SIMPLIFIED ANALYSES FOR THE MODEL SETTING OF SCULPTURES: THE “OCEANO” BY GIAMBOLOGNA

Abstract The historical art works represent a priceless asset of communities. Despite their importance, such artifacts are often subjected to many hazards; in Italy, the seismic risk represents one of the most serious dangers which affect the art works, especially those more exposed to overturning. In these years, many studies have been made on the seismic response of artifacts, which evidenced the possible vulnerability of statues to seismic excitations. This paper is focused on the safety assessment of one of the masterpieces of the XVI century art: the marble statue “Oceanus”, made by Giambologna in 1570. The sculpture, currently exhibited at the courtyard of the Museo del Bargello in Florence, has a mass of almost 2 tons, and a height of over three meters, and it is the only giant statue made by Giambologna. In the work, a simplified assessment of the seismic response of the sculpture, and of the consequent seismic safety, has been made, by performing a non-linear static analysis. The role plaid by the base restraint and by the pedestal of the sculpture have been checked and discussed. The assessment proposed in the paper is aimed at providing a general comprehension of the dynamic response of the case-study under seismic excitations, and to suggest a proper criterion to set a more detailed model for further analyses.