The names of the directors of the thirteen major autonomous museums that had director vacancies were announced today. They are Antonella Cucciniello, who will go to direct the Girolamini Library and Monumental Complex; Francesca Cappelletti, who will go to the Borghese Gallery; Louis Gallo to the National Gallery of the Marches; Francis Muscolino to the National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari; Maria Grazia Filetici to the National Museum of Abruzzo; Annamaria Mauro to the National Museum of Matera; Stéphane Verger at the Museo Nazionale Romano; Stephen L’Occaso at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua; Mario Epifani at the Palazzo Reale in Naples; Alessandro D’Alessio at the Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica; Philip Demma at the Parco Archeologico di Sibari; Maria Luisa Pacelli at the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna; and Edith Gabrielli at the Museo del Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia.
The names were chosen after a selection from a shortlist of 425 candidates. Selecting the “finalists” was a committee chaired by the director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin Christian Greco and composed of Caterina Bon Valsassina, former director general of Archaeology, fine arts and landscape of the Mibact; Maria Luisa Catoni, professor of archaeology and history of ancient art at the IMT Alti studi school in Lucca and member of the scientific committee of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence; Miguel Falomir Faus, director of the Prado; and Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery in London. The thirteen names were then nominated for the three first-tier museums (Galleria Borghese, Museo Nazionale Romano and Vittoriano) by Cultural Heritage Minister Dario Franceschini, and for the nine second-tier ones by Director General of Museums Massimo Osanna. The director of the Girolamini Library, on the other hand, was appointed by the director general of libraries, Paola Passarelli. Here are who the new directors are.
Antonella Cucciniello (Mercogliano, 1963), an art historian, has worked at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage since 2001. Before becoming director of the Girolamini, she was director of the Calabria Regional Museums Directorate, an art historian.
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Antonella Cucciniello |
Francesca Cappelletti (Vicenza, 1976), an art historian specializing in Caravaggio and seventeenth-century art, is a full professor of History of Modern Art, Member of the Scientific Committee of the Galleria Borghese, Scientific Director of the Fondazione Ermitage Italia. She has many years of experience in curating exhibitions in Italy and abroad.
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Francesca Cappelletti |
Louis Gallo (Rome, 1966), art historian, expert in the history of collecting, has worked in Pompeii and the Scuderie del Quirinale, for him a PhD from the Sorbonne in 2002, a long experience in France. He is also managing director of the company Campo di Bove s.r.l, management of ancient and rare real estate, a member of the Italian Historic Houses Association (ADSI).
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Louis Gallo |
Francis Muscolino (Messina, 1976), archaeologist, has worked at MiBACT since 2010, behind him a relevant research activity in archaeology as well as a varied experience in heritage protection and management. He has worked at the Superintendency of Lombardy (where he directed the Library of the Archaeological Superintendency), the Polo Museale of Campania (he was director of Castel Sant’Elmo), and Pompeii.
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Francis Muscolino |
Maria Grazia Filetici (Naples, 1956) is a MiBACT architect with management responsibilities at the Colosseum Archaeological Park. She has extensive experience in the field of complex project management, protection, conservation and architectural restoration and enhancement of cultural heritage in the state sector.
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Maria Grazia Filetici |
Annamaria Mauro (Nola, 1973), MiBACT architect with management responsibilities at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, where she was head of the park’s technical office.
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Annamaria Mauro |
Stéphane Verger (Soyaux, 1965), French, directeur d’études I classe at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris), as well as Member of the Scientific Council of the Musée du Louvre. He has qualified curatorial and directive experience; many years of relevant and high quality scientific and educational activity, internationally recognized and carried out also in Italy, in the field of archaeology, ancient cultures and their tradition and presence in post-antique cultures.
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Stéphane Verger |
Stephen L’Occaso (Rome, 1975), art historian, restorer, expert on 16th-century art as well as on the history of Mantuan art, specialist on Giulio Romano. A longtime MiBACT art historian official with management responsibilities at the Ducal Palace in Mantua, he was also director of the museum pole of Lombardy in the past. He boasts relevant research and museum management activities at the national level.
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Stephen L’Occaso |
Mario Epifani (Rome, 1974), an art historian, has been curator of the art collections of the Royal Museums of Turin since 2010 as well as director of Palazzo Chiablese at the Superintendency of Turin. He has also been art historian at the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco. He trained by studying at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, the Longhi Foundation in Florence, the University of Rome La Sapienza (where he obtained a specialization in Medieval and Modern Art History), the University of Naples II (where he obtained a PhD in Archaeological and Historical-Artistic Sciences) and the University of Tuscia.
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Mario Epifani |
Alessandro D’Alessio (Rome, 1970), an archaeologist, was director of the Domus Aurea, in charge of the archaeological area of the Roman Forum and Palatine, in charge of protection activities in the Park of Colle Oppio, and worked at the Superintendence of Calabria as director of the National Archaeological Museum of the Sibaritide.
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Alessandro D’Alessio |
Philip Demma (Caserta, 1971), a MiBACT archaeologist, has a relevant activity of high-quality research in archaeology as well as a varied experience in the field of protection, management and restoration of monuments with particular reference to archaeological sites, including underwater ones.
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Philip Demma |
Maria Luisa Pacelli (Ferrara, 1969), is an art historian, trained at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. She was curator of exhibitions and museums at the Gallerie d’arte moderna e contemporanea in Ferrara and Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara from 2001 to 2019.
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Maria Luisa Pacelli |
Edith Gabrielli (Rome, 1970), is an art historian and has served as director of the Lazio Regional Museums Directorate. She has been in the public administration for many years and has been a public manager of high professional and scientific level in the field of art history, management, protection and enhancement of cultural heritage in the state sphere.
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Edith Gabrielli |
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Here are the new directors of the thirteen major autonomous museum vacancies |
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