Pensando indipendentemente e, dopo, insieme: il rapporto fra verità, arte e scienza nell’ambito della transdisciplinarità
10.6092/issn.1973-9494/9238
La definirei una Nota nella quale estrazioni culturali differenti e idee personali altrettanto differenti hanno condotto ad un confronto e al conseguente bisogno di stendere, da parte di ciascuno degli autori, il breve scritto che, a ragione e con forza non esclude gli altri, bensì li integra sullo specifico argomento.L’argomento “Verità”, di cui si tratta, quale assioma di per sé, in questo caso è direzionato ad aree culturali nelle e per le quali gli stessi autori operano ovvero: arte e scienza.E così lo scienziato, il filosofo e il giurista, autori dello scritto, con una prospettiva di apertura alla trascendenza che li unisce, ancorché in maniera e con convinzioni differenti, danno significato e ragion d’essere al concetto di “interdisciplinarità”.Al riguardo, vorrei sottolineare che tale concetto, assurto alla sua forma forte di “transdisciplinarità”, è presente nella Costituzione apostolica “Veritatis gaudium”, definita un’altra pietra della rivoluzione culturale di Papa Francesco.Ecco, in sintesi: “Pensando indipendentemente e, dopo, insieme”.
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Giampaolo Maria Cogo
Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
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Thinking Independently and, Then, as One: The Relationship Between Truth, Art and Science in the Field of Cross-Disciplinarity
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2018-12-31
2019-03-18
2018-12-31
2019-11-05
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Giampaolo Maria Cogo
2018/12/31
10.6092/issn.1973-9494/9238
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Thinking Independently and, Then, as One: The Relationship Between Truth, Art and Science in the Field of Cross-Disciplinarity
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18
I would define the following text as a Note in which different cultural extractions and
equally different personal ideas have led to a discussion and the consequent need on
the part of each of the authors to write the short paper which, rightly and emphatically,
does not exclude others, but rather integrates them into the specific subject matter.
The theme it discusses - “Truth” - as an axiom itself, in this case is directed at the cul-
tural areas in which, and for which, the authors themselves operate: art and science.
Thus the authors of the paper, the scientist, the philosopher and the jurist, with the
perspective of openness toward transcendence that unites them, albeit in different
ways and with different convictions, give meaning and reason to the concept of “inter-
disciplinarity” and “transdisciplinarity”.
In this regard, I would like to underline that this concept, which has developed into the
stronger form of “cross-disciplinarity”, is present in the Apostolic Constitution “Veritatis
Gaudium”, defined as another step in the cultural revolution of Pope Francis.
Here, in short: “Thinking independently and, then, as one”.

                                                                            Editor-in-Chief
T     HINKING INDEPENDENTLY AND, THEN, AS ONE: THE
      RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUTH, ART AND SCIENCE
      IN THE FIELD OF CROSS-DISCIPLINARITY


    Salvatore Lorusso*14
    Conservation scientist
    Russian Academy of Natural Sciences

    Mauro Mantovani
    Philosopher
    Rector, Salesian Pontifical University, Rome, Italy

    Giampaolo Maria Cogo
    Jurist
    Studio Legale Cogo, Rome, Italy

    Keywords: interdisciplinary, truth, art, science, crossdisciplinarity.


    1. Introduction

    In this day and age, often dominated by monographic surveys and approximate
sociologisms, discussing a work of art is undoubtedly not a literary exercise, as the art
historian Roberto Longhi professed, nor is it a starting point for elaborating theories, as
other art historians, such as Venturi and Argan, claimed. It is instead, as Federico Zeri




                                                                                                     CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
says in comparing himself with the former, the discipline of observation, the restitution
of the alleged truth to the artistic text, the revelation of the unexplored, the attributive
mastery, the austere frequentation of the archives.
    Hence the need to bring together as one the various philological contents and codify
the palimpsest of the work, relying on sober prose. On the other hand, since forms
have no autonomous life, art and society must be in a position to dialogue with the aim
of tracing artistic inventions back to a certain era, also by studying everyday objects.
    In the relationship between truth and art, there is another aspect that leads back to
the now real possibility of obtaining a reproduced work of art, that is, one realized using
digital technologies.
    It is worth noting that virtuality and reality constitute two dimensions, two worlds,
which seem to be in contrast, but which can actually explain something about each
other and open themselves up to different interpretations.
    In speaking about virtuality, our thoughts lead us to the related contents that are
able to influence and question what is real, presenting us with a problem of authentic-
ity as we are unable to distinguish the true from the reproduced. As a result, openings
arise prompting questions about the values of identity of an art work.




