The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture.

History

The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

in 1912. Its mission is "to promote knowledge of and deep engagement with all aspects of the art, history and culture of Italy by scholars and fine artists from Britain and the Commonwealth, and to foster international and interdisciplinary exchange."Wallace-Hadrill, A., 2001. ''The British School at Rome: One Hundred Years'', London: British School at Rome Following the International Exhibition of Art in Rome in 1911, the site of the Edwin Lutyens-designed British Pavilion in the Valle Giulia was granted to the UK on condition that it be used exclusively as a British research centre for archaeology, history and the fine arts. In 1916, after significant adaptation by Lutyens, the BSR moved into what is still its home. In 2002, a purpose-built lecture theatre and gallery spaces, designed by Hugh Petter and sponsored by the

Sainsbury family The Sainsbury family (also Lord Sainsbury and family and incorrectly the Sainsbury's family) founded Sainsbury's, the UK's second-largest supermarket chain. Today, the family has many interests, including business, politics, philanthropy, arts, and ...

, were opened by Princess Alexandra. The BSR is immediately adjacent to the

Villa Borghese gardens Villa Borghese is a landscape garden in Rome, containing a number of buildings, museums (see Galleria Borghese) and attractions. It is the third largest public park in Rome (80 hectares or 197.7 acres) after the ones of the Villa Doria Pamphili a ...

and the

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna The ("national gallery of modern and contemporary art"), also known as La Galleria Nazionale, is an art gallery in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1883 on the initiative of the then Minister Guido Baccelli and is dedicated to modern and contempor ...

Awards and fellowships

The BSR awards residential scholarships and fellowships to artists and scholars from the Commonwealth for periods of three to twelve months. The awardees live in the BSR building and have access to its specialist reference library. Recipients of the fine art awards are provided with studio and workshop facilities. Awards, based on an open access application system, are made in the following fields: Archaeology of Italy and the Mediterranean;

Late Antique Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...

and

Medieval History In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

;

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and Enlightenment studies; Modern Italian Studies;

Architectural History The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

;

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

including Landscape Architecture; contemporary

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

practice.

Fine Arts awards

Humanities awards

Governance and leadership

The British School at Rome is one of the sponsored institutes of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

, whilst maintaining itself as an autonomous body. It receives financial support from the British Academy, award sponsors, private donors and its membership, and is a registered charity under English law. The BSR is led by a Director, who has traditionally been a senior scholar in the fields of Classical history, art history, or archaeology.

List of directors

Gordon McNeil Rushforth Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

– First Director * Sir

Henry Stuart-Jones Sir Henry Stuart Jones, FBA (15 May 1867 – 29 June 1939) was a British academic. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford; he obtained a First in Classical Moderations in 1888 and a First in Literae Humaniores ('Greats', a combination of p ...

(1903–1905) *

Thomas Ashby Thomas Ashby, (14 October 1874 – 15 May 1931) was a British archaeologist. Family He was the only child of Thomas Ashby (1851–1906), and his wife, Rose Emma, daughter of Apsley Smith. His father belonged to the well-known Quaker family ...

(1906–1925) * Bernard Ashmole (1925–1928) * Arthur Smith (1928–1930, 1932) *

Ian Richmond Sir Ian Archibald Richmond, (10 May 1902 – 5 October 1965) was a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire at the University of Oxford. In addition, he was Director of the British School at Ro ...

(1930–1932) * Arthur Smith (1932) – Second term *

Colin Hardie Colin Graham Hardie (16 February 1906 – 17 October 1998) was a British classicist and academic. From 1933 to 1936, he was Director of the British School at Rome. From 1936 to 1973, he was a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and a tutor in clas ...

(1933–1936) *

Ralegh Radford Courtenay Arthur Ralegh Radford (7 November 1900 – 27 December 1998) was an English archaeologist and historian who pioneered the exploration of the Dark Ages of Britain and popularised his findings in many official guides and surveys for the O ...

(1936–1939) * ''No director during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(1939–1945)'' *

John Bryan Ward-Perkins John Bryan Ward-Perkins, (3 February 1912 – 28 May 1981) was a British Classical architectural historian and archaeologist, and director of the British School at Rome. Family and early life John Bryan Ward-Perkins was born on 3 February 19 ...

(1946–1974) * Dr

David Whitehouse David Bryn Whitehouse, FSA, FRGS (15 October 194117 February 2013) was a British archaeologist and senior scholar of the Corning Museum of Glass. He was director of the British School at Rome between 1974 and 1984. Early life Whitehouse was born ...

(1974–1984) * Professor

Donald A. Bullough Donald Auberon Bullough Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSAScot Royal Philatelic Society London, FRPSL (13 June 1928 – 26 June 2002) was a British historian who taught and published on the cultural and political history of Italy, England ...

(1984) – Acting Director * Professor

Graeme Barker Graeme William Walter Barker, (born 23 October 1946) is a British archaeologist, notable for his work on the Italian Bronze Age, the Roman occupation of Libya, and landscape archaeology. Early life and education Barker was born on 23 October ...

(1984–1988) * Professor Richard Hodges (1988–1995) * Professor

Andrew Wallace-Hadrill Andrew Frederic Wallace-Hadrill, (born 29 July 1951) is a British ancient historian, classical archaeologist, and academic. He is Professor of Roman Studies and Director of Research in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge. He ...

(1995–2009) * Professor Christopher Smith (2009–2017) * Professor Stephen Milner (2017–2020) * Professor

Chris Wickham Christopher John Wickham, (born 18 May 1950) is a British historian and academic. From 2005 to 2016, he was Chichele Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford: he is now emeritus professor ...

(2020 - September 2021) * Professor

Abigail Brundin Abigail Brundin is Professor of Italian and the first female Director of the British School in Rome. She is an expert on the literature and culture of Italy in the renaissance and early modern periods. Prior to her appointment at the BSR, she was ...

(September 2021-)

Notable alumni

Fine arts

Humanities

Bibliography

T. P. Wiseman Timothy Peter Wiseman (born 3 February 1940), who usually publishes as T. P. Wiseman and is named as Peter Wiseman in other sources, is a classical scholar and professor emeritus of the University of Exeter. He has published numerous books ...

, ''A Short History of the British School at Rome'', 1990 *A. Wallace-Hadrill, ''The British School at Rome: One Hundred Years'', 2001

References

External links

The British School at Rome
{{DEFAULTSORT:British School At Rome British overseas research institutes Foreign academies in Rome Art schools in Italy Educational institutions established in 1901 Classical educational institutes Works of Edwin Lutyens World's fair architecture in Italy Schools with a royal charter Charities based in Italy 1901 establishments in Italy