The Genoese Ships in the 12th and 13th Centuries.

The history of the great Genoese power has generally well known historical reputation, which continues over the decades, with its roots sunk in the Middle Ages and lasting until the Renaissance, period of greater magnificence, in which it was known as the Superba. From a historical point of view related to shipbuilding, it is therefore interesting to find out which boats had to compose and thus give life to this great traffic network, above all commercial and diplomatic, which made Genoa great; in particular we will concentrate in the 12th and 13th centuries, when the control of the city came to include the coasts from Ventimiglia to Portovenere and it was in the full development and economic expansion of this enormous maritime power. Entering between different issues such as the analysis of the most used boats, which were in particular the navis, the commercial boat for excellence, the galley, with the thinnest and fastest shape compared to the previous one and the bucius, a type similar to the navis for the shape of hull even if of reduced dimensions, we want to expose, albeit in an area limited to an academic article, the development in these centuries of these boats. We also want to take into consideration the economic value that these boats had been taking into account different factors that affected it, such as the age of the ship and its state of preservation; we will also give a look to the men who were part of this fermented world, as could be the shipwright during the construction, the owner or co-owners of the ships, and also the crewmen who made the boat alive each with different tasks, how could they be rowers, armed sailors and officers, guiding her along the different routes, during the trips across the Mediterranean. All this without neglecting some aspects of life that were part of the activities carried out all around the boats, dwelling for example on the relations between the shipyard and the client, or the loca, an investment vehicle widely used by the traders of the time. It will also be shown how the trade routes were modified, noting an expansion of the range of action in conjunction with the passage of time, an effect explained by the probable increase in length and size that the boats themselves underwent changing over decades. This operation is possible thanks to the analysis of the notary documents preserved in the State Archives of Genoa and of the contemporary genre literature such as the Annals of Caffaro di Rustico Da Caschifellone (1080 or 1081 - circa 1164), crusader as well as analyst and diplomat who gave us a vast compendium of information recording the chronicles of the city of Genoa relating to the Middle Ages

Sailing Masterpieces. Ship Design and Aesthetics in the Naval Iconography of the 17th Century

The study concerns the decoration of warships of the 17th century through the naval iconography, with particular reference to England, France and the Dutch Republic. The first part deals with the relationship between shipbuilding and aesthetics, particularly alive at the time, considering its significance from a political point of view and the impact that this had on the life of warships. The second part is the result of a research period at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm and presents the warship Vasa as a case study. The technical analysis of the sculptures starts from a global point of view (relationship between hull and decoration) up to the study of the creation of individual sculptures, allowing a deeper understanding of the decoration visible in contemporary iconography

The art of sailing at the time of steamboats: cultural and territorial identity

In the early years of the nineteenth century, the fluvial navigation, before the introduction of steamboats, was entrusted to boats, barges and flat keelboats. The barges, equipped with a long low deckhouse, and the flat keelboats went up and down the rivers and lakes, but they were heavy boats, even if with a long and slender keel, and the boatmen used the power of the current, in addition to the oars to move these boats and to an oar rudder for manoeuvres, fighting with force and tenacity against the murky and swirling waters of rivers and lakes. The only justification for classifying these vessels as boats was due to the fact that they floated on water and were used as means of transport. The birth of steam propulsion has significantly changed this way of sailing. In this short note we want to tell a story of our home: the history of the Concordia, a steamboat built by the Odero shipyards in Genova - Sestri Ponente, for navigation on Lake Como, a majestic metallic swan, a steamboat with wheels, that for more than ninety years it has been on that \uabbranch of the lake\ubb of Manzoni\u2019s memory. It is a story of images, colours and sounds, of cultural and territorial perceptions and identities, but also of science, technic and technology that has characterized lakeside navigation in Italy for almost a century

Capolavori del Seicento: una stretta relazione tra costruzione navale e produzione artistica

Nel diciassettesimo secolo si verificò una peculiare stretta nei rapporti tra due mondi apparentemente separati: la costruzione navale e la produzione artistica. Questi due ambiti possono sembrare distanti, in particolare se si pensa all’abissale differenza dei loro prodotti: in un caso l’oggetto realizzato sarà un’imbarcazione e nell’altro un dipinto. Quale fu quindi il particolare legame che si andò a creare nel Seicento tra l’arsenale e l’atelier? Per rispondere a questa domanda è necessario calarsi nel contesto storico del periodo e affrontare parallelamente l’evoluzione e le trasformazioni che guidarono queste due arti nel corso del secolo. Così facendo è possibile scorgere un prolifico mondo in cui le tecniche della costruzione navale e quelle della produzione artistica si influenzarono reciprocamente su più piani. Questa interessante commistione portò alla realizzazione di veri capolavori artistici, sottoforma di dipinti e anche di reali e sontuose imbarcazioni

