Permanent Exhibitions at the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche History and Perspectives, 1912–2003

This dissertation offers a historiographical and museological study of the permanent exhibition layouts in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche at Urbino's Palazzo Ducale. It examines the curatorial and institutional use of space since the foundation in 1912 to the end of the century, and reconceptualises the museum as a dynamic entity shaped by evolving cultural and conservation paradigms. The study focuses on the evolving relationship between the collection and the architecture. The initial directors, Lionello Venturi and Luigi Serra, established classifications based on chronology and style. Then, Guglielmo Pacchioni favoured the reappraisal of the architectural context. Following World War II, Pasquale Rotondi implemented a new setup characterised by greater selectivity and clarity. It also considers the tensions between preservation and communication in the second half of the XX century and concludes with Paolo Dal Poggetto’s reconfiguration of the visitor route based on the building’s construction phases. Drawing on archival and visual sources, the dissertation argues that the museum was transformed into an active interpretive mediator. An epilogue examines interventions initiated in 2021, emphasising a renewed institutional dedication to historically informed permanent exhibitions. Two appendices present reconstructed itineraries from the Venturi and Serra periods, alongside transcriptions of pivotal archival documents.