Art history to laugh at. Instagram profiles to follow

Who said you can’t have fun with art history? Among the pages of Instagram one can come across funny vignettes and memes that tell the masterpieces of the past, and even those of the present, in a different way than usual: by making them talk, projecting them into the present with all the hilarious results of the case, inventing improbable situations. In short: by making us laugh with art history. Plus, it’s also a way to learn and get to know works or places that you may not have heard of before. We have selected the Instagram profiles you must not miss. Here they are!

1. Mo(n)stre (@mo_n_stre)

Mo(n)stre, a.k.a. Fabrizio Federici (who outside of social media is a talented art historian specializing in seventeenth-century Roman art), is the progenitor of satirical pages on art history: active for years on social media, he was born on Facebook and is experiencing a second life on Instagram, where he entertains his audience with images and tons of stories to compulse every day. Started as a project to satirize unsuccessful exhibitions (hence the name), it now pokes fun at all art with priceless and often unpredictable comic vis, managing to see artworks as we would otherwise fail to see them. But the profile also has moments of seriousness: not infrequently, Mo(n)stre posts small focuses on topics little known to most. In short, profile to follow immediately!

2. Arte a modino (@arte_a_modino)

Another veteran of art history satire, Arte a modino is the project of Florentine art historian Alessio Bernardi: born as a videoblog to make popularization of art history between the serious and the facetious, with all the wit and irony typical of Tuscans, over the years it has been enriched with social profiles with which, in addition to spreading the “typical” contents of the blog (for example, in-depth studies on works of art or on particular iconographies), he enjoys satire, especially on current events in art history. And being a Florence-based project, there is no thing happening in or around the Uffizi that he misses...

3. The Cultural Heritage Student (@studente.beni.culturali)

A community of more than twenty thousand followers that, as the name aptly suggests, caters primarily to the audience of cultural heritage students, but the cartoons it publishes make even those who have been out of school for a while laugh. On the Cultural Heritage Student’s Instagram profile you will find the most typical images of memes circulating on the Internet “repurposed” to themes that concern our field, but also works from the past inserted in funny situations: so here, for example, is the bust of Nefertiti from the Neues Museum in Berlin lashing out at those who believe that dionsaurs are studied in archaeology, characters from Matisse’s Dance preparing for an exam, masterpieces of Lombard goldsmithing becoming Pandora jewelry, and more!

4. ready_meme.exe (@ready_meme.exe)

“Duchamp” as a way of life: this is how Simone Nigiotti’s Instagram profile, all about “memes about art and related.” It is another profile that uses the language of memes, i.e., vignettes that are propagated through the Internet by imitation (e.g., they are born from a common base, such as a particularly funny or expressive photograph, with comments that change according to the context), but there is no shortage of artwork to be found either... forced to comment on what is going on in the world, or to lash out at those who are outsiders to the cultural heritage sector and perhaps do not understand the dynamics of the environment well (like those who, to put it bluntly, think that by studying art history in Italy you immediately get a job... !).

5. Rey Sciutto (@rey.sciutto)

Rey Sciutto calls himself a “video creator” who talks about art and history with particular reference to the Middle Ages. In fact, Rey Sciutto’s favorite language is precisely video: entertaining pills that “actualize” art history, or dismantle atavistic prejudices (for example, the one about the Middle Ages as a dark period), or even explain curiosities about works. He was born on TikTok, where we are told he is something of a celebrity, but also on Instagram he counts on a sizeable following of over 16 thousand followers. Recommended, for affinity of language, especially to the young and very young.

6. Make Italian Art Great Again (@makeitalianartgreatagain)

In this roundup could not, of course, miss a profile dedicated to the world of contemporary art, and in this case the satirical profile of reference is that of Giulio Alvigini, aka “Make Italian Art Great Again,” a name that mimics the well-known Trumpian slogan to make fun of the contradictions and shallowness of the world of curators, famous and less famous artists, and has achieved good success in the environment, certified by the more than twenty thousand followers.

Art history to laugh at. Instagram profiles to follow

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