An extraordinarily contemporary Byron, rich in insights into climate change and the importance of imagery, as well as music, theatre, and society.
This is the portrait of the Romantic poet that emerged from the two-day conference “Byron 1824-2024: Words, Images, Sounds, ” which brought some of the foremost experts on Byron together in Ravenna at the Dante Cloisters of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna. The event, organized by the Italian Byron Society, took place just two weeks before the inauguration of the Byron and Risorgimento Museums.
“The aim was to develop the theme of a transdisciplinary Byron across images, sounds, and texts,” explains Diego Saglia, Vice President of the Italian Byron Society and Professor of English Literature at the University of Parma. “With the word at its core, the conference explored music and musical adaptations, visual arts with two presentations on portraiture, and Byron’s influence on contemporary screens, including Valentina Varinelli’s talk on ‘Bridgerton.’ Byron was examined as a great interpreter of his era’s concerns, well represented by the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, but also in his surprising and extraordinary contemporary relevance.”
A strong example in this respect was Gioia Angeletti’s presentation on environmental themes, focusing on Byron’s apocalyptic sensitivity to climate change with an in-depth reading of the poem “Darkness.”
The arrival of leading experts in Ravenna shone an important spotlight on the role and challenge of the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, which were strongly promoted by the Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna. The Foundation purchased, renovated, and set up Palazzo Guiccioli, its inauguration scheduled for Friday, 29 November.
“An important aspect of the conference,” continues Professor Saglia, “was the conversation with other archives and museums. Discussions with Anne Toner about documents held at Cambridge’s Trinity College and its Wren Library, where Byron’s statue prominently stands, as well as with Simon Brown, the Director of Newstead Abbey, addressed challenges faced by a museum that was also the poet’s residence. Lessons learned from Brown’s museum concern economic sustainability, renewing interest through new exhibitions, loans, reimagining the visitor journey, and how to engage diverse audiences.”
Brown reflected significantly on involving families, schools, people with disabilities, and how to tell the story of objects — a crucial point for us since, as Donatino Domini and Claudia Giuliani always emphasize, this museum places the word at its centre.
“Our primary challenge is not to flatten Byron onto his myth or legend but always to keep his works — his poems, his letters — as our focus,” Saglia adds.
Carla Pomarè’s stimulating presentation on Byron’s conversational skills revealed the poet as a great communicator. Transcriptions from the era show that the image of the poet as a lonely, antisocial figure are highly misleading, and highlight the importance of sociability and communication in both past and present societies.
Byron and media culture is a topic of great current relevance: even portraits and prints were part of a complex media universe of the time that helped make Byron a celebrity — an aspect strongly connected to today’s society.
An important tribute to the conference came from Clara Tuite of the University of Melbourne, who explored the tragedy “Sardanapalus,” featuring a character inspired by Teresa Guiccioli. Mirka Horova of Prague University brilliantly tackled Byron’s influence on twentieth-century authors, while Gregory Dowling, Vice President of the Italian Byron Society, and A.E. Stallings, Oxford Professor of Poetry, introduced themes related to Byron’s philhellenism, highly topical subjects such as the Parthenon Marbles and the Greek national anthem.
An extraordinarily contemporary Byron, rich in insights into climate change and the importance of imagery, as well as music, theatre, and society.
This is the portrait of the Romantic poet that emerged from the two-day conference “Byron 1824-2024: Words, Images, Sounds, ” which brought some of the foremost experts on Byron together in Ravenna at the Dante Cloisters of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna. The event, organized by the Italian Byron Society, took place just two weeks before the inauguration of the Byron and Risorgimento Museums.
“The aim was to develop the theme of a transdisciplinary Byron across images, sounds, and texts,” explains Diego Saglia, Vice President of the Italian Byron Society and Professor of English Literature at the University of Parma. “With the word at its core, the conference explored music and musical adaptations, visual arts with two presentations on portraiture, and Byron’s influence on contemporary screens, including Valentina Varinelli’s talk on ‘Bridgerton.’ Byron was examined as a great interpreter of his era’s concerns, well represented by the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, but also in his surprising and extraordinary contemporary relevance.”
A strong example in this respect was Gioia Angeletti’s presentation on environmental themes, focusing on Byron’s apocalyptic sensitivity to climate change with an in-depth reading of the poem “Darkness.”
The arrival of leading experts in Ravenna shone an important spotlight on the role and challenge of the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, which were strongly promoted by the Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna. The Foundation purchased, renovated, and set up Palazzo Guiccioli, its inauguration scheduled for Friday, 29 November.
“An important aspect of the conference,” continues Professor Saglia, “was the conversation with other archives and museums. Discussions with Anne Toner about documents held at Cambridge’s Trinity College and its Wren Library, where Byron’s statue prominently stands, as well as with Simon Brown, the Director of Newstead Abbey, addressed challenges faced by a museum that was also the poet’s residence. Lessons learned from Brown’s museum concern economic sustainability, renewing interest through new exhibitions, loans, reimagining the visitor journey, and how to engage diverse audiences.”
Brown reflected significantly on involving families, schools, people with disabilities, and how to tell the story of objects — a crucial point for us since, as Donatino Domini and Claudia Giuliani always emphasize, this museum places the word at its centre.
“Our primary challenge is not to flatten Byron onto his myth or legend but always to keep his works — his poems, his letters — as our focus,” Saglia adds.
Carla Pomarè’s stimulating presentation on Byron’s conversational skills revealed the poet as a great communicator. Transcriptions from the era show that the image of the poet as a lonely, antisocial figure are highly misleading, and highlight the importance of sociability and communication in both past and present societies.
Byron and media culture is a topic of great current relevance: even portraits and prints were part of a complex media universe of the time that helped make Byron a celebrity — an aspect strongly connected to today’s society.
An important tribute to the conference came from Clara Tuite of the University of Melbourne, who explored the tragedy “Sardanapalus,” featuring a character inspired by Teresa Guiccioli. Mirka Horova of Prague University brilliantly tackled Byron’s influence on twentieth-century authors, while Gregory Dowling, Vice President of the Italian Byron Society, and A.E. Stallings, Oxford Professor of Poetry, introduced themes related to Byron’s philhellenism, highly topical subjects such as the Parthenon Marbles and the Greek national anthem.
