Paolo Verzone 1902-1986. Tra storia dell'architettura restauro archeologia

Paolo Verzone (1902-1986) was a civil engineer, a historian of medieval, Byzantine, and ancient architecture. He was a professor the Politecnico di Torino as well as the founder of the Italian Archeological Mission at Hierapolis of Phrygia in Turkey. To mark the hundredth anniversary of his birth, experts in the history of architecture, in restoration, and in archeology have contributed to this volume, the first to feature the figure of this important scholar in a comprehensive way. Paolo Verzone conducted the restoration work in Vercelli on the Casa Alciati, the noble residence that became a museum - the Museo Leone - as well as on the Basilica of St.
Andrew. These are significant examples of Verzone's understanding of how architectural restoration should proceed. This was a restauration project inspired by the "concept of the preservation and renewal of the ancient parts" and critical of restoration work that changes and sacrifices the originality of the work. After the 1930s Verzone concentrated on historical studies and was influenced by the American scholar, Arthur Kingsley Porter, and the Catalan, Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Turkey was a special focus of his activity. Paolo Verzone taught at the Teknik Üniversitesi of Istanbul and conducted excavations at Side in Pamphylia. In 1957 he founded the Mission at Hierapolis of Phrygia, currently the largest and most important Italian archeological research site in ancient Asia Minor.