*   Corresponding author: salvatore.lorusso@unibo.it

                                                                                               257
                                                                                     Is identity something material and immutable? Or is it the result of a dynamic evolu-
                                                                                 tion in which the same continues to persist in the other? How can the old and the new
                                                                                 or the real and the reproduced be integrated without altering the entity of the “cultural
                                                                                 good”? However, it is equally true that there are also commercial interests connected
                                                                                 to the dilemma of the real-virtual. In particular, contemporary art is recognized by critics
                                                                                 - very often authentic values are discovered and commented after a considerable time
                                                                                 has passed - as being a widespread phenomenon of commodification and speculation
                                                                                 and far from what real figurative representation should be [1-2].


                                                                                    2. Truth and science

                                                                                     There is, moreover, the relationship between truth and science, a subject addressed
                                                                                 by the paleontologist Henry Gee amongst others. According to the scholar, the goal
                                                                                 of scientific investigation is to find out what one can and what is not yet known. Sci-
                                                                                 ence should favour uncertainty, constant self-correction and, in so doing, accumulate
                                                                                 increasingly more reliable knowledge that nonetheless starts from the exercise of sys-
S. Lorusso, M. Mantovani, G. Cogo - Thinking independently and, then, as one




                                                                                 tematic doubt.
                                                                                     This skeptical theory may be misunderstood by some, in that it may be seen as
                                                                                 representing and demonstrating a weakness and not a strength. In fact it could be said
                                                                                 that science is the only form of knowledge in which the interrogatives increase with
                                                                                 time rather than decrease, highlighting the axiom that “the more we know, the more
                                                                                 we know we do not know”. This is what is vehemently and, at the same time humbly,
                                                                                 pointed out to those who - as mentioned earlier - misunderstand, by emphasizing both
                                                                                 the same and the opposite truth of the bare facts. This obviously depends on the type
                                                                                 of science in question.
                                                                                     Twenty years ago, in 1998, Pope John Paul II published the Encyclical Letter Fides
                                                                                 et ratio on the relationship between faith and reason, dedicated specifically to the
                                                                                 theme of truth, stating that a person holds the desire to know in their heart and it con-
                                                                                 stitutes the goal towards which the human spirit strives:
                                                                                     “In both East and West, we may trace a journey which has led humanity down the
                                                                                 centuries to meet and engage truth more and more deeply […] the more human beings
                                                                                 know reality and the world, the more they know themselves in their uniqueness, with
                                                                                 the question of the meaning of things and of their very existence becoming ever more
                                                                                 pressing. This is why all that is the object of our knowledge becomes a part of our life.
                                                                                 The admonition Know yourself was carved on the temple portal at Delphi, as testimony
                                                                                 to a basic truth to be adopted as a minimal norm by those who seek to set themselves
                                                                                 apart from the rest of creation as “human beings”, that is as those who “know them-
                                                                                 selves” (Fides et ratio, n. 1).
                                                                                     In times that are called “post-truth”, one of the fundamental challenges of “making
                                                                                 culture” is therefore recovering and promoting a unitary and organic vision of knowl-
                                                                                 edge, as well as overcoming the self-referential sectors that often involve approaches
                                                                                 that are partial and reductionist and lead to the “fragmentation of the meaning”. The
                                                                                 Pope continues in Fides et ratio, saying:
                                                                                     “I want only to state that reality and truth do transcend the factual and the empiri-
                                                                                 cal, and to vindicate the human being’s capacity to know this transcendent and meta-
                                                                                 physical dimension in a way that is true and certain, albeit imperfect and analogical.
                                                                                 […] Wherever men and women discover a call to the absolute and transcendent, the


                                                                           258
metaphysical dimension of reality opens up before them: in truth, in beauty, in moral
values, in other persons, in being itself, in God. We face a great challenge […] that of
knowing how to move from phenomenon to foundation, a step that is as necessary as
it is urgent” (n. 83).
     Without this openness to dialogue, the consideration regarding the most profound
relationship between truth and science risks being mutilated [3].


