This panel provides an initial platform for public discussion of research topics and case studies resulting from the project “The Forms of Museums: Pilot Project for a Digital Atlas of Italian Museums – DAIM”, funded by Italian Ministry of University and Research – MUR (2023-2025), which involves four Italian universities (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Università di Pisa, Università degli Studi di Udine, and Università Roma Tre). The project aims to collect an extensive visual documentation of displays of Italian art and archaeological museums over the centuries, highlighting their role as epistemological systems. This approach aims to enhance public understanding of museums as dynamic knowledge systems rather than mere collections of art objects. The panel illustrates the project, detailing its organizational structure, the framework of the DAIM Digital Atlas, initial results, and potential new models for dissemination.

The paper explores the role of curatorial choices in the exhibition of Renaissance art at the Museo Nazionale d’Abruzzo in L’Aquila during the mid-20th century. These decisions not only safeguarded but also reshaped the popular identity of Abruzzo, formed between the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. L’Aquila’s history of seismic events, and the 19th-century secularization of ecclesiastical properties, led to the dispersion of numerous Renaissance and Baroque artworks from local churches. By the first half of the 20th century, these works were recovered and, in 1951, brought to the National Museum, where a selection was exhibited emphasizing the connection of each work with the territory.

Through this initiative, the Museum’s display of Renaissance artworks preserved the territory’s cultural heritage, influencing scholarly research. Praised by Federico Zeri, this exhibition returned the works of art to the population as material heritage, but also representing intangible heritage, both recovering and redesigning it. Moreover, the exhibition’s absence of Baroque artworks, despite featuring in the museum’s collections, inadvertently influenced scholarly research and public perception of Abruzzo’s history.  This case study highlights the role of curatorship in shaping cultural narratives and underscores the importance of comprehensive representation to preserve and interpret regional identity.

Academic achievements in conceptualizing photography as a tool to better investigate Art History are now extensive and well-established. Nevertheless, studies from the last fifteen years indicate a growing interest in using the photographic documentation of heritage during times of crisis. Many photographs depicting early modern artworks and historic museum displays are preserved in archives or were published in art journals during the first half of the 20th-century. These sources were crucial for implementing protection measures during the wartime period and are now invaluable for contemporary museological studies. Indeed, photographs offer unparalleled evidence of protection practices and support in analyzing the effectiveness of fine arts legislation. By illustrating heritage institutions such as the Galleria Borghese in Rome, Palazzo Ducale in Venice, and Isabella d’Este’s Gabinetto in Mantua, these visual sources reveal an untold history of the preservation of Renaissance and Baroque collections during crucial years in the last century. The case study of the Pinacoteca di Brera is particularly significant in this context. After being destroyed during World War II, it was restored and renovated by Fernanda Wittgens, who rethought the museum’s display and its societal role, drawing inspiration from the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

This paper explores the American perception and representation of Italian museum installations from World War II until the mid-1950s. The experience of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program (MFAA) within the United States Army (known as Monuments Men) on Italian soil from 1942 facilitated a significant exchange of contacts and knowledge between American and Italian art historians, archaeologists, and museum professionals, all engaged in safeguarding and relocating Italy’s cultural heritage. This interaction led to a reciprocal exchange of museum perspectives, and installation methods, influencing an evolution in museum studies. This study examines how American specialized magazines and journals portrayed, through photographs, Italian museum installations during this period, analyzing the impact of these interactions on the presentation and curation of art in both countries. By scrutinizing articles from American magazines, the research uncovers how Italian installations were received and critiqued, highlighting the shifts in curatorial approaches and aesthetic values.

The findings suggest that the wartime collaboration between American and Italian professionals enriched the cultural landscapes of both nations and contributed to global museum practices and installation strategies. This paper sheds light these influences that shaped the post-war museum and installation scene, reflecting broader cultural currents of the mid-20th century.