Italian art embodies an ideal of beauty deeply rooted in Western historical consciousness. In the 1930s, the Italian Fascist regime appropriated this ideal to reinforce its cultural and political relations with other governments. As ambassadors of Fascist cultural diplomacy, iconic masterpieces of Italian art then travelled in exhibitions to London, Paris, Belgrade, and the United States.

Matilde Cartolari examines these exhibitions as sites of intersection between art historiography and the art market, conservation and heritage protection, nationalism and internationalism. Her analysis sheds light on the development of Italy’s Fascist cultural policy from the ephemeral triumphalism of the Ethiopian campaign to the unfulfilled dream of the E42 World’s Fair.

Matilde Cartolari, art historian, studied in Venice, Berlin, and Udine; she is currently a research associate at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich.