The essay studies the practices implemented for the artificial lighting in the rooms of Palace of the University of Pavia in the first half of the 19th century. Since the material traces of the systems used have been lost due to the uninterrupted use of the building and its continuous updating, the study is based on archival documentation produced by the institute itself, relating to the organization of teaching activities and to the administrative management. The documents of greatest interest dates back to the period of the restoration; they can be found in the correspondence between the Rectorate and the Government – regarding lesson times, the didactic organization, the project of works to be carried out on the building – and in the documentation of the bursary. In the archive collection of the bursary various inventories of objects, expense reports for purchases of consumables – including candles, wicks and oil for lanterns – and notes from the craftsmen in charge of supplies and maintenance to the building are kept. The study made it possible to identify the restricted areas of use of artificial lighting, the illuminating substances and instruments used, as well as their gradual updating, with the progressive transition from the candle to various types of mechanized oil lamps. While not being able to offer a general vision of the practices connected to the lighting of public educational establishments and despite the limits connected to the partial discontinuity and inhomogeneity of the analyzed documentation, the events presented allow us to outline in a well-founded way the framework of the practices maintained in the University of Pavia, at the time the main Lombard educational institution. It clearly shows the intention to limit the use of artificial lighting as much as possible and to exclude it completely from the sphere of ex cathedra teaching, for which instead a continuous improvement of natural lighting is studied through: an accurate choice of lesson times – differentiated according to the season – and of the exposure of the classrooms, the construction of skylights, the continuous maintenance and renewal of window glazing.

L’illuminazione artificiale del Palazzo dell’Università di Pavia nei primi decenni dell’Ottocento / Emanuele Zamperini. - STAMPA. - (2020), pp. 95-111.

L’illuminazione artificiale del Palazzo dell’Università di Pavia nei primi decenni dell’Ottocento

Emanuele Zamperini
2020

Abstract

The essay studies the practices implemented for the artificial lighting in the rooms of Palace of the University of Pavia in the first half of the 19th century. Since the material traces of the systems used have been lost due to the uninterrupted use of the building and its continuous updating, the study is based on archival documentation produced by the institute itself, relating to the organization of teaching activities and to the administrative management. The documents of greatest interest dates back to the period of the restoration; they can be found in the correspondence between the Rectorate and the Government – regarding lesson times, the didactic organization, the project of works to be carried out on the building – and in the documentation of the bursary. In the archive collection of the bursary various inventories of objects, expense reports for purchases of consumables – including candles, wicks and oil for lanterns – and notes from the craftsmen in charge of supplies and maintenance to the building are kept. The study made it possible to identify the restricted areas of use of artificial lighting, the illuminating substances and instruments used, as well as their gradual updating, with the progressive transition from the candle to various types of mechanized oil lamps. While not being able to offer a general vision of the practices connected to the lighting of public educational establishments and despite the limits connected to the partial discontinuity and inhomogeneity of the analyzed documentation, the events presented allow us to outline in a well-founded way the framework of the practices maintained in the University of Pavia, at the time the main Lombard educational institution. It clearly shows the intention to limit the use of artificial lighting as much as possible and to exclude it completely from the sphere of ex cathedra teaching, for which instead a continuous improvement of natural lighting is studied through: an accurate choice of lesson times – differentiated according to the season – and of the exposure of the classrooms, the construction of skylights, the continuous maintenance and renewal of window glazing.
2020
978-88-57573-55-7
Luce artificiale e vita collettiva. Pratiche di illuminazione nell’Italia del nord tra Settecento e Ottocento
95
111
Emanuele Zamperini
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1249689
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