Clashes surrounding the allowance or prohibition of iconoclasm reveal how public law addresses diverse cultural beliefs. Discussions concerning confederate monuments in the United States and the continuing existence of Fascist monuments in Italy have shed light on the different values societies ascribe to the iconology of certain cultural heritage. States’ decisions to own or control...
A Square, a Museum and a Monument: Piazza Venezia in Rome after World War II
Piazza Venezia in Rome has been heavily characterized by its connection to the Italian Fascist Regime. First the Venetian and Austrian embassy, then Benito Mussolini‘s headquarters, Palazzo Venezia represents the incarnation of the Fascist Regime in the Italian cultural memory. Despite being the headquarters of the Italian Prime Minister during the 1920s and 1930s, Palazzo...
Constructions of Identity and the Carabinieri Force for the Protection of Cultural Heritage
The Carabinieri Force for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, a special unit of the Italian federal police force, combats crimes against cultural heritage within the Italian territory and has an international impact through its activities. As a part of the Italian Ministry of Culture and with its emphasis on the protection of national heritage, the...
Legally Contextualizing American Confederate Monuments and Italian Fascist Monuments
In October 2017, shortly after violent clashes over the summer and the decisions of the city of Charlottesville, Virginia in The United States to remove monuments of the confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall“ Jackson, Ruth Ben-Ghiat wrote an article for The New Yorker entitled “Why are so many Fascist Monuments in...
The role of cultural heritage policies in the definition of a national identity
Cultural heritage, both in its material and immaterial forms, has been, and still is, one of the key elements that a State aims to identify and protect as part of its national identity. The first cultural heritage regulations, particularly in Italy and also globally, were structured with the purpose of retaining cultural property within national...