The Reopening of the Museo Nazionale Jatta di Ruvo di Puglia

The Museo Nazionale Jatta in Ruvo di Puglia reopened late in 2023 following a two-year closure for work on the refurbishment of the galleries in the 19th-century Palazzo Jatta and the reinstallation of the collection. The organization of the collection and its display cases and pedestals follow the original scheme from when the museum was formed and its catalogue published by Giovanni Jatta, Jr., in 1869. Rather than reconceive the gallery and exhibition design, the museum focused on restoring the original design, with discreetly installed upgrades for utilities and environmental systems to bring the museum to contemporary standards. In doing so, the museum brings attention to the specific circumstances of the collection’s formation in the 19th-century, which were aimed at preserving some of the ancient cultural patrimony of Ruvo di Puglia. Further, the museum has preserved an important historical viewing context from that period and in so doing provides an occasion to think about how to engage viewers with artifacts in the 21st century. Providing the viewer with the opportunity to see the majority of the collection is admirable, but one needs to consider the best way of providing information to viewers today, when a printed catalogue is in some ways obsolete.