A Recent Conference and the Foundations and Future Directions of Research on “Lombard” Romanesque Sculpture

Abstract

The PRIN2022 project Deconstructing “Lombard Identity”. For a New Vision of Romanesque Sculpture in the North Italian Context investigates the functions of images and the communicative strategies active in Romanesque Lombardy through its most representative artistic medium: stone architectural sculpture. Moving beyond the historiographical construct of “Lombard-ness”, the project reassesses formal, technical, and contextual specificities within clearly defined geographical and chronological limits. By foregrounding local contexts and emphasising diversity over inherited analogies, it aims to redefine long-standing interpretative models. The Parma 2024 conference – followed by the concluding meeting in Pavia and Milan – constituted an essential first stage in reframing the methodological and historiographical foundations for future research.