The Giuseppe Barone Arts and Industry Museum in Baranello: an education to art and a way to improve the production of art objects in Molise during the second half of the 19th century

Abstract

Through the analysis of the Town Museum of Baranello we will observe the phenomenon of the industrial arts museums, that developed during the second half of the 19th century in the main Italian and European towns following the example of South Kensington Museum in London. These museums hosted collections made by samples of decorative art manufacture, that before then had been excluded by all conservations mechanisms; also, such structures were linked to a network of professional training schools in industrial design, addressed to the serial production of art objects obtained by industrial automation processes. The Museum of Baranello represents a smaller example of its category due to the lack of an adequate industrial tissue on the territory; it will nonetheless serve the purpose of recording the differences between the local features versus the national features, and in particular the Neapolitan context where Giuseppe Barone operated. Given the middle position between arts and training, the reference production belongs to both the historical-economic and historical-artistic frameworks. For a profile analysis of Giuseppe Barone and the Museum that carries his name, we drew from the papers and the library kept therein.