Amy Marie Zucca, Ph.D. joins John Canning & Co. as Resident Art Historian
Cheshire CT, September 2023:
John Canning & Co. is pleased to announce the addition of art historian, Amy Marie Zucca, Ph.D. to the company.
Dr. Zucca joins John Canning Co. as its resident Art Historian with a doctorate in Art History, specialization in the Italian Renaissance period. Zucca will bring her expertise to bear, as sacred and historic sites are evaluated and provide context for the architectural styles and symbolism that these spaces reveal. Through the collaboration with clients and in-house artists on commissioned work, she will also be writing featured blogs and articles on the current day connections between art and architecture performed by John Canning & Co., delving into the historical designs, techniques, and imagery inspired by the Old Masters.
Zucca’s path to Canning is marked by a life of teaching and learning, especially in the field of art history. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History with honors at New York University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. Her undergraduate honors thesis was written under the mentorship of the Florentine Renaissance expert A. Richard Turner. Off campus, Amy worked at The Frick Collection, NY, and was awarded a summer internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy, during the 45th Venice Biennale.
Zucca went on to earn her Master of Arts in Art History at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Her graduate studies included research projects on the choir screen of Bamberg Cathedral, Germany; the Byzantine chalices in the treasury of Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice; conservation of nineteenth-century tintype photography; and J.M.W Turner’s early-nineteenth-century paintings of the Grand Canal, Venice. Awarded a scholarship to study abroad, she traveled to London and Venice and then throughout Germany, seeking out many of the works she had only encountered in books. Back in NY, Zucca took up teaching the History of Western Art course in NYU’s undergraduate department, cultivating the dynamic, image-driven teaching style that would be the hallmark of her career in the classroom.
At the invitation of the Italian Renaissance scholar, Paul Hills, Zucca went on to earn her PhD at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Her doctoral dissertation Images of Moses and Sixteenth-Century Venice focuses on the pioneering work of painter Jacopo Tintoretto in the age of the Counter Reformation. During her time in the UK, Zucca held teaching positions at the University of Warwick, University of Nottingham, Richmond the American International University in London, and St Mary’s School Shaftesbury. Always emphasizing the unmatched impact of encountering works of art and architecture in life, she led countless educational trips ranging from London museums to extended studies in Rome and Paris to her students.
About joining Canning, Zucca says, “I’m excited to work with the talented staff here and collaborate with clients to communicate the meanings, contexts, and artistic value at the heart of their sacred and secular projects and programs.” With her education, experience, and passion for the art and architecture of the past, Zucca hopes to help restore and preserve beauty for the future.
Maintaining high standards in every aspect of art commissions is what led Principal and President, David Riccio to bring Zucco on board, “Every historic project was originally constructed with very specific intentions, symbolism, and purpose in mind. It is always our goal to let those details guide our designs and work. With deep respect for and knowledge of historic paint schemes and period interiors with complex finish systems, we continue to lead the industry with truth and beauty as our guides.”
In September, Zucca will pen a series of case study articles about John Canning & Co. s’ recently completed Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus project in Hanover, PA during which the team completed a massive conservation and preservation project encompassing tens of thousands of square feet of the church’s interior surfaces. The scale of the project exceeds anything the preservation industry has seen in more than 50 years.
ABOUT John Canning & Co.
John Canning Company has been the leader in new commissioned artwork and designs for both civic and sacred spaces across the United States for over 45 years.
Specializing in ecclesiastical art and design, as well as a range of services that include historic preservation, conservation, restoration, and beautification of interiors. The JCC craftsmanship spans the trade of architectural arts and finishes with expertise in ornamental plaster restoration, plaster stabilization, decorative finishes, gilding, historic woodwork, and stone as well as exterior services of architectural gilding and selective decorative finishes. JCC offers preconstruction and planning services such as budgeting and specification support as well as consultation services that include historic paint analysis, plaster surveys, design services and mockups.
Our principals are professional associates of the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). We are guided by the principle “do no harm” and advance that principle by providing treatments that are reversible and supplying owners with thorough documentation of research, conditions, actions taken, and materials used.