   3. Art and science

    In this perspective, the relationship between art and science must also rest on the
concept of truth, which must necessarily exist and characterize the methodological
paths used in both. This common purpose is evident in the mutual need and in the
integration of the aforesaid methodologies, as it enables a comparison of the findings
to be made and thus attain a scientific truth. This particular viewpoint can be applied
to an issue in the artistic and scientific field concerning the attribution of a work of art
which, in relation to what has been reported, necessarily needs the previously under-
lined discussion and integration.
    In this regard, the subjective evaluation, carried out from a historical, aesthetic, sty-
listic and iconographic standpoint, supplemented by the objective evaluation, carried
out on the basis of diagnostic-analytical technologies, can lead to a result supported by
both the art historian and the technician, allowing the attainment of a correct, complete
scientific truth that is therefore also reliable.
    On the other hand, questioning any authentication also implies distinguishing the
true artifact, in other words, the real artifact from the reproduced or virtual artifact.
    It is clear therefore that the instrumental eye, together with the human eye are both
essential, so that the ‘undressing’ of the work of art under investigation, synonymous
with acquiring knowledge of the materials and products used for its realization, can




                                                                                                      CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
be evaluated. In this regard, the characterization of the material components, when
compared with what is known historically of the artifact in question, integrates this
knowledge, confirming and supporting the aforementioned truth. This truth, which is
only scientific, also testifies to how, on the one hand, materials and constitutive prod-
ucts are assembled according to a determined artistic technique, while iconographic
and iconological contents and expressive values are transmitted through the material,
due to the fact they are inseparable [4].


   4. An emblematic example of the relationship between art and science:
      the Journal “Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage”

   Different ideas, one objective. The meeting of various experts, each with different in-
dependent backgrounds and scientific expertise, each with their own ideas and beliefs,
offers a wide choice of methodologies and strategies that can help to diversify training
and education in the human and experimental sciences; but if all synergistically ad-
dress one common objective it can lead to achieving the right results.
   This not only allows the expert involved in the historical-scientific investigation, it
also enables the young neophyte, respectively to confirm and choose their specific
inclination towards the corresponding scientific area. Everyone must have the same


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                                                                                 chance to be assessed on merit, which is a fundamental condition for kick-starting
                                                                                 things from a scientific point of view. It is also true that for the most part, one instinc-
                                                                                 tively relates to peers or those from a similar background, but in the long term, this
                                                                                 has shown that an absence of diversity may produce results that are partial or, even
                                                                                 worse, incorrect.
                                                                                     This is particularly true in the case of young people because, if the aforementioned
                                                                                 is missing, not only is their training scientifically incomplete, it is also difficult for them
                                                                                 to enter the employment market. This is therefore, “interdisciplinarity”, coming from
                                                                                 experts in various scientific areas: this is the term linked to the intent with which the his-
                                                                                 toric-technical journal “Quaderni di Scienza della Conservazione” was first launched
                                                                                 in 2001 at the University of Bologna. Thus a project was designed around which a
                                                                                 sense of scientific community was built. The idea was to replicate the model and ser-
                                                                                 vice given by Prof. Walter Ciusa, who founded the Journal “Quaderni di Merceologia”
                                                                                 at the same University in the 1960s. Many questions were posed by colleagues and
                                                                                 interested opponents who wished to understand how an idea with such characteristics
                                                                                 could have a favourable outcome while addressing the intent of becoming global, that
                                                                                 is, an enterprise that would last over time and that was founded on ethical values that
S. Lorusso, M. Mantovani, G. Cogo - Thinking independently and, then, as one




