Il contributo presenta una ricerca sperimentale condotta presso la Pinacoteca di Brera (Milano), finalizzata a verificare l’efficacia del priming – semantico, visivo e combinato – nella valorizzazione dell’esperienza museale. L’obiettivo è esplorare il potenziale di questo meccanismo di memoria implicita nel favorire l’apprendimento, il benessere emotivo e lo sviluppo di attitudini pro-ambientali, ampliando e perfezionando uno studio pilota precedentemente svolto alla Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. Il disegno sperimentale ha coinvolto 161 partecipanti suddivisi in quattro gruppi, con l’impiego di strumenti psicometrici pre e post visita. La ricerca si è basata su un protocollo di ricerca approvato dall’Università del Sacro Cuore di Milano ed è stata condotta in un contesto ecologico reale. L'istituzione museale è intrinsecamente riconosciuta come un laboratorio cognitivo e sociale attivo, un contesto relazionale dove l'incontro con le collezioni favorisce i processi di apprendimento, le emozioni e il benessere mentale. In questo panorama, l'introduzione della psicologia sperimentale mira a offrire strumenti metodologici per misurare, tracciare e validare scientificamente l'efficacia dei processi analizzati. This paper presents an experimental study carried out at the Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan) aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of semantic, visual, and combined priming in enhancing the museum experience. The objective is to explore the potential of this implicit memory mechanism in promoting learning, emotional wellbeing, and pro-environmental attitudes, building on and refining a pilot study previously conducted at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. The experimental design involved 161 participants divided into four groups and employed psychometric tools administered before and after the visit. The research is based on a research protocol approved by the Ethics Committee of the Università del Sacro Cuore di Milano, and has been conducted in a real-world ecological context. The museum is intrinsically recognised as an active cognitive and social laboratory, a relational context where the encounter with collections favours processes of learning, emotions, and mental wellbeing. Within this landscape, the introduction of experimental psychology aims to offer the methodological tools to scientifically measure and validate the efficacy of the analysed processes.
Baths are multifaceted architectural structures that embody both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Originating in antiquity and refined through Roman techniques, they flourished under Islamic influence, reaching monumental proportions in Ottoman cities, especially under Chief Architect Sinan. This study examines the conservation challenges of Ottoman baths, focusing on their architectural, structural, and functional systems. Deterioration is caused by environmental, socio-cultural, and economic factors, as well as property disputes, inappropriate reuse, and urban transformation. Three Sinan-era baths-Valide Sultan Ayakap & imath; (Cibali), Kap & imath;a & gbreve;as & imath; Yakupa & gbreve;a, and & Ccedil;emberlita & scedil; - are analyzed as case studies representing different states: abandoned, reused, and still operational. Each case illustrates distinct conservation issues and informs strategies to preserve their architectural and cultural integrity.
The author reconstructs the context of origin of some erratic and reused capitals in the abbey church of St. Bartholomeo in Carpineto della Nora, through historical and artistic research combined with archival research and textual analysis of chronicle sources. These capitals have been dated to the second half of the 12th century due to their connection, first and foremost, with the church portal, which has been attributed with certainty to Oliviero's (1149-1180) abbacy. Based on this multidisciplinary methodology, it was therefore possible to suggest that they originated from a cloistered structure and belonged to a typological-figurative milieu of Benedictine Norman origin which, moving northwards towards the northern borders of the Kingdom, found expression within the still undefined contours of the workshop active in St. Bartholomeo. This workshop, which had deep roots in the local area, underwent a proto-Gothic renovation between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, as evidenced in particular by the slab embedded in the 16th-century facade of St. Maria Assunta in Paganica.
The definition of corporate social responsibility policies is a central topic in contemporary museology, as the role of museums in developing social, cultural, and environmental impact strategies has become increasingly prominent. An overarching perspective in this domain can be provided by the publication of the primary tool for impact verification and reporting in the CSR field: the Social Report. This paper, based on an international and national theoretical and regulatory assessment, focuses on the operational significance of structured social reporting for Italian museums. It analyzes, through evaluation grids partially provided by the Legislator, the quality of the published Social Reports, examining both the strengths and weaknesses, in order to offer a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon of social responsibility in the national context.
Museums are increasingly regarded as tools of cultural welfare to enhance individual and collective wellbeing, particularly for the elderly. This report aims to provide an updated analysis of the accessibility and inclusivity of Japanese museums for visitors over 65, assessing existing programs, identifying barriers, and suggesting strategies to enhance the cultural offer in response to the needs of this growing demographic, especially in Japan and Italy. The study is based on data collected using a questionnaire and interviews with Japanese museum managers, enriched by examples of best practices observed firsthand. The findings reveal strong interest from the elderly in museums, often limited by physical and organizational barriers, as well as a cultural offer not always suited to this group. The report concludes with recommendations to improve accessibility and encourage the engagement of over-65s, enabling them to fully benefit from a museum experience tailored to their needs.
