Maria Cecilia Lovato, the 2027 Franco Zeffirelli Italian Fellow in Modern Italian Studies, is an art historian working on Italian visual culture in the first half of the twentieth century, with particular attention to the interwar period and the relationship between the visual arts and colonialism. In parallel, she is interested in the interpretation of dissonant heritage in museums and cultural institutions, especially in relation to the difficult legacies of the University of Padua.
She obtained an MA in Art History and a Postgraduate Specialization Diploma in Cultural Heritage from the University of Padua. At the same institution, she received her PhD in History, Criticism, and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (2026), with a dissertation on the representation of colonial landscapes—including natural environments, built environments, and archaeological sites—in Fascist Italy through the artistic collection of the former Colonial Museum of Rome. Her work explores the intersections between visual culture, colonialism, and museum collections, combining the study of artworks with archival and printed sources. Her doctoral research was conducted in close collaboration with the Museo delle Civiltà in Rome.
After completing her PhD, she was a research fellow at the University of Padua, in collaboration with the Museo Nazionale Collezione Salce in Treviso (2025–2026). She subsequently received the Gianni Franzone Fellowship at the Wolfsoniana Research Center – Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura in Genoa (Summer 2026). She also collaborates with the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History as an independent research contractor.
What project will you be embarking upon during your time at the Academy?
During my two-month fellowship at the Academy, I will be expanding on my recently defended doctoral dissertation. Throughout my PhD research, I analyzed the artistic collection of the former Colonial Museum of Rome (now held by the Museo delle Civiltà in Rome) as a key case study to explore the broader representation of Italian colonial landscapes as visual tools of imperial ideology.
While my dissertation primarily examined the general relationship between landscape imagery and the overarching propaganda narratives projected onto those territories, my time at the Academy will allow me to shift my focus directly to the institution itself. Thanks to the opening of the museum’s archive, housed at the Historical Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I will investigate how these artworks interacted with the museum context, exploring acquisition policies, provenance, and their specific role within the broader display apparatus and the institutional narratives it generated.
What aspects of the city and Academy life are you most interested in exploring?
On a research level, the Fellowship offers the opportunity to engage deeply with Rome's specialized libraries and return to the Museo delle Civiltà to revisit the artwork firsthand. Having already analyzed them during my PhD, this return allows me to cross-examine the physical objects against new evidence and refine my visual analysis. Beyond research institutions, being in Rome allows me to engage with the city’s cultural scene and participate in events centered on topics critical to my work and relevant to contemporary debates.
As for life at the Academy, I am particularly eager to immerse myself in its interdisciplinary community. The opportunity to exchange ideas with fellows and researchers from diverse fields will undoubtedly enrich my work, sparking fresh theoretical perspectives and opening up new analytical directions.
What encounters, experiences, or moments in your first days at the Academy have inspired, surprised, or encouraged you thus far?
What struck and encouraged me most during my first days at the Academy is the remarkably genuine and open atmosphere of exchange. There is a shared openness to discussion among the fellows, creating a strong sense of community where ideas, advice, and perspectives are offered freely and without judgment. The wide variety of activities organized at the Academy has also been particularly inspiring, providing continuous opportunities for spontaneous dialogue outside our individual research projects.
How did you prepare to move to Rome and the Academy?
Being an Italian Fellow based in Padua, my prep work was pretty straightforward: I packed a suitcase (maybe filled with a few too many summer clothes) and let the train catapult me straight to Rome. And just like that, here I am, settling into this little slice of paradise that I’m lucky enough to call home for these two months.