Navigating through Byzantine Italy: an online catalogue for the knowledge and enhancement of a submerged artistic heritage

Head: Simona Moretti

Period: 2019-2021 (PRIN 2017)
Year 2020

The artistic heritage of Byzantine mobile objects preserved in museums and churches in Italy is very rich. But these works, scattered throughout the country, form a not very visible and, in a certain sense, submerged network, knowledge of which is partial.

The primary objective of the project is the creation of an online database which will catalogue the objects exhibited to the public in Italy, within the chronological limits of the Byzantine Millennium (330-1453 AD). This general corpus - so far lacking - will make it possible to reconstruct a phenomenon of Mediterranean artistic circulation that has determined the transmission of culture and visual models between East and West.
In addition to the database, two other products are planned: an institutional workshop; a historical-critical volume.
The research has four aims:
1) scientific for the advancement of historical and artistic knowledge
2) tourist-cultural for museums and the nation
3) didactic for universities and schools
4) conservational for the management of works of art.
The whole research group is composed of four Units (Sapienza University of Rome; University Roma Tre; University IULM; University of Salento) with twenty university scholars and four young researchers/fellows to recruit.
The research will promote the enhancement of cultural identity and cooperation between universities, schools and museums.