                                                                                 were scientifically and financially sustainable.
                                                                                     “Those who work with this intent in mind - expressing latent as well as manifest
                                                                                 obstacles - are those who imagine something that today is hard to envisage, but there
                                                                                 is no doubt that the different skills are essential synergistically, in order to achieve the
                                                                                 corresponding objective”. Those who said that the project was unworkable went un-
                                                                                 heeded: it was essential to be courageous, to dare and above all to be curious. Hence,
                                                                                 with the passing years and the Journal’s change in name to “Conservation Science
                                                                                 in Cultural Heritage”, the second key word on which it is currently based, came into
                                                                                 being, “internationalization”. This refers to the adhesion of researchers belonging to
                                                                                 different schools and countries at an intercontinental level who have shared and con-
                                                                                 tinue to share the same intent mentioned earlier. They are those who by participating
                                                                                 in ever-increasing numbers provide scientific contributions and respect those values
                                                                                 that distinguish the “truth between art and science”.
                                                                                     And by respecting this truth, a new “humanism” that also contemplates a culture of
                                                                                 feelings can also come into being: if interest and prevarication are forces that move
                                                                                 the world, the sharing of intentions and objectives remains a force in which to believe
                                                                                 with conviction [5-6].


                                                                                    5. Interdisciplinarity and crossdisciplinarity, as part of “Veritatis Gaudium”

                                                                                     Following this line of thought, it may be interesting to recall several elements in
                                                                                 Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Constitution. Bearing the significant title Veritatis gaud-
                                                                                 ium (The Joy of Truth), it addresses Universities and Ecclesiastical Faculties, defining
                                                                                 them as “providential cultural laboratories”. The Foreword (n. 1-6) offers particularly
                                                                                 meaningful insights into the relationship between truth, unity of knowledge and scienti-
                                                                                 ficity. In terms of both content and method, it stresses “the vital intellectual principle of
                                                                                 the unity in difference of knowledge and respect for its multiple, correlated and conver-
                                                                                 gent expressions” (Veritatis Gaudium, n. 4).
                                                                                     The text underlines the urgency of making the different levels of human knowledge
                                                                                 interact, including the theological, philosophical, social and scientific and recalls the in-


                                                                           260
dispensability of an “open line of thought that is incomplete”, well-prepared and always
striving towards the truth, capable of “full-fledged dialogue”, of “networking”, in order to
take up the “great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge, which will demand that
we set out on the long path of renewal” (Veritatis Gaudium, n. 6).
    “The Joy of Truth” affirms that “Today’s recovery of an interdisciplinary approach is
certainly positive and promising, even in its “weak” form as a simple multi-disciplinary
approach that favours a better understanding from several points of view of an object
of study. It is all the more so in its “strong” form, as cross-disciplinary […] (Veritatis
Gaudium, n. 4). Cross- or meta-disciplinarity in this sense is conceived and proposed
as a higher stage of integration between the disciplines in which mutual relations take
place within a system with open borders between the disciplines themselves. It is not
a matter of merging or separating, but rather of being positioned according to an intrin-
sic relationality which, by implying an order, at the same time maintains the different
levels of knowledge distinct. If we take into consideration the main meta-disciplinary
questions, there are indeed a number of them of an epistemological nature and others
that arise from studied themes which in turn refer to other fundamental questions; and
there is also a third group of crossdisciplinary questions that arise from the need to
discover and deepen metaphysical, ethical and religious frameworks. Within them are
those who practice these sciences, because no scientist can be totally neutral about
radical issues and completely ignore them in his research. In this instance particularly,
“knowing” passes from being simple “information” to an educational and “performative”
dimension.
    This is why Pope Francis, following his perspective of Christian thought, can speak
in Veritatis Gaudium of a “strong” form of crossdisciplinarity as “situating and stimulat-
ing all disciplines against the backdrop of the Light and Life offered by the Wisdom
streaming from God’s Revelation (4). Even for those who might not share the inspira-
tion however, there is no doubt that the prospect suggested by this crossdisciplinary
perspective brings with it a historic opportunity for many disciplines and for fruitful




                                                                                                       CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
dialogue to take place. This very clearly highlights the meaning of “university”, as a
place in which the distinct areas of knowledge, each one recognized and protected
independently, but at the same time intrinsically ordered and related to each other,
come together as one, prove that the “joy of truth” can be experienced at every level
of research.
    It is only natural that Giovanni Battista Montini, who later became Pope Paul VI (and
was declared a saint on October 14, 2018), in following the education of numerous
university students should remind them that “those who devote themselves to studying
a subject [regardless of what it is, ed] are to be considered true benefactors of human-
ity”- and only natural that these words are to be found in a text called Carità intellettuale
(Intellectual Charity).


