Biography

Paola D’Agostino was director of the Bargello Museums for eight years and is currently working on the role of early modern museums in a global society. She was curator at the Yale University Art Gallery, and Senior Research Associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has overseen new collection displays and international exhibitions. A sculpture expert, she published the book Cosimo Fanzago scultore in 2011.

In 2013 she was the Cynthia Hazen Polsky/ MET Visiting Curator at the AAR and in 2019 she received the FIAC Excellency Award. During her tenure as director, the Bargello received the Apollo Award Best exhibition of the Year 2022 for Donatello. Il Rinascimento, co-organized by the Musei del Bargello and the Fondazione di Palazzo Strozzi.

Project Summary

In the last decade, the role and future of museums has been questioned worldwide. Long perceived as institutions designed to safeguard valuable objects for the public good, museums have historically been seen as embodying shared cultural and aesthetic values. Recently, however, museums have been criticized for being elitist, and sometimes racist expressions of a colonial mentality. This project examines how museums are reshaping their collections in response to current criticisms. It investigates how museums housing early modern collections are rethinking the narratives they present to their audiences. It also compares recent changes in museum displays in several European and North American institutions, with a special focus on Italian museums.

Italy has an outstanding number of museums with dizzyingly diverse collections, histories, and administrative structures. Drawing on D’Agostino’s experience as Director of the Bargello Museums, this project will also highlight the new policies developed by Italian museums. Museums are complex organisms whose management requires a multidisciplinary approach that draws from a constellation of professional fields. Despite many criticisms, museums remain vital to produce knowledge, promote historical awareness, and preserve cultural heritage. In looking at museums and their collections now, one must think of these institutions as dynamic spaces that are at the very center of urgent social, political, economic, and cultural demands around the world.