La scultura di figura e l’intaglio in legno a Roma tra secondo Seicento e primo Settecento: Tecniche e protagonisti, tra fruizione e trasmissione di valori formali

The thesis analizes woodcarving and wood-sculpture in Rome between 1600 and 1725 ca. from multiple points of view. The first chapter provides a historical profile of the University and Archconfraternity of Carpenters at the church of S. Giuseppe, the insitituion that regulated the life of all wood craftsmen residing in the city, trough archival research. The second chapter carefully revisits guides and voyage literature to find any proof of a possible scholarly interest of wooden art in Rome in the past. Then, it poses a more theoretical question: clarifying the motivation for the almost total absence of polychrome devotional wooden sculpture in the city. To do this, the theological sources of the Counter-Reformation, contrary to the use of excessively active or moving images, and those of artistic literature, strongly influenced by the social positioning of the Academies of Drawing, which tended to distance themselves from mechanical trades, were re-examined. The third chapter addresses some specific cases of the rare presence of devotional sculpture in Rome, emphasizing the role of jubilee processions and religious orders in the attempt to revive this specific art form. The fourth chapter reviews the knowledge on wood carving techniques in the chronology of interest. The thesis concludes with a series of biographies on the most important wood carving artists, in which the family connections and figurative debts that linked the artists emerge strongly. When possible, it was decided to focus on some specific works for each artist: primary attention was given to organ façades, as these represent the major public works of wood carvers, otherwise specialized in private furnishings. In the appendix, summary tables of the prices of the works and documentary discoveries made on the patent registers of the University of Carpenters are provided.