   6. Natural moral law: truth in law and art

    The possible “joy of truth” reveals all its strength in the “moral sciences”, particularly
in the legal context of the rules aimed at ensuring the loving, responsible and prudent
use of the “creation”, according to necessity and justified reason, in the respect for the
values that the primary and inalienable good of life clearly sets before our conscience



                                                                                                 261
                                                                                 and reason according to truth. A truth that establishes and implements itself through
                                                                                 natural laws and ethics.
                                                                                     In the search for truth, the opinion about the origin of the world as being the fruit of
                                                                                 the creation is not universally shared. But the primacy of humans is not denied in rela-
                                                                                 tion to the environment that surrounds them and other living things. Nor is it believed
                                                                                 that intelligence, reason and conscience can sensibly transcend the rules that order
                                                                                 the natural state of the world, ensuring its vital processes with the complex interweav-
                                                                                 ing of the physical, chemical and biological laws that govern the inorganic and organic
                                                                                 reality of matter and of the vegetal and animal world.
                                                                                     The human species must be subordinate to these laws according to its peculiarities,
                                                                                 with the coexistence of the three spiritual elements on which free self-determination or
                                                                                 “free will” is based.
                                                                                     The exercise of free will is in itself objectively conditioned primarily by the laws of
                                                                                 nature, on which depends, as we have said, the vital process of all species. In the
                                                                                 sphere of spirituality and rational intelligence, they respond to the fundamental canon
                                                                                 of the moral norm which characterizes judgments and determines the scale of values
                                                                                 compatible with the promotion and development of life.
S. Lorusso, M. Mantovani, G. Cogo - Thinking independently and, then, as one




                                                                                     Man’s dominion over creation, moreover ordered according to juridical rules of ac-
                                                                                 tion and of relationship, therefore appears strictly co-essential and inseparable from
                                                                                 the moral duty to exercise it, in respect of the pre-established order in the regualtory
                                                                                 statute of each species.
                                                                                     It is evident, therefore, that this domination is represented on the whole, by “wide-
                                                                                 spread use” which, as such, indicates a problem in terms of social interaction. Within
                                                                                 its context, only its consistent use can be legitimized with the order established by
                                                                                 the natural system of rules belonging to the relative components. In this regard, since
                                                                                 “legitimate use”1 delineated in this way, guarantees the natural life process, drawing on
                                                                                 the goodness of the user and the good of what is used, it is evident there is a connec-
                                                                                 tion with the “common good”, to be understood as “the sum of those social conditions
                                                                                     which permit and foster in human beings the integral development of their person”.2
                                                                                     Thus, the close relationship between the primacy of man and the problematic eth-
                                                                                 ics of life emerges, whereas natural moral law reveals its immense scope as “… a
                                                                                 true guarantee offered to everyone in order to be able to live in freedom and to be
                                                                                 respected in their own dignity”.3
                                                                                     Adherence to natural moral law is also an insurmountable limitation to use in techni-
                                                                                 cal fields. Indeed, such use can be considered legitimate provided that it does not go
                                                                                 beyond the system and the logic of the norms that regulate the natural state of cre-
                                                                                 ation. Consequently, the “culture of technology” stretched to the point “where one can
                                                                                 achieve what one is able to do” is not permissible, independently or in contrast with the
                                                                                 design outlined by the natural laws which are its ordinators.
                                                                                     Therefore, the primacy of man cannot be a source of autonomous lawmaking with
                                                                                 respect to the regulatory arrangements of creation or to the design of nature and its
                                                                                 laws. The culture of science and technology, therefore, becomes a tool for the acquisi-
                                                                                 tion of knowledge and a foundation responsible for the rules aimed at a compatible and
                                                                                 consistent use in line with the order pre-established by the laws of nature.
                                                                                     Responsibility for making the rules related to the “legitimate use” of knowledge high-
                                                                                 lights the need to re-consider the long-debated question of “natural law”, as yet unre-
                                                                                 solved by legal science.
                                                                                     In terms, of positive law, the question becomes evident when considering the rel-


