When I first heard about the study abroad program being held in Florence in the summer of 2023, I instantly knew that this was how I wanted to end my time at the University of Tampa. Having completed all of my other museum studies degree requirements by the Spring of 2023, being able to take my last art history course in the heart of one of the most artistic cities in the world was a dream come true. Once I was accepted to the program, I began to make plans to supplement my experience due to my background as a museum studies student; I wanted to experience everything I could to enrich what I had previously been taught and everything I would be learning on site. Around this time, I was approached by my faculty mentor and the professor who would be on site with us in Florence, Dr. Rose Trentinella, who had a fascinating proposal that I simply couldn’t refuse.

Dr. Trentinella, or rather Dr. T as she prefers, approached fellow museum studies student Sarah Powell and me, wondering if we would be interested in doing a little bit of extra work while in Florence looking into how a historical country like Italy utilizes pre-, post-, and in-progress conservation in their tourism and museum industry, as many of the sites in Florence and Italy are centuries old at this point and in many cases require constant and intensive conservation to remain open and accessible to the public.

While many places around the world shut down their historic sites during times of conservation, Dr. T was curious as to how the Italian industry instead chose to utilize these periods of intervention to provide enriching experiences for visitors and how this would impact the museological procedures of these sites, and to be completely honest, as was I. All too often during my time as a museum studies student, myself and my fellow students fell into conservational debates, arguing over when and why conservation may be needed and when it is harmful to the original intention of the object. This was the supplemental experience I was looking for to enrich my previous museum studies training, so I did not hesitate to take Dr. T up on her proposal.

Over the course of this study abroad experience, myself, Sarah, and Dr. T visited many sites exploring this exact topic, showcasing how the Italian industry utilized conservation to enrich visitor experiences. While we went to several sites specifically to see their conservation tourism methods, our discussion did not stop at these sites; many times, we would walk and talk about conservation while in unrelated institutions. I think this fact was most important to me while studying abroad: the near-constant exposure to the subject matters I was interested in and the opportunity to academically engage with my fellow students and my professor in a more intimate and enriching environment. However, there were three site visits I wanted to talk about and how they embodied the three levels of conservational tourism we wanted to explore in our initial inquiry.

To begin, I want to start with the final site visit we went to, which was arguably the most exciting in both my personal and academic opinion. On the last day of the study abroad, myself, Dr. T, and Sarah visited the Florence Baptistry, where the celling’s centuries-old byzantine mosaics were entering a large-scale conservational project. This visit required us to climb 100ft of scaffolding, sign many liability waivers, and wear hard hats to enter the conservational space. However, this allowed us to get inches away from the mosaics, which was not possible before this project. Getting this close to the mosaics allowed us to make many inferences and hypotheses about how these mosaics were constructed and why the original Byzantine artists made certain choices. We also got to see what exactly the Florence Baptistry was looking to restore in the mosaics. Overall, this experience was absolutely mind-blowing and represented how the Florence Baptistry institution utilized a pre-conservational state to provide an incredibly enriching experience for tourists, visiting historians, and those interested in art history and modern conservation.

Moving on to a site visit that embodied the “In-Progress” state of conservation, I actually want to jump back to the beginning of the study abroad experience, to when we visited the Basilica de Santa Carmine. This was the first site visit we saw during the abroad experience. Coincidently it was very similar to the final Florence Baptistry visit, as we had to climb scaffolding to get up close and personal with some beautiful fresco paintings 40ft off the ground. In contrast, this conservational project was in progress and nearing its competition. We could see the different moments of intervention and where conservators had already worked or were working on. It was here that Dr. T, Sarah, and I had a great discussion regarding how conservators will both disguise and emphasis their conservation, allowing the average viewer to fully appreciate what the artist originally intended while also putting up a figurative neon sign for future conservators about what is and isn’t original.

Finally, we visited many sites that showcased a post-conservational project; however, my favorite absolutely had to be when we visited the Casa Buonarotti, the house museum of the Buonarotti family, which was displaying a recently conserved painting done by Artemisia Gentileschi. This site visit was my favorite post-conservation visit for two reasons: a personal biased reason and an academic one. My biased reason: Artemisia Gentileschi is my favorite baroque painter, and I love seeing any of her works, so getting up close and personal with the work was a dream. Second, my academic reason, we were actually able to talk to the conservator who worked on this painting and go to listen to her explain her process and technique, which was such a treat to listen to, as she actually confirmed several of the theories that Dr. T, Sarah, and I had when we first looked at the painting before meeting with the conservator.

Overall, this research inquiry showed me how important it is to be flexible regarding museological policy, especially when allowing people access to pre-, post-, and in-progress projects can be academically and educationally significant for visitors. It also showed me ways to adapt my previous teachings in museological protocol to provide a much more enriching experience when dealing with historical collections. I am incredibly thankful to the University of Tampa for the opportunity to explore this inquiry during my time abroad and for allowing me to cultivate my own enrichment of my education alongside the guidance of my faculty mentor and fellow student. This is an experience I will not be forgetting anytime soon, and I will carry to lessons I’veI’ve learned well into the development of my professional and academic career.

And, on a less professional but still genuine note, I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to have cultivated my relationship with my faculty mentor Dr. T.. I am incredibly thankful for her guidance throughout my academic career at UT, and to end my degree experience by traveling to Europe with her and fully immersing ourselves in the rich history of the city around us was an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. So thank you to UT, thank you to the Office of Undergraduate Research, and thank you to Dr. Trentinella; it has been a pleasure learning from you!