Art Historian Floriana Svizzeretto Killed in Amatrice Earthquake

Floriana Svizzeretto, a 59-year-old art historian and director of the Museo civico Cola Filotesio in Amatrice, was found dead under the rubble of her home following the August 24 earthquake that struck central Italy. Born in Narni, Umbria, she had become an adopted citizen of Amatrice, where she had directed the museum since the mid-2000s after studying art history and working at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. The museum, dedicated to the local Renaissance artist Nicola Filotesio (known as Cola dell'Amatrice, born c. 1480, died after 1547 in Ascoli Piceno, a probable pupil of Raphael), is housed in the destroyed Church of Sant'Emidio. Inaugurated in 2002, it had two sections: one for historical-artistic and cult works from Amatrice and its hamlets, and another for archaeological finds from the last forty years from locations like Torrita and Sommati. Although the church was destroyed, the museum's premises reportedly suffered less damage. Svizzeretto's death tragically merges the earthquake's human toll with cultural heritage loss.