Meeting on the therapeutic power of art

As part of the exhibition “Ritratte” (“Portrayed. Women of Art and Science"), a meeting dedicated to the use of art as therapy was held at the Carlo Bilotti Museum in Rome on 7 September 2023 in collaboration with Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS - Gemelli ART.
The meeting, which was opened by Diana Bracco, Chair of the Bracco Foundation and by Federica Pirani of Sovrintendenza Capitolina, was attended by Vincenzo Valentini, director of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Oncological Radiotherapy and Haematology of the Gemelli Polyclinic, by Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, and by Enzo Grossi, doctor and scientific advisor to the Bracco Foundation.

The meeting discussed the science behind the beneficial effects of art in medicine and patient care and considered the findings of cultural welfare studies that the Bracco Foundation has been conducting since 2011 as well as the Art4ART project run by Policlinico Gemelli involving the display of works of art on the premises of the Gemelli clinic.

The theme was also explored from a complementary perspective articulated in a report from the director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park looking at the benefits that flow from the presence of a place dedicated to art.