Settori ERC:
Categoria di finanziamento:
Durata:
The ERC AdvGrant Graff-IT project aims to develop a new interdisciplinary approach to the study of medieval and Renaissance Italian graffiti (7th–16th centuries) as historical and linguistic sources, since these are spontaneous, non-commissioned writings.
The term graffito refers to a form of writing, sometimes combined with figurative motifs, made using improvised tools such as, for example, an awl or a nail, on a surface not intended for writing. There are numerous sites in Italy that are rich in unstudied graffiti.
Purpose:
The project represents the first attempt to detect and study this immensely rich corpus of sources through the lens of palaeography and language historians, with the general goal of affirming the full dignity of graffiti as written sources and integrating them into the realm of historiographical thought and practice. The novelty of this project lies in the idea of considering graffiti as part of their cultural context and, consequently, as an essential component of the communication system of their time. Graffiti allow us to access the worldview of individuals from the past and the writing they used.
This explains why the Graff-IT project aims to examine graffiti in their multifaceted complexity (writing, image, language, and material aspects) and in relation to all types of written media within specific spatio-temporal and socio-productive contexts. In this way, it will be possible to shed light on the nature and role of graffiti and to better understand not only the various specific features of non-literary language, pronunciation, and graphic forms.
Risultati attesi:
To create an open-access corpus of graffiti recorded and analyzed from the North to the South of the Peninsula.
Particular attention will be given to the following sites: the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, the Colosseum in Rome, the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, the Old and New Lazzaretto in Venice, and the network of natural caves in Southern Italy.
At the University for Foreigners of Perugia, two case studies are underway: the cataloging and publication of graffiti found in the Old and New Lazzaretto of Venice, and those present in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.
Risultati raggiunti:
At the moment, most of the graffiti on the islands of Lazzaretto Vecchio and Nuovo and those in the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi have been catalogued.
Pubblicazioni:
- Francesca Malagnini, Writings, Graffiti and Unpublished Drawings in the Two Venetian Lazzarettos, in Graffiti and Writing Practices in Venice in the Modern Age, edited by Desi Marangon and Alberto Toso Fei, Rome, Viella, 2026, forthcoming.
- Francesca Malagnini, The Graffiti of the “Grotte di Catullo”. Preliminary Notes, (with Carlo Tedeschi) in The Grotte di Catullo. A Roman Villa at Sirmione, Special Series of the Bollettino d’Arte of the Ministry of Culture, edited by Elisabetta Roffia, 2026, forthcoming.
- Francesca Malagnini, The Heritage that Remains: Wall Paintings and Epigraphic Writings, in Gerolamo Fazzini, The Venetian Lazzarettos. The Health System of the Serenissima against Epidemics, Venice, Marcianum Press, 2024, pp. 55-60, ISBN: 9788865129326.
- Francesca Malagnini, Public and Private Texts from the 16th-17th Centuries Painted on the Walls of the Tezon Grando, in Gerolamo Fazzini, The Venetian Lazzarettos. The Health System of the Serenissima against Epidemics, Venice, Marcianum Press, 2024, pp. 72-77, ISBN: 9788865129326.
- Francesca Malagnini, Living Language. Testimonies of Voices on the Walls of the Old Lazzaretto, in Quaderni della Direzione regionale Musei Veneto, Polo Museale del Veneto, vol. VIII, 2024, forthcoming.
- Francesca Malagnini, Inside the Catalogue. General Characteristics, in Graffiti of Umbria between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age (8th-17th centuries), edited by Francesca Malagnini, Carlo Tedeschi, Pier Paolo Trevisi, Florence, Franco Cesati, 2023, pp. 27-33 (paper version and open access), ISBN: 9791254960301.
- Francesca Malagnini, Graffiti and Sketches (15th-19th cent.): Ancient Traces of Made in Italy, in Made in Italy Food and Hospitality. Cultures and Techniques, edited by Antonio Allegra, Giovanni Capecchi, and Francesca Malagnini, Florence, Franco Cesati, 2022, pp. 13-23, ISBN: 9788876679735
- MALAGNINI F., TEDESCHI C., TREVISI P.P. (2023) Graffiti of Umbria between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age (8th-17th centuries), Stories of Italy Series, Franco Cesati Editore, Florence.
- TREVISI P.P. (2023) Graffiti and Traces of Pilgrims to Loreto in “Foligno Loreto – Lauretana Princeps” of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Foligno, ed. Dimensione Grafica, Foligno
- TREVISI P. P. (2024) A Heritage to Discover - The Graffiti of the Basilica of San Francesco as a Sign of Devotion and Passage, in the journal “San Francesco Patron of Italy”, no. 1 year 2024, Ed. NCT Global Media, San Mariano di Corciano.
- TREVISI P.P. (2024) The Graffiti of the Church of San Nicolò in Trevi in S. Cerquiglini, San Nicolò di Matigge – The Church, Traditions and Cult in the Territory of Trevi, series L’Istrice, art and culture, environment, n. 25, Era Nuova editions, Perugia
- TREVISI P.P. (2024) Graffiti in S. Sorcini, The Basilica of San Sabino de Plano in the Territory of Spoleto, series L’Istrice, art and culture, environment, n. 26, Era Nuova editions, Perugia
- TREVISI P.P. (2024) A Particular Graffito in the Church of San Nicolò in Foligno in S. Maranga, In a Dream with Mozart, ed. La Casa degli Artisti, Perugia
- TREVISI P.P. (2024) On Some Graffitied Testimonies of the Foligno Area in “---” of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Foligno, ed. Dimensione Grafica, Foligno
- TREVISI P.P (2024) Painted Captions and Graffiti in Bebi M, Sorcini S, Trevisi P.P. The Church of San Pellegrino in the Territory of Gualdo Tadino, Era Nuova editions, Perugia
- TREVISI P.P: (2025) Written Testimonies along the Via Flaminia. The Graffiti of the Churches of the Madonna di Costantinopoli and Santa Maria in Campis at Foligno in G. Mrozek Eliszezynski, Graffiti as a Historical Source between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Rome
- TREVISI P.P (2025, in preparation) The Graffiti of the Former Chapel of San Lorenzo in the Lower Basilica of San Francesco of Assisi, ed. Accademia Properziana del Subasio, Assisi.
Coordinatore:
Team:
Gabriele d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, international coordinator of the project, home institution of the Principal Investigator (PI) Prof. Carlo Tedeschi;
- University of Padua, co-beneficiary, scientific supervisor Prof. Nicoletta Giovè
- University for Foreigners of Perugia, co-beneficiary, Prof. Francesca Malagnini (scientific supervisor)
Research fellow at the University for Foreigners of Perugia: Dr. Pierpaolo Trevisi