The Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello (FRS) is a not-for-profit organisation with an office in Perugia. It fosters knowledge of Italy's cultural heritage with a special focus on the region of Umbria. The organization was created in memory of Uguccione Ranieri Bourbon di Sorbello.
It replaces and carries on the work of the "Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation," which was active from 1995 to 2012.
Organizational structure
The Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello is regulated by Articles of Association, which indicate its objectives and organizational structure, as well as the positions of the institution and their selection procedures.
It consists of the following positions:
Board of Directors
President
Secretary
Board of Auditors
Scientific Committee
Executive Committee
Objectives
The Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello pursues aims of public interest by encouraging knowledge of Italian cultural heritage with a special focus on the region of Umbria. It supports restoration work with activities to enhance, conserve and disseminate cultural heritage. Its objectives focus first and foremost on the study of the entire artistic, librarial and document collections with ties to the noble family of the Marquises Ranieri Bourbon di Sorbello of Perugia.
Location - Palazzo Sorbello (16th-19th centuries) The Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello is located in Palazzo Sorbello, a historic residence in Perugia first built at the end of the 16th century. From 1780, after Count Antonio Eugeni sold the building to the Marquis Uguccione III Bourbon di Sorbello, the stately mansion became the main family residence of the Marquises Bourbon di Sorbello (later known as Ranieri Bourbon di Sorbello).
The rooms intended for use by the Foundation (administration, storage, library, archive, etc.) are housed on the ground floor and first floor (or "piano nobile").
History of the institution
1995 – 2012: The Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation
The Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation was entrusted with the care of the various documentary, library and art collections belonging to the Ranieri Bourbon di Sorbello family. It was officially founded in 1995 by the heirs of Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello (1906-1969), writer, diplomat and journalist, who spent his time between Italy and the United States.
The main mission set by the institution's Articles of Association was to encourage not only the study and diffusion of the life and works of Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello, but also research projects on connected topics (e.g. local history and the Ranieri di Sorbello family history; relationships between Italy and the United States; the development of European integration and topics regarding literary, cultural and artistic events).
From its early days, the Foundation has had a considerable historic-artistic-library heritage, archives, collections and varied art collections. It has worked intensely to file, catalogue, organise and research its collections, especially the numerous deposited archives housed in the main building, inventoried and subsequently opened for consultation, including the vast library collections which make up the Palazzo Sorbello library.
When it opened to the public in 1998, its policy was to provide free access for scholars and promote research, by organising exchanges with Italian and international, cultural and academic institutions and various types of cultural events (conferences and conventions).
After filing and cataloguing the collections of historic and artistic assets over the years, it made them available to scholars worldwide and in order to make them more widely known, it opened the stately mansion rooms to the public for exhibitions and conventions. Over the years, the definitive project to set up a museum tour culminated in the opening to the public of the House Museum in Palazzo Sorbello (2010)
2012 - present: Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello
When the Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello came to its natural conclusion, in 2012 the activity of the Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello (FRS) was officially inaugurated. It continued along the lines of the previous institution's objectives, functions and activities, and inherited the historic and artistic purpose to conserve and enhance the tangible and intangible heritage of the Ranieri Bourbon di Sorbello family.
Activities and projects
The FRS has continued to expand the Mission of the "Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation" and is committed not only to conserving, protecting and enhancing the original family heritage, but also to activities of research, production and cultural diffusion.