«First Aid and Repairs»: il ruolo degli Alleati nella salvaguardia dei monumenti italiani

The topic of this paper is to analyze the role of the Allied Army, during the Second World War, for the preservation of Italian monuments against the risk of war damages. In 1942, as it became evident that the Allied Armies were preparing to invade the continent of Europe, various groups of civilians in the United States began to formulate plans by which some measures of protection consistent with military strategy could, in the war areas, be extended to the monuments, works of art, libraries, and records which constitute the heritage of the entire world. In that year, some representatives of the most important American cultural institutions proposed the creation of a governmental commission for the protection and salvage of artistic and historic monuments in Europe. This Commission (Roberts Commission) was founded by the President Roosevelt on August 1943 and its principal purpose was to work with the United States Army for the protection of works of cultural value in countries occupied by armies of the United Nations. There were, at that time, architects, museum officials and art historians serving in the US Army who could be attached to a new program by the War Department called Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program. This program started some weeks after the allied landing of Sicily (July 1943) and received here its initial try-out and its first experience. The Monuments Officers worked in close connection with the Italian officials concerned with fine arts and monuments to prevent, as far as possible, destruction of and damage to historical monuments, buildings, works of art and historical records; to safeguard and preserve them, and to give first-aid in repairs when needed.