                                                                           262
evance of the rules of natural law in establishing moral law. It presages the scale of
values inherent in producing the regulatory sources aimed at a use that is compatible
with the safeguard, protection and valorization of the creation. This rule constitutes the
metalegal datum of legitimation, in observance of the natural statute, along lines that
are open to the possibility of “legitimate use”, which in turn is the foundation of “sub-
stantive law”4 understood as a projection of natural moral law.
    Otherwise, making laws on the basis of “procedural positivism”5 divorced from the
metalegal, in which are found the roots of ethical principles and absolute values of
substantive law, outlines its failure, making recovery difficult.
    Indeed, substantive legality is a category of the spirit that is closely connected to
the roots and traditions of civilization. Of these traditions, the search for truth through
knowledge is the ultimate expression if it corresponds to the ability to enhance the
spiritual and cultural heritage on which it is based.
    The process of valorizing substantive law can therefore start only through the legiti-
mization of the legal systems regarding natural moral rule, drawing on the conception
of law as “ars juris” in the true sense, as well as on the correlation between law and art.
    Law and art are in fact, respectively: the first, a manifestation of the patrimony of
values from which the legal rules draw inspiration; the other, a manifestation of the im-
age or of the motion of the spirit created with art. All this considering that law and art
have a reason to exist if they respond to the common good: the joy of truth.

   Notes
   1
     “Legitimate use” consists in the use of knowledge and goods in a manner and
measure justified by compatibility and consistency with the laws of nature and ethics.
   2
     Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra n. 51.
   3
     Pope Benedict XVI, address to the participants at the International Congress on
“Natural moral law” promoted by the Pontifical Lateran University in “L’Osservatore
Romano”, 14/02/2007, p. 6




                                                                                                    CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
   4
     “Substantive law” corresponds to the content of the laws that are compatible and
justified by natural moral law and ethics.
   5
     “Procedural positivism” recognizes the validity and effectiveness of the laws for the
sole fact that they have been adopted by carrying out the acts envisaged by the proce-
dure of approval regardless of the value judgments that underlie “substantive law” and,
therefore, regardless of the rules of natural moral law and ethics.

      References

[1]     Lorusso S., Matteucci C., Natali A. (2010) Il mercato dell’arte e le case d’asta:
        valutazione diagnostico-analitica e economico-finanziaria. L’autentico, il falso,
        il riprodotto nel settore dei beni culturali. Bologna, Pitagora Editrice. p. 1-208,
        ISBN:88-371-1797-3
[2]     Lorusso S, Matteucci C, Natali A, Apicella S., (2013) Traditional and non-tradi-
        tional, innovative and ephemeral materials and techniques in today’s cultural
        heritage, Russian Chemical Bulletin, International Edition, Vol. 62, No. 7, pp.
        1671-1681, Juli 2013 ISSN: 1066-5285 (Print) 1573-9171 (Online)
[3]     Lorusso S., Mantovani M. (2016) Cultural identity: an osmosis but also a distinc-
        tion between identical and diverse, Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage,
        Vol.16, Mimesis Edizioni, Milano-Udine, Italy,


                                                                                              263
                                                                                 [4]     Lorusso S. (2004) Art and Science, Art is Science, Conservation Science in Cul-
                                                                                         tural Heritage, Vol.4, Mimesis Edizioni, Milano-Udine, Italy,        .
                                                                                 [5]     Lorusso S., (1999) Il contributo storico-umanistico e tecnico sperimentale nello
                                                                                         studio dei beni culturali: una necessità, una realtà, Scienza e Tecnica, 341, 5-6.
                                                                                 [6]     Lorusso S. Barone V. Vol 14 (2014) The evaluation of scientific research on the
                                                                                         basis of estimation parameters in economics, Conservation Science in Cultural
                                                                                         Heritage, Vol.14, Mimesis Edizioni, Milano-Udine, Italy.
                                                                                 [7]     Lorusso, S., Cogo, G.M., Natali, A., (2016) The Protection and Valorization of
                                                                                         Cultural and Environmental Heritage in the Development Process of the Territory
                                                                                         in Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage, Vol.16, Mimesis Edizioni, Milano-
                                                                                         Udine, Italy, pp.59-73.
                                                                                 [8]     Mantovani M. (2013) Beauty and conservation: a metaphysical, pedagogical and
                                                                                         ecclesiastical perspective, Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage, Vol.13, Mi-
                                                                                         mesis Edizioni, Milano-Udine, Italy, pp. 300-309


