Roberto INDOVINA
Tutor: Paolo Biagio CIPOLLA
Roberto Indovina, Italian-Argentine by origin, is a PhD student in Sciences for Heritage and Cultural Production (XXXIX cycle) with the research project "Ut pictura poesis. Philological and iconographic study of figured pottery from the 5th–4th centuries BCE, with a proposal for the enhancement of Sicilian cultural heritage through XR (eXtended Reality) technologies".
Alongside with his studies in the Humanities field, he devoted himself to teaching Modern Greek and Spanish. He graduated in Humanities (L-10) with a final exam entitled “Modern Greek. Principles of experiential learning and emotional intelligence in language teaching” (Supervisor: Prof. Caterina Papatheu). He has held courses in Italy and workshops in Higher Education Institutes in Spain: “Introducción al idioma griego moderno a través de su historia” and “Del griego antiguo al griego moderno”.
During his university period at the Department of Philology of the University of Crete, he began teaching Spanish and Hispanic-American language and culture to Greek speakers. Upon his return to Italy, he qualified at the Instituto Cervantes as an examiner for international DELE certifications and as a facilitator for SIELE certification, working as a conversation auxiliary and native speaker expert in courses offered by organisations specialised in teaching Spanish as LS/L2. He actively collaborates with the DELE examination centre of the University of Catania, where he is an examiner (Head Supervisor of the centre: Prof. María Cándida Muñoz Medrano).
After obtaining a Master's Degree in Classical Philology (LM-15) at the DISUM of the University of Catania with a thesis entitled "Clues of a relationship with dramatic texts in the vascular iconography of Hephaestus" (Supervisor: Prof. Monica Centanni | Co-supervisor: Prof. Paolo Biagio Cipolla, final mark: 110/110 cum laude), he furthered his studies at the same Department with the Master's Degree in Archaeology (LM-2) and a thesis entitled "Figured Pottery from the Sicilian museums and its connection with Attic drama: a philological approach to images" (Supervisor: Prof. Paolo Biagio Cipolla | Co-supervisor: Prof. Monica Centanni).
From July 2025 to March 2026, within the framework of his doctoral training and research, he undertook a study period as a visiting PhD at the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens (Ιταλική Αρχαιολογική Σχολή Αθηνών).
He is currently a member of the Editorial Board of the journal La Rivista di Engramma. The Classical Tradition in Western Memory (Anvur: band A for 10/A1 and 10/D2 sectors) and contributes to the research strand on the Philology of Images. He is also a corresponding member of To Hellenikon, the University Association for the Study of the Greek World, as well as a member of the Centre for Culture Antico e Moderno (Rome), the AICC (Italian Association for Classical Culture, Catania delegation), the ClassicA study centre (IUAV University of Venice), an ordinary member of ADDRI Catania (Association of Italian Doctoral Students and PhDs) and a member of AIxIA (Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence).
Ut pictura poesis
Philological and iconographic study of figured pottery from the 5th–4th centuries BCE, with a proposal for the enhancement of Sicilian cultural heritage through XR technologies
[Project funded by the Sicilian Region | ESF+ PR 2021-2027]
Investigating the deep interrelation between mythographic tradition, Attic drama, and the scenes of figured pottery lies at the heart of a reflection aimed at interrogating the forms of cultural memory and the codes through which it is transmitted. The working hypothesis underpinning this project rests on the assumption that figured pottery does not merely reproduce narrative content; rather, it constitutes a hermeneutic and performative device, capable of reflecting—and at times refracting—the theatrical horizon from which it draws symbols and structures.
The enquiry is guided by the awareness that visual experience, understood as a collective act and as a site for the sharing of imaginaries, constituted in classical antiquity a foundational mode of participation. The intersection of dramatic language, scenic gesture, and plastic imagery delineates an intermedial space in which myth, far from being a mere narrative object, becomes the matrix of iconographic reinvention. In this perspective, vase imagery is not to be viewed as illustrative, but as a visual palimpsest of a theatrical gaze that operates through allusion, omission, and latency.
The Philology of Images thus emerges as a practice of deciphering the visible, insofar as literary and dramatic texts offer coordinates for understanding the figurative code and for identifying strategies of mythic rewriting. What comes into view is a complex system of correspondences and dissonances, of intersemiotic translations that testify to the dynamism of the iconographic repertoire and to its capacity to mirror long-duration cultural processes. Within this horizon, the notion of dispersed heritage—understood as comprising artefacts removed from context or no longer accessible within conventional museological circuits—constitutes both a critical issue and a privileged field of intervention: to render such objects intelligible anew is to restore meaning and function to a fragmented cultural memory.
