Art Treasures of Milan Go Online

More than 30,000 images of drawings and paintings from the Sforzesco Castle collection in Milan are now accessible from workstations in the city’s civic libraries, including works by masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, and celebrated collections such as the Peterzano Fund.
The Peterzano Fund derives from the workshop of Simone Peterzano, who taught many renowned artists during the second half of the 16th century. Recently two Italian art scholars attributed 96 of these drawings to Caravaggio and published their work online as an e-book. This has led to much heated discussion in the art world.
As a response, Milan city council, who own the collection, posted the 96 drawings on its website, thus making them available to all.                                                              
[Stefano Boeri, Milan Culture Councilor]
“We are very pleased that there has been so much interest in these drawings from the workshop of Simone Peterzano. This was a truly exceptional workshop: Peterzano was a pupil of Titian, and the master of Caravaggio and many other young artists of the Renaissance period. It is very important to know that in Milan there is such an amazing collection of drawings so central to the history of Italian art. Now this stunning collection is available online to everyone.”

Adriana Conconi Fedrigolli is co-author of the e-book attributing the drawings to Caravaggio. She says that their work has given the art world a boost, especially as it led to the publication of drawings and material from the Peterzano Fund.

[Adriana Conconi Fedrigolli, Art Scholar]
“It is a victory for all researchers, for all scholars, because now they can have much better access, they can start their research from their homes, they can linger as long as they want on the drawings, can zoom in, can do many things.”
There is still a long way to go before many museums and libraries publish their archives online. However, the main obstacles are not technical but legal.

NTD News, Milan, Italy