Istituto nazionale per la grafica

The Istituto nazionale per la grafica is Italy's principal state institution for the preservation, study, and promotion of graphic arts, located in Rome's Trevi district. Founded in 1975 through the merger of two historic institutions, it operates under the Directorate-General for Contemporary Landscape, Arts and Architecture of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. Since December 2014 it has officially borne the name Istituto centrale per la grafica, though its historical designation remains widely used. The institute's importance lies in its role as guardian of one of the world's most significant collections of prints, drawings, photographs, and print matrices, spanning from the Renaissance to contemporary practice.

The institute emerged from the 1975 unification of the Calcografia Nazionale and the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe. The Calcografia traced its origins to 1738, when Pope Clement XII's apostolic chamber acquired the De Rossi family's printing plate collection for 45,000 scudi, with presses and materials added for 5,000 scudi more. Originally conceived as a "picture factory" for papal propaganda, the chalcography expanded through commissions to Roman artists across the 18th and 19th centuries, though it suffered significant losses when its director melted thousands of plates in 1804 and when Pope Leo XII ordered the destruction or alteration of plates with "obscene" content in 1823. Following the fall of the Papal States, the Calcografia passed to state control in 1870, becoming royal and later national property. The Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe was established in 1895, incorporating the distinguished Fondo Corsini, Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini's collection of drawings and prints begun in 1730, alongside a Fondo Nazionale for new acquisitions including 19th- and 20th-century works such as Goya's prints. The Italian state purchased Palazzo Poli in 1978 specifically to unify these collections, and the institute achieved physical consolidation at a single site in 2008. A ministerial decreeling of 29 August 2014 redesignated it as Istituto centrale per la grafica, effective 10 December 2014, with special autonomy granted on 15 September 2015.

The institute occupies a monumental complex adjacent to the Trevi Fountain, comprising two contiguous structures: Palazzo Poli and Palazzo della Calcografia. The Palazzo della Calcografia was purpose-built in 1837 by architect Giuseppe Valadier to serve as headquarters for the Camerale Intaglio, which Valadier himself directed for decades. Palazzo Poli, whose side facade forms part of the Trevi Fountain composition, was purchased by the Italian state in 1978 with the explicit purpose of unifying the national collections. The two buildings were connected in 2008, creating a single operational site for all institute services. This architectural ensemble places the institution at a historically and visually significant location in Rome's historic center.

The Istituto nazionale per la grafica is located at Via della Stamperia 6 in the Palazzo Poli, in Rome's Trevi rione. As a state institution under the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, it maintains a public-facing muscological function alongside its research and conservation missions. The institute presents exhibitions drawn from its collections and maintains an official website for public engagement. Its present role encompasses not only the preservation and scholarly analysis of graphic works but also their active promotion and public presentation, continuing the dual heritage of the Calcografia as both production workshop and collection, and the Gabinetto as research institute and cabinet of curiosities.