THE ROYAL LOUIS (1668), A SAILING MASTERPIECE

The French Navy’s finest hour began in the seventeenth century when Colbert became principal ministre d’État (1661) – a role equivalent to main adviser to the King of France during the Ancien Régime – and later Controller-General of Finances (1665), Secretary of State of the Navy (1669) as well as Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi (1669), and decided to improve the national shipyards. Despite poor starting conditions, the results of Colbert’s efforts led France to be one of the major players in the struggle for naval power. At that moment, European shipbuilding had a change in construction techniques mostly in warships. In France, this change also involved vessels aesthetics. Indeed, shipwrights’ tasks were not only to build ships with great naval skills, but vessels had also to be aesthetically striking and eye-catching to show at the world the Roy Soleil’s power and wealth. Many vessels were built in that style and the Royal Louis was one of the largest vessels and was built in 1668 in Toulon. With particular attention to the Royal Louis, this article aims to analyse several aspects of the world surrounding those floating masterpieces

Matthew Baker e la nascita dell'ingegneria navale

La costruzione navale ha vissuto, durante i secoli ma soprattutto nel Rinasci-mento, profondi cambiamenti nelle tecniche e nelle tecnologie costruttive, nell'uso dei materiali e nelle tipologie di imbarcazioni: un processo che \ue8 continuato fino ai giorni nostri. La sua storia \ue8 quindi costellata di innovazioni, invenzioni e personaggi che hanno portato allo sviluppo della costruzione navale in senso moderno. Tra i tanti personaggi che hanno attraversato questa storia, di fondamentale impor-tanza \ue8 la figura di Matthew Baker (1530-1613), maestro carpentiere della Corona inglese sotto Elisabetta I (1533-1603). Egli, con le sue idee innovative in merito alla redazione del progetto navale, diede un contributo importante all'affermazione della Royal Navy come potenza marittima europea e a una trasformazione della figura cardine dei cantieri navali dell\u2bcepoca, il maestro d\u2bcascia, che divent\uf2 in seguito ingegnere navale.The 17th century was a period of great development for England, which reached a leading role among the European powers. In a few decades the British navy underwent major changes due to the creation of the Royal Navy and the figure of Matthew Baker, a young Master Shipbuilder. Baker's contribution concerns the method of approach to shipbuilding and the birth of a new professional figure: the naval engineer. Baker opposed tradition based only on experience; in order to verify the nautical qualities of a ship in a "scientific" way, he believed it necessary to combine an indepth study of mathematics and geometry with an understanding of the shipbuilder's construction process. As a result, Baker's work led to the realiza-tion of construction plans and the presence of the naval engineer in the shipyard, who became both the custodian of the science of shipbuilding and the real ship designer. Thanks to Baker, after a few years this new figure became part of the social elite of the English Crown as a link between the administrative part managed by the nobles and the work of the yard

The ships of the line in art as an expression of territorial identity

Nel corso del Diciassettesimo secolo le flotte divennero uno strumento sempre più importante nelle mani delle potenze europee. La valenza di potere che assunsero le elevò da subordinata diramazione delle forze terrestri a simbolo esse stesse di forza. L’importanza che acquisirono era legata all’ambita egemonia delle rotte commerciali, e conseguentemente del potere economico. Inoltre, mantenere le imbarcazioni da guerra era costoso, quindi, oltre alle vittorie navali, risultava segno di ricchezza il fatto stesso di possedere una flotta. La forza navale era quindi simbolo di potere e superiorità, per questo gli Stati più coinvolti nei giochi di potere che si spingevano oltremare, sentirono la necessità di autocelebrarsi attraverso le flotte. Questo sfoggio di ricchezza venne manifestato tramite la pittura. Da sempre, infatti, il ruolo delle immagini è stato in parte incanalato nell’ostentazione di potere, che fosse la forza di una famiglia aristocratica rappresentata metaforicamente sulle pareti di edifici pubblici o la sovranità indiscussa della Chiesa cristiana esplicitata nei dipinti delle chiese. In questo processo si aggiunse, nel XVII secolo, il desiderio degli stati di comunicare il predominio indiscusso sul mare. Fu così che, a partire dalle prime vedute di marine, le imbarcazioni si insinuarono lentamente nelle opere, arrivando a essere con il tempo il soggetto vero e predominante nella rappresentazione pittorica, soprattutto nelle potenze nord europee. Questa interessante evoluzione, che ci proponiamo di raccontare, indusse addirittura gli artisti a spingersi essi stessi per mare, per poter meglio comprendere e rappresentare l’oggetto delle loro opera.During the XVII century, Navies were increasing their importance as a tool in the hands of the European powers. Their value had become so high that they were no longer subordinated to armies, getting their own identity. This new value was linked with the coveted hegemony over the commercial routs and thus with the consequent economic power. Moreover, maintaining warships was expensive and so just the fact of having a fleet was a sign of wealth. The naval force had become a symbol of power and superiority, which is why all the European States more involved in the overseas power play wanted to celebrate themselves through fleets. This happened through painting. Indeed, the role of images has always been used also for power ostentation, from the political significance of some aristocratic family metaphorically displayed on public buildings’ walls, to the Catholic Church’s unquestionable sovereignty showed in many paintings. In the XVII century, the States’ decision to communicate their power at the sea was added in this process. And so it was that from the first marine paintings, ships started to get inside artworks, to the point that they became the main subject in the pictorial representation, especially for the Nord European powers. We aim to illustrate this interesting evolution, which even pushed artists to leave their atelier and put to sea in order to better understand and thus represent the new protagonists of their works

