The contemporary Italian approach to the Greek and Roman art industry remains rooted in methods based on a 19th-century scholarly tradition. The consequences of this methodological delay, which also concerns academic teaching so far, appear in many Italian archaeological museums adopting old-fashion display criteria. The result is silent objects that do not communicate with the public.
This project proposes a reinterpretation and visual re-contextualization of the classical art industry, with a special focus on Greek ideal sculpture and Greek and Roman painting. Our key issue is: how can we best communicate archaeological knowledge to the museum audience? So we address the interpretation of the classical art industry over time and stress the relevance of re-contextualisation of archaeological heritage in order to draft a new history-based model both for teaching and display. Our approach combines the history of archaeological thought, systematic recovery of topographic and contextual data and analysis of ancient Greek sources. The result will be an idea of a `museum of the future that engages, stimulates and inspires the public it serves, and plays an active role in promoting the heritage of the classical tradition within communities.
