Fondazione Romanae Thesaurus

Fondazione Romanae Thesaurus
Name	Fondazione Romanae Thesaurus
Native name	Fondazione Romanae Thesaurus
Formation	2009
Type	Cultural heritage foundation
Headquarters	Rome, Italy
Region served	Italy; Vatican City; Europe
Leader title	President

Fondazione Romanae Thesaurus is an Italian cultural heritage foundation dedicated to the documentation, preservation, cataloguing and promotion of ecclesiastical and regional archives, libraries and artistic patrimony in Rome and surrounding dioceses. Founded in 2009, the foundation operates at the intersection of archival science, conservation and digital humanities, working with municipal, diocesan and academic institutions to safeguard manuscripts, parchments, registers and movable heritage. It is active in partnerships with Italian state archives, international research centres and ecclesiastical authorities to advance access, training and conservation.

History

The foundation emerged from collaborations among the Archivio di Stato di Roma, the Vatican Library, the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", and the Diocese of Rome, responding to needs identified after projects by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione and the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e per il Turismo. Early initiatives involved experts from the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, and the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro e la Conservazione del Patrimonio Archivistico e Librario. Influences included conservation models from the Getty Conservation Institute, cataloguing standards from the Library of Congress, and digitisation protocols promoted by the Europeana network. The foundation’s leadership has included professionals who previously worked at the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro, and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. It expanded its remit through memoranda with the Italian Episcopal Conference and projects connected to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the Council of Europe cultural heritage programmes.

Mission and Activities

The foundation’s mission prioritises safeguarding documentary and artistic heritage through conservation, cataloguing, digitisation and training in collaboration with the Vatican Secret Archives, the Musei Capitolini, the Archivio Storico Capitolino, the Biblioteca Vallicelliana, the Biblioteca Angelica, and parochial archives across Lazio. Activities include preventive conservation influenced by methods used at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, condition surveys inspired by the Smithsonian Institution, and metadata harmonisation following schemas used by the Getty Research Institute and the Digital Public Library of America. Operational programmes encompass workshops for archivists trained alongside practitioners from the Istituto dei Beni Artistici Culturali e Naturali, capacity-building courses modelled on initiatives by the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and restoration projects using protocols developed with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

Collections and Projects

Collections and projects cover medieval and early modern manuscripts, episcopal registers, notarial archives, liturgical books, cadastral maps, photographic collections and movable art inventories from institutions such as the Diocese of Tivoli, the Diocese of Albano, the Diocese of Palestrina, the Diocese of Ostia, and the Diocese of Porto-Santa Rufina. Major cataloguing projects reference standards applied by the International Council on Archives, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, and the Consortium of European Research Libraries. Digitisation initiatives use technical frameworks akin to projects by the Europeana Foundation, the Wellcome Collection, and the National Archives (UK), while conservation treatments have been conducted in partnership with specialists from the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, the Castel Sant'Angelo Museum, and the Galleria Borghese. The foundation has led surveys of parish pictorial cycles, choirbooks, and iconographic inventories drawing comparisons to holdings in the Uffizi Galleries, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and the Civic Museums of Rome.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Formal collaborations include agreements with the Vatican Museums, the Pontifical Lateran University, the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the European Commission cultural units, the Council of Europe, the UNESCO, the Governo della Repubblica Italiana, and regional administrations such as the Regione Lazio. Research networks involve the Max Planck Society, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the Harvard University, the Yale University, the Columbia University, the Fondazione Scuola dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali, and the Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo. Technical collaborations extend to the European Research Council projects, the Digital Humanities Observatory, and IT partnerships with the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare for imaging technologies.

Governance and Funding

Governance is overseen by a board comprising appointees from the Diocese of Rome, the Comune di Roma, representatives from the Ministero della Cultura, and academics from the Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata", the Università di Pisa, and the Università degli Studi di Milano. Funding sources include grants from the European Union, project funding from the Fondazione Cariplo, philanthropic support from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Roma, and sponsorships coordinated with the Fondazione Telethon and corporate patrons such as the Enel cultural programme. The foundation has also secured contracts administered via the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio and competitive awards from the Italian National Research Council.

Impact and Publications

Impact is measurable through enhanced accessibility of diocesan registers, digitised corpus release to platforms allied with the Europeana Collections, professional training of archivists alongside alumni from the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, and conservation case studies disseminated in journals associated with the International Council on Archives, the Journal of the History of Collections, and the Rivista di Storia dell'Arte. Publications and catalogues have been produced in collaboration with the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, the Accademia dei Lincei, the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana publishing arm, and university presses such as Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura and Il Mulino. The foundation’s work has contributed to exhibition loans to venues like the Scuderie del Quirinale, the Palazzo Venezia, and the Museo Nazionale Romano, and has been cited in studies by scholars affiliated with the British Museum, the Frick Collection, the Bibliothèque Mazarine, and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz.

Category:Cultural heritage organizations