IL CONSIGLIO SUPERIORE DELLE ANTICHITÀ E BELLE ARTI E L'ATTIVITÀ DELLA SEZIONE II (ARTE MEDIOEVALE E MODERNA) DAL 1948 AL 1960.

The articles traces the history of Italy's official advisory bodies in the fields of art and archaeology formed of experts in the various fields, whether civil servants working in the public institutions, or professors either of universities or academies of the fine arts. These advisory committees were considered necessary ever since the birth of the Italian State. Special councils of experts were thus created since the 1860s with the aim of guiding the policies of the Ministries that dealt with the nation's heritage of art. The article then focuses on one such advisory body, the Consiglio Superiore per le Antichità e le Belle Arti, created immediately after the Second World War and still active within the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali. Some of the most distinguished Italian authorities in the fields of archaeology and history of art have served on this council over the years. In particular, the decisions taken by the Consiglio Superiore from 1948 to 1960 in the artistic sector are summed up in an Appendix; they concern the reconstruction and restoration after the war of such important monuments as Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Accademia di Brera in Milan, or the Palazzo Schifanoia at Ferrara; the reorganization and extension of major Italian museums including the adoption of new exhibition criteria; and measures for the conservation of the main pictorial cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]