I 1000 VOLTI DI LOMBROSO. L'archivio fotografico del Museo di Antropologia criminale dell'Università di Torino

From 25 September 2019 to 6 January 2020, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin hosts the exhibition I 1000 VOLTI DI LOMBROSO (The 1000 Faces of Lombroso), which presents to the public for the first time a selection of photographs from the photographic collection of the l'Archivio fotografico del Museo di Antropologia criminale dell'Università di Torino, some of which have been restored for the occasion.

A founding father of criminology, Lombroso’s archives of faces enter into dialogue with the ancient and modern catalogues of faces explored in the exhibition #FACCEEMOZIONI. 1500–2020: From Physiognomy to Emojis, curated by Donata Pesenti Campagnoni and Simone Arcagni, which opened at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema on 17 July. 

Starting from the prestigious collection of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, this major exhibition recounts the last five centuries in the history of this pseudoscience. It is an emotional journey through masks and facial recognition systems, once again confirming how the face is the most important place of expression of the human soul.

The exhibition I 1000 VOLTI DI LOMBROSO (The 1000 Faces of Lombroso) is curated by Cristina Cilli, curator and head of the Museum Archives; Nicoletta Leonardi, art historian and lecturer at the Accademia Albertina in Turin; Silvano Montaldo, scientific director of the Museum and lecturer at the University of Turin; and Nadia Pugliese, research fellow at the Museum Archives. The exhibition is part of the celebrations marking the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Museo di Lombroso.

Hosted in the conservation display cases on five floor of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, the exhibition features 305 photographs in dialogue with 13 drawings, 2 manuscripts, 1 educational and informative panel, 1 plaster cast of a skull, 1 wax death mask, 2 scientific instruments, 2 artefacts made by psychiatric patients, 1 sculpture, 11 books and 1 magazine, for a total of 340 exhibits.

I 1000 VOLTI DI LOMBROSO (The 1000 Faces of Lombroso) aims to draw a parallel between the many photographs of faces preserved in the collection and the different facets of Lombrosian thought, highlighting the close relationship between photography and the social role of science at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Between 1860 and 1909, thanks to his extensive network of contacts with criminologists, psychiatrists and forensic doctors, Lombroso collected an enormous number of images of subjects mainly belonging to the worlds of psychiatry and criminality.

These photographs were systematically used by the Veronese anthropologist in research, teaching and exhibition activities aimed at scientific dissemination. As was common practice among scientists of the time, Lombroso collected images purchased on the market, sent to him by colleagues or commissioned by him directly, and used photography as documentary evidence: positive data to be associated with anthropometric measurements of skulls, drawings, and biological and psychological descriptions.

The exhibition itinerary, divided into five sections, presents a carefully selected range of these materials following the chronology of Lombroso’s research. It begins with his studies on psychiatric patients and genius, then moves on to his theory of atavism — according to which some individuals display regressive traits typical of primitive man — and to his research on brigandage and political crime. 

The exhibition then addresses the theme of criminology in relation to racism, with a specific focus on female criminality. 

The itinerary concludes with a broad overview of images linked to criminal identification, namely mugshot photography and the birth of forensic policing.