"Publics of the First Public Museums (18th and 19th Centuries). III. Visual Sources" International Conference, Madrid

International Conference

Publics of the First Public Museums (18th and 19th Centuries).
III. Visual Sources

Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
June 5th-6th, 2025

Direction
Carla Mazzarelli (Università della Svizzera italiana, Accademia di architettura, Istituto di storia e teoria dell’arte e dell’architettura)
David García Cueto (Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado)
 

The Conference entitled Publics of the First Public Museums (18th and 19th Centuries). Visual Sources is an integral part of the research project Visibility Reclaimed. Experiencing Rome’s First Public Museums (1733-1870). An Analysis of Public Audiences in a Transnational Perspective (FNS 100016_212922) directed by Carla Mazzarelli. Marking the third of three encounters (I. Institutional Sources; II. Literary Discourses), this workshop delves into the examination of visual sources, vital to understanding the forms of representation of early museums and their publics. We intend to investigate a vast range of visual sources, from views of internal and external spaces to architectural and display projects, from caricatures to illustrations published in catalogues, guidebooks, voyages pittoresques up to the (self) representation of publics, museum staff (directors, custodians, ciceroni) and artists within the museum.

Visual sources have long represented a privileged source for investigating the origins of the first public museums and the impact on their publics. However, in the light of recent studies aimed at deepening the material history of the museum and the encounter of the public with the institutions, these sources deserve a closer scrutiny in both methodological and critical terms. As museums sought to define and engage their publics, visual sources often became both a mirror and a mould; they reflect and shape institutional and societal perceptions, contributing to build up the idea of museum but also to give a depiction of practices of access to public and private collections in Europe and in the World.

The full event program is available on the official website of the Museo del Prado www.museodelprado.es

Co-organisation
Centro de Estudios del Prado (MNP)
Accademia di architettura, Istituto di storia e teoria dell’arte e dell’architettura (USI)

Secretary
Gaetano Cascino and Luca Piccoli (Università della Svizzera italiana)
Itziar Arana Cobos (Centro de Estudios, Museo Nacional del Prado)

Contact
[email protected]
[email protected]