and the only existing typescript copy of his dissertation. He adopted a stylistic approach for his study, which is still valid today, and he could identify the presence of such objects in more than 100 national and international museums, attributing the provenance of the specimens to many Italian and European sites. Giovanni Colonna's documentation is useful for many purposes. In addition to investigating the dynamics of the antiquarian market in recent centuries and the history of studies on small italic votive bronzes, the primary purpose is reconstructing contexts that can no longer be physically analysed for various reasons. These materials includes the following:
- GC/1 - Dissertation and photo album. The original typescript is in a single copy on tissue paper dated 1957. It represents the dissertation assigned by Massimo Pallottino on 15 November 1955 and discussed on 23 February 1957.
- GC/2 - Photographic albums. Nearly seven hundred (1,275) photographs in this Series were purchased mainly in the early 1960s and are stored in 8 albums.
- GC/3 - Card catalogue. The catalogue cards (1,119 items) vary in scope and level of description. Some of them are annotated on both sides and, therefore, total 1578 pages, arranged in 13 albums.
- GC/4 - Loose photographic prints. Five hundred twenty-one photographs (521) of small votive bronzes and schematic ones.
- GC/5 - List of bronze figurine groups. A document of a few pages showing the stylistic Series of the Second Period (Hellenistic Age).
- GC/6 - Correspondence. Eighty-three (83) documents containing correspondence between Giovanni Colonna and other scholars and museums regarding small votive bronzes.
- GC/7 - Notebooks. Forty-five (45) notebooks, including research notes on votive bronzettes.
- GC/8 - Negative Films. Two hundred (200) negative films representing votive bronzes.
Reference number
GC
Dates
- 1955 - 2014
- Majority of material found within 1957 - 1970
Language of Materials
Materials predominately in Italian with some documents in English, French and German.
Conditions Governing Access
These papers are being rearranged and are not available for consultation.
Conditions Governing Use
Items from this collection may not be reproduced without permission obtained by the BSR.
Biographical note
Giovanni Colonna was born in Rome in 1934 to an Abruzzese family and is one of the most prominent scholars in Etruscan and Italic Studies. He studied in Rome with Massimo Pallottino and graduated at Sapienza Università di Roma in 1957, with a dissertation entitled “Saggio sui piccolo bronzi votivi a figura umana di produzione italica” . He refined his studies in Rome and Athens and was appointed Archaeological Superintendent of South Etruria from 1964 until 1972. In the same year, he held the Etruscology and Italic Antiquities chair at the Università di Bologna. In 1980, he obtained the chair in the same subject matter at Sapienza Università di Roma. Throughout his career, he has carried out numerous fieldwork campaigns in Etruria (Blera, Norchia, Bisenzio, Bolsena, Montefiascone, Tuscania, Cerveteri, Ladispoli, Veii) and other locations (Arcinazzo Romano, Saepinum, Valle del Sinello, Festòs). His reputation for his work on the Etruscan site of Veii and the temple of Portonaccio is widely acknowledged in the academic domain. He has also done extensive work at Pyrgi and is the author of numerous papers and monographs. Colonna is currently a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, where he also served as vice president from 1997 to 2016.
Extent
1,20 Linear Meters
Abstract
Giovanni Colonna’s scholarly records on Italian pre-Roman small votive bronzes.
Arrangement
Giovanni Colonna arranged his papers using a broad topographical/typological structure, distinguishing between North and South Umbrian and Sabellic productions. He also adopted a stylistic approach, recognising Masters and Schools divided into five production periods, covering the centuries from the Archaic period to the 1st century BC. These materials are arranged in eight Series: GC/1 - Dissertation and photo album; GC/2 - Photographic albums; GC/3 - Card catalogue; GC/4 - Loose photographic prints; GC/5 - List of bronze figurine groups; GC/6 - Correspondence; GC/7 - Notebooks; GC/8 - Negative films.
Custodial History
In 2014, Giovanni Colonna presented his personal papers on small italic votive bronzes to Maria Cristina Biella, then a BSR Research Fellow. With the agreement of both parties, these records were then deposited at the BSR, following a formal letter addressed to Christopher J. Smith, BSR Director, on 28 October 2015.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Giovanni Colonna deposited this fonds at the BSR on 28 October 2015 (in a formal letter to the Director of the BSR, Christopher J. Smith).
Bibliography
- Colonna, G. (1970) Bronzi votivi umbro-sabellici a figura umana: I – Periodo ‘Arcaico’. Firenze: Sansoni.
- Colonna, G. (1975) ‘Problemi dell’arte figurativa di età ellenistica nell’Italia adriatica’, Atti del I Convegno di Studi sulle Antichità Adriatiche. Chieti‑Francavilla al Mare, June 1971. Chieti: Comitato promotore, pp. 172–177.
- Colonna, G. (1997) ‘Un Ercole Sabellico dal Vallo di Adriano’, Archeologia Classica, 49, pp. 65–100. Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
- Redknap, M. (2004) ‘Viking–age settlements in Wales and the evidence from Llanbedrgoch’, Land, sea and home, proceedings of a conference on Viking–period settlement. Cardiff, July 2001. Leeds: Manay Publishing, pp. 139–175.
- Biella, M.C. (2015) I bronzi votivi dal santuario di Corfinio, località Sant’Ippolito. Roma: Giorgio Bretschneider Editore.
- Biella, M.C. (2016) ‘Bronzetti votivi ellenistici dal centro Italia: un approccio artigianale ed economico’, RendLinc s., IX, vol. 27, fasc. 3‑4, pp. 261–287.
- Biella, M.C. (2017) ‘I bronzi votivi dal santuario di Ercole ad Alba Fucens’, Archeologia Classica, 68, n.s. II, 7, pp. 487–517. Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
- Biella, M.C. (2019) ‘Notizie dall’Archivio. Per una rilettura della piccola plastica bronzea votiva da Castelvecchio Subequo (AQ)’, Scienze dell’Antichità, 25.1, pp. 243–256. Roma: Quasar.
Processing Information
Between 2016 and 2017, students from Sapienza Università di Roma enrolled in Bachelor's degree courses in Archaeological Sciences and Master's degree courses in Archaeology conducted a preliminary study of the documentation under the leadership of Professoressa Maria Cristina Biella, Associate Professor in Civilisation of Pre-Roman Italy at Sapienza Università di Roma. The work entailed rearranging the materials, especially preserving the dissertation, and drawing up an initial inventory. Between 2017 and 2018, all records were digitised in accordance with BSR guidelines, and descriptive metadata were created. Nicolò Sabina, PhD student, Civilisation of Pre-Roman Italy at Sapienza Università di Roma, re-established the original attribution of the photographic plates within relevant sections in the dissertation, which was partly affected by how the typescript relating to the 1970 volume was consigned to the publisher. Filippo Materazzi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Sapienza Università di Roma, Civiltà dell’Italia preromana - funded by the Dipartimento di Eccellenza di Scienze dell’Antichità -, continued the work, completing the scans and focusing in particular on Series GC/2 and GC/3.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the British School at Rome Archive & Special Collections Repository