                                                                                       Biographical notes
S. Lorusso, M. Mantovani, G. Cogo - Thinking independently and, then, as one




                                                                                    Salvatore Lorusso is a former full Professor of the University of Bologna. He is For-
                                                                                 eign Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences; Emeritus Professor of the
                                                                                 Cultural Heritage Institute of Zhejiang University, China; Visiting Professor of the Acad-
                                                                                 emy of Social Science of Zhejiang University, China; Visiting Professor of the Faculty
                                                                                 of Arts, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia; former Vice-president and now,
                                                                                 a Councilor of the Società Italiana per il Progresso delle Scienze (SIPS-established in
                                                                                 1839). He is Direttore Generale of the Accademia della cultura enogastronomica. His
                                                                                 biography appears in the 2016 Marquis Edition of Who’s Who in the World. He is the
                                                                                 founder and director of two book series relating to the specific issues pertaining to the
                                                                                 sector of cultural and environmental heritage. He is the author of over 420 publications
                                                                                 in national and international journals and of 22 volumes and monographs covering
                                                                                 commodity science, cultural heritage and environment. In 1997, he founded the Di-
                                                                                 agnostic Laboratory for Cultural Heritage at the Ravenna Campus of the University of
                                                                                 Bologna and remained head of the Laboratory for eighteen years. His scientific work
                                                                                 deals mainly with the study of the “systemμ artifact-environment-biota” and diagnostic,
                                                                                 analytical, technical and economic evaluation within the context of the protection and
                                                                                 valorization of cultural and environmental heritage.

                                                                                     Mauro Mantovani, born in Moncalieri in 1966 (Turin - Italy), is a Catholic Priest
                                                                                 and currently Rector of the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS), Rome, where he is
                                                                                 a Professor in Theoretical Philosophy. He has a PhD from the Pontifical University of
                                                                                 Salamanca (Spain 2006), and Doctor in Theology at the Pontifical University “Tomma-
                                                                                 so d’Aquino” Angelicum, Rome (2010). He teaches Philosophy of religion, Philosophy
                                                                                 of history and Introduction to Philosophy. His recent studies and publications focus on
                                                                                 the history of Thomism and on the relationships between Philosophy, Theology and
                                                                                 Science. Since November 2016 he has been President of the Conference of Rectors
                                                                                 of the Pontifical Roman Universities and Institutions (CRUIPRO).

                                                                                   Giampaolo Maria Cogo, former tenured professor of Administrative Law (1994-
                                                                                 2010) at the Faculty of Economics “Federico Caffè”, now the Department of Business


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and Economic-Legal Sciences - University Roma Tre. He taught Economic Law (1982-
1991) at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Cagliari, Legislation on cultural
and environmental heritage (1992-1995) at the Faculty of Conservation of Cultural
Heritage of the University of Tuscia. Up to 31/12/2007, he was a member of the Scien-
tific Board for the PhD in Public Economic Law at the Faculty of Economics, University
of Rome “La Sapienza” and the PhD in Administrative Law at the Faculty of Law at the
University of Roma Tre (until 30/11/2009); a member of the Scientific Committee and
Board of Directors of the Masters degree in Engineering and Environmental Econom-
ics at the Faculty of Economics “Federico Caffè” at the University of Roma Tre.
     Assessor at the Ministry of Education for the review of research projects in the areas
of competence and related fields of scientific interest. From 1992-1993, Councilor of
the Minister for Universities and Scientific and Technological Research; Legal Adviser
(1992-2000) of the Conference of Italian University Rectors; Councilor of the Minister
for Infrastructures and Transport (2009-2011). Author of over 40 publications. He is
a lawyer in administrative matters; founder and member of the Governing Council of
Multilex & Economics, multidisciplinary consulting and assistance in Rome.




                                                                                                    CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE




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