Resources of the month

The ICCROM Library is pleased to share the news of a special acquisition: a selection of books from the private Library of Ramón Gutiérrez, a renowned architect and historian, and his wife, Graciela María Viñuales. Though this addition is just a part of their larger collection, it represents an important step in enriching our resources on Latin American heritage and architecture.

This image captures ICCROM course participants at a site visit in Rome in 1976, during the third edition of the International Course on Scientific Principles of Conservation (SPC), organized by ICCROM and held in Rome.

Relatively small, but not because of this less important, the volume Egyptian Decorative Art: A Course of Lectures, published in 1895 is one of the many precious representatives of the Rare Book Section of ICCROM's Library.

This image by Laura Sbordoni Mora depicts course participants during the preparation of wall paintings at ICCROM premises in 1972.

The book, edited by Margherita Azzi Visentini and published in 1988, explores the transformation of the meaning and functions of the garden in Veneto over the centuries.

The drawing was elaborated by participants of the 1971 Architectural Conservation Course, organized by ICCROM in co-operation with the Scuola di Perfezionamento in Restauro, University of Rome, La Sapienza.

The book "Origen" was written in Spanish and issued in 2023 by the Argentinian publishing house Libros del Zorro Rojo. It explores the interconnectedness of all living beings to other life forms and the entire universe. "Origen" is a personal journey undertaken by the author over the last decade, reflecting on the relationship with the planet and drawing insights from indigenous peoples, referred to as "those from the origin."

In Central Türkiye's Cappadocia region lies a complex of tucked-away cave churches carved from volcanic rock in the Göreme Valley. The most famous is the 10th-century Buckle Church (Tokali Kilise), revered for its illustrious Byzantine mural paintings.

Experts, urban planners, architects, preservation specialists, and heritage site managers have spent decades aiming to requalify Giza and its surroundings, and numerous urban regeneration projects have been planned. The ICCROM Library conserves one of those never-realized plans in its collection. The dissertation titled, “Giza historical center: A study to preserve Egypt’s eternal architectural heritage within the living urban organism”, was...

This is a photograph of the upper part of the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, a World Heritage site since 1988. It is a close-up of the half-dome, which is made of curved wood covered with thick plaster and painted with a complex vegetal motif - a common theme in Islamic art and architecture. The image was taken in 1973 by Franco Rigamonti and is part of a series of photographs documenting the restoration work carried out on the mihrab in...

Jukka Jokilehto's influence on built heritage conservation through his book, A History of Architectural Conservation, and its translation into several languages is profound and far-reaching. Jokilehto, a Finnish architect and esteemed expert in urban planning, in addition to being ICCROM’s former coordinator of the Architectural Conservation course on and former Deputy Director General, has significantly contributed to the field through his...

In this photo from 1968, you see Laura Mora, a famed painting and mural painting conservator, in front of Stela 1, a Mesoamerican carved monument (stela), in Bonampak, Mexico. This relief area depicts an earth monster holding up the ruler Chaan Muan II, whose feet are visible at the top. The entire Stela is one of the tallest of the Mayan period at 20 feet (6.1 metres).