The beauty of art, in any form, bears witness to what is highest in the human soul. The Museum of Poor Art helps to rediscover the authentic meaning of beauty. It is a unique collection of its kind. Alongside ancient codices of great value, it preserves a valuable collection of poor papers: love valentines, 18th-century calendars, Art Nouveau posters, pop-ups, fine art dèco prints. Poor papers became widespread between the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, thanks to the development of chromolithography; they are characterized by an eye-catching outward beauty that served to convey an advertising message and arouse a desire for consumption. Chromolithography was invented in 1837; the name comes from the Greek terms chroma (color), lithos (stone) and graphia (from graphein, to draw). Thanks to this technique it became possible to quickly print color images, with greater hues and much brighter tones than work obtained by earlier techniques. For each color it was necessary to use a different stone. These stone matrices, the work of skilled artists, were often considered small masterpieces. Collections of facsimiles and art books are of great aesthetic and historical interest. Volumes normally untouchable and inaccessible are consulted and admired within a museum space that becomes a treasure chest of our history. An “avant-garde library” available to all.
The Arte Povera museum has been recognized by Google Arts and Culture as a site of interest and has been listed on the portal among the 2,000 most important museums in the world. The Italian Republic also awarded medals to Mr. Roberto Parenti for the Museum of Arte Povera as official recognition of a cultural initiative of national significance.