Purpose/Activities

The Bibliotheca Hertziana is founded in 1913 in Rome as an institute of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Society for research on Italian art from the area immediately following antiquity and in particular the renaissance and the baroque period. These two époques takes centre stage of the research to date and supplements soon with a third centre stage, the art of the Italian middle ages.

The programme of the Hertziana attends the art arisen in Rome as well as in Middle and Southern Italy since crucial incitements for the entire European art history emanated from there. Last but not least the Romanian art owes its status the permanent confrontation with the ancient art in all its forms such for artists is nowhere as present as in Rome.

The institute attends following projects:

ArsRoma – science database for art history about painting in Rome 1580-1630;

Epistemic history of architecture;

Lineamenta – a database for the study of architectural drawings;

illustrated catalogue of the maps of Rome online;

Schedarium of artists in Rome;

glossary to the building sector of early modern Rome;

the activity as a foreign agent of the antique dealer Johann Friedrich Reiffenstein (1719-1793) in Rome;

the art collection of the Cesarini.

Regular workshops of the running activities, monthly lectures, study courses for younger colleges from the German-speaking countries as well as numerous symposia and congresses afford an opportunity to academic exchange between the members of the institute and guests from outside.

The publication of the Bibliotheca Hertziana contains:

Romanian Yearbook;

Romanian Research;

Romanian Studies;

Studi della Bibliotheca Hertziana

Singular Publications and

Catalogues.

The Bibliotheca Hertziana holds a library that main focus rests on history of Italian art from middle ages to modern times and is joined to the OPAC-catalogue.