Archives
Historical Archive of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz
The historical archive of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (abbreviation: KHIA) is organised in two sections: the institutional archive and bequests.
The institutional archive (inventory currently under revision) consists mainly of the correspondence held by the institute with individuals and institutions and, over time, has been collected in ‘containers’ (boxes, binders, folders, parcels) of ‘files’ organised, for administrative purposes, according to a mixed system of chronology (since 1897), authority (directorate, assistants, office or institutional body of competence), and subject (publications, activities, events, administration etc.).
Heterogeneous materials such as albums and registers of various kinds (e.g. of signatures, admissions, expenses, press reviews), activity reports (Forschungs- and Jahresberichte) and documentation on the locations that host and have hosted research, collections and scholars of the KHI, are also part of the institutional archive.
In the course of its history, the KHI has acquired numerous bequests of varying sizes from scholars associated with the institute in various capacities.
Inventories currently under revision: Kurt Badt; Walter Bombe (Bombe-Rossi); Fabia Borroni Salvadori; Anton Boschloo; Heinrich Brockhaus; Werner Cohn; Alessandro Del Vita; Gerhard Ewald; Cornel von Fabriczy; Max Goering; Georg Gronau; John Gage; Detlef von Hadeln; Fritz Heinemann; Georg Kaftal; Hubert Keutner; Robert Klein; Friedrich Kriegbaum; Gustav Ludwig; Ulrich Middeldorf; Walter Paatz; Poggi-Haines; Klara Steinweg.
These fonds include thematic and alphabetical card indexes of sources and critical bibliographies, transcriptions of rare documents, notebooks, first drafts and proofs of unpublished and published works, sketches, correspondence and institutional and personal documents.
Opening hours and user services
The temporary relocation of the KHI archive to Palazzo Grifoni has been completed. The final works are currently underway. The archive will be accessible at Palazzo Grifoni by appointment, according to the usual opening hours, from 30 September 2025 until the restoration works at Casa Zuccari are completed. Updates will follow. We apologise for any inconvenience.
The KHIA is accessible by appointment only from Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Researchers interested in visiting the KHIA are kindly required to obtain a KHI user ID card and to book their visit in advance.
The general inventory of the institutional archive and bequests is under revision and keyword searching is currently not possible. Preliminary requests can be addressed to the contacts below. Access to documents is only granted after verification and with the assistance of KHIA staff.
For reproduction and publication of documents, permission must be obtained from the KHI directorate. Publications or unpublished derivative research (Degree or Doctoral Theses) must be deposited respectively in duplicate and on file at the KHIA.
The KHIA staff cannot guarantee availability for commissioned research or the reproduction of materials for remote consultation and therefore reserve the right to carry out such work at their discretion, depending on the timetable of ongoing activities.
Contact