Given the difficulties in evaluating the beginnings of an Italian Gothic style, the essay focuses on a rediscovered figure, magister Riccardo da Lentini, by framing his personality on to the pivotal monument of Castel Maniace and at the launch of the castra season in eastern Sicily (post 1234-1240). Through the way, the picture has been enriched with additional data, gradually outlining the modus operandi of the prepositus novorum hedificiorum in the service of Frederick II, at times correcting understandable uncertainties, and the investigation has been extended to his proven travels to the mainland after 1240. Surrounded from the very beginning by skilled and anonymous collaborators, the quality of the working team led by Riccardo is clearly expressed by what has come down to us in the Regnum Siciliae: tangible results of operational guidelines dictated from above, which could be revised only within certain limits in the presence of the Emperor. Taking for granted that Riccardo was continually put to the test, the deliberate versatility in design with recognizable common features became routine, regularly applying the modernity of a redefined Gothic, enhanced by the most advanced technological solutions with a defensive coefficient reduced to the essentials.
This paper explores how cultural institutions and festivals contribute to sustainable development by combining insights from the academic and practitioner literature. Through an interpretive review of 81 academic articles and 33 practitioner documents, we identify two main findings: 1) three mechanisms-connecting, caring, and empowering-through which cultural institutions and festivals generate value across economic, cultural, social, and environmental dimensions; 2) four policy areas-value creation, equity and resilience, education and training, and participatory governance-across which policymakers leverage cultural institutions and festivals to pursue sustainability-oriented policies. By bridging scholarly and practitioner perspectives, the study provides a more nuanced understanding of the multifaceted role of culture in advancing sustainable development and offers relevant insights for researchers, policymakers, and cultural managers.
This paper seeks to highlight the critical role that theatres play in fostering resilience and sustainability and underscores the significance of a holistic approach to sustainability thanks to a qualitative analysis of five Milanese theatres. The findings highlight the potential of theatres to act as catalysts for society's reflection, dialogue, and action towards sustainability, emphasising the indispensable role of community involvement and stakeholder collaboration. The investigation reveals that the sustainability of theatres depends on global strategies that include management efficiency, marketing innovation, and diversification of funding. Digitisation of archives and sustainable production practices emerge as pivotal in minimising environmental impacts and preserving cultural heritage. Simultaneously, innovative staging, audience engagement in sustainability, and the development of new works addressing current sustainability challenges serve to amplify the societal impact of theatres.
In this special issue, we aim to deepen our understanding of how, and to what extent, sustainability is integrated into the strategic planning as well as social and sustainability reporting practices of cultural institutions. The challenges of assessing the work of cultural organizations through alternative lenses, such as social value, have long been discussed in the cultural management literature. Yet, the topic has gained renewed urgency as the cultural sector is increasingly called to take responsibility for the sustainable transition. The contributions collected here explore sustainability in the cultural field from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including management, museum studies, and geography. They draw on a range of methodological approaches, including literature reviews, theoretical overviews, conceptual and empirical analyses, and case studies.
A significant number of ethnographic artefacts from Southeast Asia were acquired by European institutions during the colonial period through various means, including scientific expeditions, missionary activities, and the art market. In recent years, the fate of these collections-particularly in the context of decolonisation, repatriation, and restitution- has been the subject of growing academic and institutional debate. This article examines the case of the Nias ethnographic collections from Indonesia, currently held in several Italian museums. Nias, a small island west of Sumatra, became a focal point of anthropological interest in the late 19th century and a target of illicit artefact trade in the 20th century. As a result, Nias cultural objects are widely dispersed across European collections. Despite their significance, these collections have received little attention in Indonesia's national restitution agenda. This study explores the decolonisation of Nias objects in the Italian museums context, drawing on archival research, interviews with key stakeholders, museum fieldwork, and community-based discussions in Nias. The findings reveal diverse perspectives among stakeholders-including museum professionals, local academics, and source communities-on restitution, representation, education, and the role of digital technologies in cultural revitalisation. While preferences vary, all stakeholders express a shared desire to reconnect with Nias heritage. The article argues that decolonisation efforts must go beyond physical repatriation and instead embrace inclusive, collaborative, and context-sensitive approaches that centre the voices and needs of originating communities.
