Italian artists and craftsmen in North America (late 18th-19th century)

Abstract Italian masters played a direct and decisive role in many of the major building sites of the young American nation (late 18th-19th centuries), both in the various phases of construction and decoration and also in contributing to the formation and activity of artists and specialized craftsmen. Through the analysis of few case studies the dynamics in the construction site, the organization of the work, and the role played by the main figures involved in the entire process will be discussed. The aim is to draw an overall picture, a contribution to the understanding of the ways in which the building traditions of the colonies met with the oldest Italian ones, handed down from generation to generation. The result of the combination of such profoundly different realities – in terms of economic conditions, climate, quality of local materials, lack of work-force – deeply shaped the developments in the U.S. construction history and the formation of a class of specialized, local craftsmen. The pioneering work of many Italian artists, from Giovanni Franzoni and Giuseppe Andrei – the first to be asked to work on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. – to Carlo Franzoni, Francesco Iardella, and many others, significantly contributed to America’s building tradition.