Archive and museum: the medieval and early modern section of the historical archive of the civic museums of ancient art in Bologna, Italy

Abstract

A museum’s historical archive contains the documents relating to past administration and conservation, providing an understanding of both the museum’s history and its various collections. In many cases, the archive is composed of heterogeneous writings, whose variety makes them invaluable also for the study of the cultural atmosphere in which the institution was born and operated. This is especially true in the case of the “musei civici”, Italy’s municipal museums. This article not only calls attention once again to the relationship between archive and museum but also discusses the reorganization of the Archivio storico dei Musei Civici d’Arte Antica di Bologna, which include the documentation relating to the Medieval and Early Modern Section of Bologna’s former Museo Civico (founded 1881). The archive is the result of many documentary separations and reunions; this article describes aspects and problems addressed during the rediscovery of the original documentary arrangement.

Keywords

• archives
• museums
• arrangement
• Bologna
• Musei Civici d’Arte Antica