Nel saggio si affronta lo studio del ciborio in stucco dell'abbazia di S. Giovanni in Argentella in Sabina, che si contraddistingue per l'originalissimo apparato decorativo del tutto aniconico. L'intento & egrave; quello di precisare in via definitiva la controversa cronologia dell'opera, che presenta oscillazioni anche di mezzo millennio, dal periodo altomedievale a quello romanico, e allo stesso tempo individuare le maestranze cui attribuire la sua realizzazione. L'analisi comparativa ha condotto a collocare il ciborio agli inizi del XII secolo, quando si assiste in Italia come in Europa occidentale alla ripresa del decoro a intreccio di origine altomedievale; mentre la sua esecuzione si deve a maestranze itineranti, provenienti molto probabilmente dalla regione francese dell'Occitania. The essay deals with the study of the stucco ciborium of the Abbey of S. Giovanni in Argentella in Sabina, which is characterized by its highly original and completely aniconic decorative apparatus. The aim is to definitively clarify the controversial chronology of the work, which shows oscillations of even half a millennium, from the early medieval period to the Romanesque period, and at the same time to identify the craftsmen to whom
This paper investigates the tourism-led regeneration of disused mining sites in Italy through an integrated geographical approach combining field observation, spatial analysis via GIS and automated data extraction through web scraping. The assessment framework employs multidimensional KPIs to evaluate sustainability, accessibility, attractiveness, and community engagement, incorporating scalar dynamics and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The analysis focuses on selected sites within the ReMi network in Marche, Tuscany, and Sardinia, examining the interplay between industrial heritage valorisation, governance practices, risks of gentrification, and the active participation of local populations in shaping new territorial meanings. Results reveal regional disparities and diverse models of local development. The study contributes to the geographical debate on post-industrial landscapes, offering transferable indicators to guide planning and long-term monitoring of sustainable tourism in mining geosites.
Con un approccio destrutturante e innovativo, nei saggi Il colore di Tiziano (1977) e Linguistica di Tiziano (1980), Sergio Bettini scandaglia l'arte del pittore cadorino e, dopo aver constatato l'ineffabilit & agrave; della cromia vecelliana, si sofferma sulle difficolt & agrave; insite nella verbalizzazione del visivo, interrogandosi sulla pertinenza del linguaggio critico e mettendo in discussione le tradizionali strategie escogitate dalla storiografia per rendicontare il colore del maestro veneto. Il contributo ripercorre le riflessioni metodologiche di Bettini e ricostruisce i passaggi attraverso i quali lo studioso, grazie a un continuo dialogo con i fermenti filosofici del proprio tempo, approda prima al concetto di "struttura" e poi ad un'interpretazione della proposta tizianesca come linguaggio fluido, ancora oggi indispensabile linea-guida per inquadrare la pennellata e per interpretare la "maniera sfatta" del Vecellio. In his essays Il colore di Tiziano (1977) and Linguistica di Tiziano (1980), the art historian Sergio Bettini takes a deconstructive and innovative approach to the art of the
Corporate museums lay at the crossroad between business and cultural heritage. In academia they have been mainly studied as strategic assets which managers use with a means-end logic. Limited attention has been given to their social role, that of being a potential leverage in corporate sustainability agenda and, more importantly, at the service of society's sustainable development. The present study aims to fill this knowledge gap by exploring how sustainability is framed and measured in a corporate museum. A collaborative action research project with CUBO, Museo d'impresa del Gruppo Unipol, led to the development of a performance measurement system to assess the museum's sustainability performance, which takes on an exquisite social connotation, from which practitioners of this sector could take inspiration for future implementations.
This paper explores the visual program accompanying the Venetian editions of Paul Rycaut's Istoria dello stato presente dell'Imperio Ottomano (1672 and 1673 editions), with a particular focus on the engravings signed by the Franciscan nun Isabella Piccini (1644-1734). Rather than offering a general assessment of her artistic oeuvre, the study seeks to uncover the modalities through which images and knowledge about the Ottoman Empire were transferred across linguistic, cultural, and editorial contexts in seventeenth-century Europe. Central to the inquiry is the question of whether Piccini's engravings represent original inventions or adaptations of earlier models. Drawing on comparative visual analysis and historical contextualization through archival and bibliographic sources, the paper demonstrates that the engravings are reinterpretations of pre-existing visual material-primarily derived from earlier editions published in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. Special attention is given to the transnational circulation of imagery: from Ottoman K & imath;yafet albums, through the typological engravings in the English editions, to more elaborate narrative scenes in the French versions, some of which incorporate motifs from artists such as Melchior Lorck. Within this complex visual genealogy, Piccini emerges not as an originator, but as a skilled intermediary who adapted and translated existing imagery into the Venetian print tradition.
