University of Maryland shares rare Zeffirelli film; Remembers 45th anniversary of Florence, Italy, flood

A rare screening of Franco Zeffirelli’s only documentary film—a heartfelt call to action showing the effects of the 1966 flood that devastated Florence, Italy, and rallied art lovers worldwide—will be the centerpiece of a program hosted by the University of Maryland Libraries and the National Gallery of Art. WHAT: Florence: Days of Destruction film screening and program WHEN: Saturday, November 5, at 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. WHERE: National Gallery of Art, 4th and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. The event marks the 45th anniversary of the flood. Produced by the famed Italian director in the weeks following the flood, the documentary urged support to help rescue Italian works of art. Actor Richard Burton, who was working in Rome as the disaster unfolded, narrated and appeared in the film and appealed for aid.

The University of Maryland Libraries hold the only known copy of the English-language version of the film in the United States. RAI, the national Italian radio and television company, makes the black-and-white Italian version available on its website.

In the days following the November 1966 flood, volunteers from throughout Europe and the United States descended upon Florence to help recover books, paintings, and other works of art damaged by water and sediment from the Arno River. Efforts of these so-called “mud angels” helped to reduce the loss of Florence’s priceless cultural heritage. Some of these volunteers would go on to become art and book conservators.

Conservators worldwide would later adopt standards and treatments developed as a result of recovery efforts. The attention the flood generated advanced a movement within academic research libraries to formalize book preservation programs.

Carla Montori, head of the preservation program at the University of Maryland Libraries, remembers the effect of the flood on her mother and Italian father, who had traveled several times from their home in Massachusetts to Florence. Upon hearing news of the damage to Italy’s treasures, they sat at their kitchen table and cried, Montori recalls.

"It was a major event in the world that reminded us of the fragility of our culture," she says. "Treasures were vulnerable to damage and destruction by a natural force that couldn’t be averted."

Short presentations by participants in the flood recovery and a panel discussion will follow the film.

• 3:30: Welcome and introductions
  
• 3:50: Film screening, followed by a break
  
• 5:00: Speakers Sheila Waters and Norvell Jones
  
• 6:00  Panel discussion

Sheila Waters is an internationally renowned calligraphic artist and instructor. In 1967, she assisted her husband, Peter Waters, who was leading the British team of bookbinders and conservators during the salvage operation in Florence, and created the "treatment and condition cards" used to document each damaged book. The family Immigrated to the USA in 1971 when Mr. Waters was appointed Chief of Conservation at the Library of Congress.  Her text book "Foundations of Calligraphy" was published in 2006 and she continues to teach calligraphy workshops and lecture worldwide.

Norvell Jones began her career in library and archives conservation in 1968 as a trainee at the Newberry Library in Chicago and spent three months in Florence at the Biblioteca Nationale treating flood damaged materials.  In 1970 she moved to the Conservation Office at Library of Congress in book conservation, and later became head of the paper conservation section there.  In 1985 she accepted a senior conservator position at the National Archives, and subsequently became Chief of the Document Conservation Branch, a position she held until her retirement in 2002.  She also taught in the graduate library conservation program at Columbia University.

The film was part of a collection given by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to the University of Maryland and transferred to the University Libraries in the mid-1980s. Staff member Linda Sarigol remembers viewing it shortly thereafter. “Somebody needs to see this,” she remembers thinking at the time. “We really need to get this out there.”

The University of Maryland Libraries collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of preservation materials in the United States.

Organizers of the November 5 event will show a digital surrogate of the film to reduce wear on the celluloid original.

For more information about the event, contact Bryan Draper, Collections Conservator, University of Maryland Libraries, at draper1@umd.edu or 301-405-9346.