Education about colour: a look at some authors from the 19th and 20th centuries in Italy: Corrado Ricci, Maria Montessori and Giuseppina Pizzigoni

Abstract

In this contribution, the aim is to juxtapose three figures who, in spite of their very different skills, were interested in the element of colour. The first is Corrado Ricci, an illustrious art critic and historian, who started to study children’s drawings at the end of the 1800s, making him one of the first in Italy to do so. In 1877, he published a small pamphlet called L'arte dei bambini (The art of children), which included a special reflection about the theme of colour. Conversely, the other two authors are pedagogists: Maria Montessori (1870–1952), an internationally renowned figure who also dealt with the theme of colour through her method, equipment and tools, and Giuseppina Pizzigoni (1870–1947), a pedagogist who dedicated positivist attention to the theme of colour, which she linked to natural aspects and a connection to the vegetable garden, a cornerstone of her method. At the end of this historical overview, a survey that was conducted by the Istituto Comprensivo Rinnovata Pizzigoni is presented, in an attempt to observe the colour-related proposals that have been made.