This paper draws on research aimed at studying, digitising and promoting the collections on display at the Museum of Calabrian Ceramics in Seminara (RC). The museum collects works by artists who have explored themes ranging from pre-Christian cultural traditions to vernacular forms and characteristic elements of the Novecento style. Apotropaic masks, and zoomorphic, phytomorphic and anthropomorphic forms such as the hedgehog, the fish, the pine cone, the cornucopia, the mermaid and the babbaluto – created in the workshops of artists who embarked on a unique journey of formal exploration (Mangione, Condurso, Russo, Ditto), have sparked an interest that has found its way into major collections and into the figurative work of contemporary artists such as Pablo Picasso. The study began with the digitisation of the museum’s collection, progressed to open access (digital catalogue) and culminated in the creation of physical models to ensure inclusive access.