Within this framework, the project embraces a vision of heritage valorisation that entails a critical rethinking of modes of cultural engagement. The development of a thematic, georeferenced multimedia archive, the implementation of extended reality technologies, and the proposal of immersive and interactive museum pathways are conceived as elements of a broader strategy wherein archaeology converges with the digital humanities, and aesthetic experience is reimagined through innovative forms of access, hermeneutic activation and contextual renegotiation of the cultural imaginary.
Seminars, Conferences and Workshops
- Seminar with C. Cataldo, M. Centanni, V. Damiani, A. Grilli, R. Indovina, P. Nanni, Anatomy of Conflict. Dialectic and Knowledge in Ancient Greece (University of Catania, 20th of June 2025)
- Seminar with A. Beltrametti, M.L. Catoni, M. Centanni, P.B. Cipolla, M. Di Bello, A. Grilli, R. Indovina, R. Olivito, A. Poggio, Iconoδramma. Texts and Images (5th–4th century BC). Continuity and iconographic variations (IMT Scuola Alti Studi Lucca, 20th of March 2025)
- Seminar with M. Bassani, M. Centanni, A. Grilli, R. Indovina, Iconoδramma. Vase-painting and theatre. Variant Coincidence (Iuav University of Venice, 28th of November 2024)
- Research seminar curated by M.L. Catoni and M. Centanni with M. Bassani, A. Beltrametti, L. Bertelli, C. Cataldo, P.B. Cipolla, M. Di Bello, A. Grilli, R. Indovina, R. Olivito, A. Poggio, Iconogramma. Per una filologia delle immagini (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, 4th of July 2024)
- Round table curated by M. Centanni and P.B. Cipolla with A. Beltrametti, C. Cataldo, E. Giudice, A. Gostoli, A. Grilli, O. Imperio, R. Indovina, Iconogramma. The interaction between text and image in the reconstruction and exegesis of ancient drama (University of Catania, Syracuse, 10th of May 2024)
- Research seminar with M. Bassani, A.C. Bellinato, C. Cataldo, M. Centanni, R. Indovina, L. Rebaudo, Iconogramma. Filologia delle immagini. Ongoing research and perspectives (Iuav University of Venice, 29th of November 2023)
- Research seminar with M. Bassani, C. Cataldo, M. Centanni, R. Indovina, L. Rebaudo, Iconogramma (Iuav University of Venice, 6th of June 2023)
- Research seminar with M. Bassani, A.C. Bellinato, A. Beltrametti, C. Cataldo, M. Centanni, M.G. Ciani, F. Ghedini, A. Grilli, R. Indovina, L. Rebaudo, Filologia delle immagini (Iuav University of Venice, 17th of January 2023)
- Seminar curated by M. Centanni with M. Baggio, M. Bassani, A. Beltrametti, C. Cataldo, A. Grilli, R. Indovina, L. Rebaudo, Filologia delle immagini. New readings. V–IV century BC vascular finds (Iuav University of Venice, 4th of May 2022)
Participations during the PhD
- Participation as a speaker, with a talk entitled Chronotopies of Theatrical Myth in Figured Pottery of the 5th–4th centuries BC, at the International Conference To Hellenikon. Beyond the Sea: Greece and Italy between Ancient and Modern | 21st - 23rd of January 2026 | Athens, Greece
- Participation as a speaker, with a talk entitled Landscapes of Myth: Nature and Identity in Vase Painting (6th–4th centuries BC), at CHAIN 2025 Cultural Heritage Academic Interdisciplinary Network | International Conference | 29th of November 2025 | Benedictine Monastery, University of Catania, Italy
- Poster Session: The Eye on the Vessel(s). Practices of the Gaze between Figured Pottery and Mediterranean Naval Decorations | VI International Conference La Ceramica in Sicilia e nell'Italia meridionale dalla preistoria all'età contemporanea | 25th of October 2025 | University of Catania, Italy
- Participation as a speaker, with a talk entitled Reescribiendo el mito a lo largo del Mediterráneo. Aproximaciones filológicas a la metamorfosis de la imagen en la cerámica figurada de los siglos V–IV a. C., at MIFS 2025 13th Mediterranean Interdisciplinary Forum on Social Sciences and Humanities | 14th of May 2025 | Department of Educational Sciences, University of Catania, Italy
- Tutor and contact person for the PCTO project | FAI Days for Schools | 18th – 23rd of November 2024 | Museum of Archaeology, Ingrassia Palace, University of Catania, Italy
- Interactive experience: On the Trail of Stesichorus: οὐκ ἔστ’ ἔτυμος λόγος οὗτος | Collateral event FAI Autumn Days | 12nd – 13rd of October 2024 | Caserma “Antonio Santangelo Fulci” (Piazza Carlo Alberto), Catania, Italy
