Museo Tattile Statale Omero

The Omero State Tactile Museum in Ancona places touch at the centre of understanding art. Its collections combine casts, architectural models, original contemporary sculpture and design objects within the Mole Vanvitelliana.

Why it matters

The museum grew from Aldo Grassini and Daniela Bottegoni's idea of a collection accessible through the hands. It treats tactile perception as valuable for everyone, while addressing the exclusion of blind people from conventional museum experiences.

What to notice

Casts of classical and Renaissance sculpture reveal forms and surfaces at close range. Architectural models give a different means of understanding buildings and their spatial relationships. Original contemporary sculptures extend the collection beyond reproductions. The Design section brings everyday objects into this account, including works awarded or commended in the Compasso d'Oro programme.

Context and history

Ancona's municipality established the museum in 1993, with regional support and the involvement of the Italian Blind Union. It gained state status in 1999. The move to the Mole Vanvitelliana in 2012 gave the collections an eighteenth-century architectural setting. A Design collection inaugurated in 2021 added another dimension to its multisensory approach.