The digital platform of D.I.R.A.A.S. (UNIGE): An informatic application for the history of art criticism and photography

Abstract

This project studies photography as an instrument for artistic and historical teaching in relation to the didactic traditions of the Humanities at the University of Genoa. This research was initially based on an analysis of the corpus of glass diapositives and phototypes mostly owned by Giusta Nicco Fasola, Genoa’s first art history professor, and currently stored by D.I.R.A.A.S. (Dipartimento di Italianistica, Romanistica, Antichistica, arti e spettacolo). The corpus contextualizes Fasola's scientific and didactic interests in relation to her complex biography as a woman, professor, and political combatant in the Resistance in Fiesole and Florence. The central element of this analysis is the project for a prototype of a digital art history photo library, intended as a place of study and research and as a virtual communication platform. The overall goal of this work is to investigate the relationship between photography, history, and art critique.