Storie di altari lignei in Friuli. Provvedimenti di tutela delle Soprintendenze e delle Kunstschutzgruppen durante la guerra (1915-1918)
Martina Visentin
During the First World War, monuments and works of art, including those in Friuli, were subject to extensive protection measures. This peripheral territory, located near the eastern borders with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, offers a significant case study in the safeguarding of cultural heritage, first by the Italians (1915-1917) and then by the occupying armies (1917-1918). These operations were particularly focused on preserving wooden altars. This study aims to highlight the new insights into wooden sculpture in Friuli that emerged from the effort to protect artistic heritage during the First World War. While the removal of mountain polyptychs by the Italian authorities has already been studied, the actions taken by the heritage protection commissions of the occupying armies regarding wooden sculpture remain largely unstudied. From the detailed inventories of the art historians of the two Kunstschutzgruppen, traces of sculptures, and remnants of ancient altars, often previously overlooked from the perspective of art criticism or conservation, emerge.