Getting to know the artistic heritage conserved in museums in an innovative manner also aided by technology. This is the aim of "Artwork stories: from source to digital. Pilot project for the research and communication in museums of the conservation history of artworks", a three-year project coordinated by the University of Pisa which has just received funding from the MIUR of around 120,000 euros. Alongside Antonella Gioli, a researcher in Museology, Art Criticism and Conservation at the University of Pisa, there will also be a further two researchers, Chiara Piva from the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Maria Beatrice Failla from the University of Turin.
"The project originates from two fundamental assumptions," explains Antonella Gioli, "firstly from the consideration that as well as presenting works of art, a museum can also relate the episodes that brought the pieces there, the changes they have undergone and the different value they have had over time, in other words 'artwork stories' also seen as an expression of much broader cultural, social, religious and political phenomena. Secondly, we believe that it is possible to present these contents through new means of communication, in the firm belief that digital technology can be employed as a carrier of knowledge of the cultural heritage."
The museums which will be involved in the piloting of the project are the Gallerie dell'Accademia and the National Archeological Museum of Venice, the Royal Palace of Turin and the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, the National Museum of the Certosa Monumentale di Calci, the National Museums of Villa Guinigi and Palazzo Mansi in Lucca, the Galleria civica "Lorenzo Viani" in Viareggio and the Diocesan Museum in Massa.
"The idea," adds the researcher from the University of Pisa, "is in fact to present the project to a significant cross section of the complex spectrum of museums in Italy ranging from ancient art to modern, from the noble residence to the monographic collection, from the work of art to the piece of furniture, the religious offering, from the city with a high influx of tourists to more outlying areas and therefore different segments of the public."
On a scientific level the project is divided into three phases. It begins with the study of the documentary, archival, iconographic and scientific sources in order to reconstruct the entire life of the artwork, in other words the incidences of conservation and restoration, the passages through collection exhibitions and the market and their critical and visual fortunes. The second phase envisages the planning of new forms of communication of this information, with particular reference to the creation of videos, apps, websites and other digital media. The final part of the project will deal with the actual experimentation in the museums with evaluation and tests carried out by both the museum staff and the real and virtual visitors.