The Palazzo Coronini Cronberg Non-profit Foundation is a non-profit organisation of a private nature established in 1990 in accordance with the last will and testament of Count Guglielmo Coronini Cronberg with the aim of making his immense heritage accessible to all, starting with the family palace transformed into a museum open to the public.
The aim of the Foundation is to conserve, enhance and make the Coronini family's art collections accessible to the public, through the opening of the palace and the surrounding park to the public, as well as through publications, exhibitions and conferences, and by providing spaces and facilities for events and exhibitions.
The last home of Bourbon King Charles X of France, the Palazzo Coronini encapsulates in its history and collections the very essence of the Central European spirit that characterises the Gorizia region, making it one of the most important historical-artistic sites in the region.
“The historical and artistic heritage collected over the centuries by my family, completed and reconstructed in my care, must not be dispersed but serve the public enjoyment and cultural education of the community”. This is how Guglielmo Coronini's holographic will, drawn up on 8 December 1967, begins, and thus continues: "The Coronini Cronberg palace with the adjoining chapel (...) with all the furnishings, furniture, paintings, sculptures, archives, library and various collections belonging to me (...) together with the park (...) will constitute an intangible and unalterable museum complex, accessible to the public in perpetual memory of my family and as an attraction and ornament to my city".
The document, revealing the intention - also shared by his sister Nicoletta - to create a privately managed Foundation, responsible for the administration of the family properties, became the Statute of the Coronini Foundation, of which it regulates both the administrative and accounting aspects as well as the purely museum-related activities. It clearly expresses the desire to preserve the current character of a grand “noble residence in its living unity of architecture, furnishings and park, while keeping the environmental complexes unaltered”.
The financial administration itself and the management of the buildings are aimed at the preservation of the palace and its assets, proper museum management, and the organic conservation and integration of the collections “with priority given to the completion and updating of bibliographic, archival and numismatic collections of local and regional interest”.
The Statute, approved by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, which recognised the Palazzo Coronini Cronberg Foundation as a legal entity under private law, was subsequently amended by Decree no. 0246/Pres. of 27 July 2005, by virtue of which the Foundation took on the status of “non-profit organisation of public interest” (onlus), and again by Decree no. 0172/Pres. of 22 July 2010.
These latest changes, approved by the Curatorship, are intended, firstly, to remedy certain clerical errors and omissions found in the original text of the statute, and secondly, to guarantee the Foundation more effective administrative activity.
The administration of the Palazzo Coronini Cronberg Non-profit Foundation is entrusted to a collegial body called the Curatorship.
According to the Count's last will and testament, the mayor of Gorizia (as president pro tempore), the Superintendent of Fine Arts and Landscape of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Regional Councillor for Education and Culture, the Director of the Isontina State Library, the Director of the Provincial Museums of Gorizia, for the duration of their office, are members by right. In addition to these components, there are two full members and two alternates, chosen from among the residents of the municipality of Gorizia, with recognised expertise and competence in the field of art and history.
Members ex officio
Mr Rodolfo Ziberna, Mayor of Gorizia, President (CV)
Councillor for Culture and Sport of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (pending acceptance of post)
Superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Friuli Venezia Giulia (pending acceptance of post)
Acting Director of the Isontina State Library (Luca Caburlotto)
Ms Raffaella Sgubin, Director of the ERPAC Research, Museums and Historical Archives Service (CV)
Co-opted full members
Mr Maurizio Boaro (CV)
Ms Antonella Gallarotti (CV)
Co-opted alternate members
Mr Vanni Feresin (CV)
Auditors
Mr Alessandro Severini, appointed Prefecture of Gorizia
Mr Renzo Pagotto, appointed Province of Gorizia
Mr Angelo Palumbo, appointed Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Gorizia
Director
Claudio Polverino
Administration
Enrico Graziano
Serenella Ferrari
Cultural activities
Cristina Bragaglia
Educational activities and guided tours
Valentina Randazzo
Giada Corvaglia
Maintenance and surveillance
Luciano Plazzi