Fire and Sea: perception and design of fireships in France under Colbert

This essay concerns the important role that fireships played in the French Navy under Colbert. In a time in which hulls were made of wood, and almost all the materials on vessels were flammable, fire was one of the most dangerous elements, and thus, a powerful weapon. This idea developed from the ancient times to the creation of fireships, where ships themselves became “fire-carrying weapons”. The French minister Colbert did not miss the importance of these ships for the navy and became a champion of fireships, allowing the development of their design in France in the 17th century

Tra Francia e Olanda, decorazione e costruzione navale nel Seicento

Nel corso del Seicento gli arsenali delle potenze europee dovettero confrontarsi con un nuovo aspetto emergente nella costruzione navale, ovvero la decorazione. L’estetica delle navi di linea divenne, infatti, sempre più importante fi no a diventare motivo di dibattito tra le fi gure facenti parte del mondo navale, come ammiragli, capitani, sovrintendenti di arsenali e maestri d’ascia. In particolare, proprio i maestri d’ascia dovettero presto imparare a convivere con persone di tutt’altro mestiere, gli artisti, entrati a far parte del personale necessario per la costruzione di una imbarcazione, e il pragmatismo della tecnica dovette lasciare spazio all’estro estetico. Parallelamente, l’accentuarsi delle decorazioni a bordo diede vita a nuove problematiche che infl uenzarono l’intera vita delle imbarcazioni, dal processo di costruzione, alla resa nautica dopo il varo. In questo contesto, due potenze approcciarono le nuove sfi de della costruzione navale con spirito diverso, se non addirittura opposto. Il pragmatismo olandese, che prediligeva la praticità, e il prorompente estro francese, affascinato dalla ricchezza della produzione artistica, rappresentano, infatti, in questo preciso contesto, due antitesi di pensiero che portarono rispettivamente Olanda e Francia a percepire e valutare in modo differente la qualità estetica all’interno delle loro fl otte. Tuttavia, queste due realtà entrarono spesso in contatto, senza alcuna contraddizione. La Francia guardò, infatti, con occhi avidi alla costruzione navale dei Paesi Bassi e diversi maestri d’ascia olandesi trovarono in territorio francese il luogo adatto alla realizzazione pratica della loro arte. Infine, tra il 1666 e il 1667 fu proprio Luigi XIV a ottenere dal governo olandese la realizzazione di ben sei navi di linea di secondo rango, dimostrando come la produzione olandese potesse perfettamente adattarsi alle esigenze e agli standard della flotta della Marine Royale.During the Seventeenth century, European dockyards had to face an emergent aspect in shipbuilding which is the decoration concern. Indeed, the aesthetics of ships of the line was becoming increasingly signifi cant until it represented the topic of a central debate in the naval world. And so it was that shipwrights should soon learn to coexist with artists, who had become part of the staff working inside dockyards, and the technical pragmatism had to handle the aesthetic fl air. Moreover, the emphasis put on decorations onboard created different problems to the life of ships, from launch onwards. In this context, two powers faced the new challenges of shipbuilding with divergent approaches. The Dutch pragmatism, which preferred practicality, and the French fancy, charmed by the artistic production, represented two opposite ways of thinking, bringing the Netherlands and France to evaluate ship aesthetics differently. Nevertheless, these two worlds were often in close contact, without any contradiction. Indeed, France looked with greedy eyes at Dutch shipbuilding, and many Dutch shipwrights found that France was the right place to express their art. Furthermore, between 1666 and 1667, Louis XIV ordered the construction of six second-rate vessels to the Netherlands, demonstrating how Dutch shipbuilding could perfectly fit the French shipbuilding standards