- Participation as a speaker, with a talk entitled Τρὶς εἰς ἐμὸν ἔπτυσα κόλπον (Theoc. Idyll. VI, 39). Iconographic traces of the apóptysis gesture, at the First International Conference of the University Association for the Study of the Greek World To Hellenikon: Aspects and Constructions of Greek Identity | 27th - 30th of June 2024 | Nafplio, Greece
- Interactive experience: A hilarious spring. Re-enactment and mise-en-scène of an ancient funeral rite | Collateral event FAI Spring Days | 23rd – 24th of March 2024 | Hypogeum, Villa Modica (Viale Regina Margherita, 35), Catania, Italy
- Poster Session: Digital Exhibitions and Dispersed Heritage. A proposal for an itinerary following the story of the delivery of Achilles' weapons | International Conference MINOM 2024 | 22nd – 23rd of February 2024 | Benedictine Monastery, University of Catania, Italy
- Setting up of the multisensory exhibition Museum for all the Senses. A Journey through the City's Museum Collections and Cultural Heritage | Museum of Sicilian Knowledge and Mirabilia | November – December 2023 | Central Palace, University of Catania, Italy
Other activities during the PhD
- Member of the scientific and organisational secretariat of the International Conference Fragmentary Greek Drama | 9th – 10th of May 2025 | Catania, Syracuse
- Local organizing committee member for Iconicity in Language and Literature XIV | International Conference | 30th of May – 1st of June 2024 | Benedictine Monastery, University of Catania, Italy
- Logistics team member for Images, symbols, languages of migrations | International Conference | 11th – 12th of April 2024 | Benedictine Monastery, University of Catania, Italy
- Tutor for didactic-integrative activities and orientation within the framework of the master's degree courses in Archaeology (LM-2) and in Classical Philology (LM-15) | A.Y. 2023/24
- Logistics team member for CHAIN 2024 Cultural Heritage Academic Interdisciplinary Network | International Conference | 27th – 29th of February 2024 | Benedictine Monastery, University of Catania, Italy
- Facilitator and logistics team member for MINOM 2024 Mouvement International pour la Nouvelle Muséologie | International Conference | 22nd – 23rd of February 2024 | Benedictine Monastery, University of Catania, Italy
- Member of the scientific and organisational secretariat of the cycle of seminars and conferences I lunedì del classico. Seminari catanesi di scienze antiche (Classical Mondays. Seminars on Ancient Sciences) | Benedictine Monastery, University of Catania, Italy
- Editorial board member of the journal La Rivista di Engramma. The Classical Tradition in Western Memory | ClassicA study centre, Iuav University of Venice, Italy
Affiliations
- TH corresponding member | "To Hellenikon" (University Association for the Study of the Greek World)
- Centre for Culture "Antico e Moderno" member (Rome)
- AICC member (Italian Association for Classical Culture, Catania delegation)
- Engramma member (ClassicA study centre, Iuav University of Venice)
- ACIT member (Italian-German Cultural Association)
- ADDRI Catania ordinary member (Association of Italian Doctoral Students and PhDs)
- AIxIA member (Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence)
■ R. Indovina, Arqueología filológica y filología arqueológica. Interrogantes y controversias epistemológicas persistentes, “Engramma” n. 225 (giugno 2025)
■ V. Damiani, R. Indovina, μετὰ τὰ κριτικά. Debate and Polemic as Strategies of Knowledge in Ancient Greek Culture, “Engramma” n. 225 (giugno 2025)
■ C. Cataldo, R. Indovina, Per una filologia delle immagini. Testi teatrali e pittura vascolare (V-IV sec. a.C.), Edizioni Engramma, Venezia 2024
■ C. Cataldo, R. Indovina, Per una filologia delle immagini. Testi teatrali e pittura vascolare (V-IV sec. a.C.), Edizioni Engramma, Venezia 2024. Una presentazione, “Engramma” n. 216 (settembre 2024)
■ A.C. Bellinato, C. Cataldo, R. Indovina (a cura di), Iconoδramma. A selected Bibliography | updated September, 2024, “Engramma” n. 216 (settembre 2024)
■ M. Di Bello, R. Indovina, Ippolito e le immagini erotiche. Eur. Hipp. 1005 e un possibile riferimento alla pittura vascolare, “Engramma” n. 216 (settembre 2024)
■ C. Cataldo, R. Indovina, Iconoδramma. Miti plastici: teatro e pittura vascolare (V-IV sec. a.C.), “Engramma” n. 216 (settembre 2024)
■ R. Indovina, Ἔλαφος. Intorno alle focacce rituali connesse alle feste in onore di Artemide e alla caccia al cervo, "Engramma” n. 200 (marzo 2023)
■ M. Bassani, C. Cataldo, R. Indovina, Filologia delle immagini, “Engramma” n. 195 (settembre/ottobre 2022)