Present in the Zeri Photo Archive are some groups of phothos of paintings that Zeri used to keep separate from the huge Italian Painting section; still in the original order, it is today cataloguedand mostly online. This groups, in the Varie section, have not yet being properly described or studied.
The Casi nucleus, on which Zeri wose working with a view to publishing some scientific articles, comprises around 500 phothos divided by artist in monographic folders. In 2019 this nucleus underwent a preliminary overview by the Foundation Scientific commitee. The results of that overview partly appeared in the volume Federico Zeri: lavori in corso edited by Andrea Bacchi, Daniele Benati, Andrea De Marchi, Aldo Galli, Mauro Natale, but many dossiers are still unpublished.
There is also a section that Zeri defined as Problemi. It contains over 1,200 photographs of paintings that are hard to place culturally or attrbute, even for his infallible eye. He kept them apart, divided by century and themes (Portraits, Madonnas and Holy Families, Gospel characters, Biblical themes, Profaine themes) pending other research by him perhaps.
Lastly, several thousands phothos 'da riordinare', simply divided by century. It is assumed that Zeri had often found attribution for works reproduced, but simply lacked time toplace the phototypes in the right folders under author or school.
The photographs in the "Varie" series come from photographic studios, auction houses, antiquarians or collectors and largely reproduce paintings on the art market between the 1940s and 1990s or mentioned in private collections; they are sometimes accompanied by letters, memos or copies of expertises by various scholars.
On the back there are often notes by Zeri or others informing about the collection and conservation history.
The scientific project entails overview and study of materials as well as the description of photographs. The fact files have been published in the Zeri Foundation online database.
«An Emanuela and Silvano Merlatti Research Fellowship 2025», awarded to Lorenzo Agnoletti, came to an end in January 2026.
Read the research findings: Cases, Unpublished and Problem nuclei from the Zeri Photo Archive
Lorenzo Agnoletti (Florence, 1995) studied at the University of Florence, where in 2025 he obtained a PhD in History of the Arts and Performing Arts, with a thesis on the transformations of the Cathedral of San Zeno in Pistoia during the modern era. He focuses primarily on Tuscan painting from the 15th to the 16th centuries, with a particular interest in reconstructing lost contexts. In addition to philological issues relating to attribution and stylistic analysis, he has also devoted himself to the study of artistic techniques and archival research. He has collaborated in various capacities with the different institutions of the Pistoia Museum System, contributing to the catalogues of the collections of the Civic Museum of Pescia and the Pistoia Museums Foundation, and is active at various cultural institutions in the region, including Florence, Pistoia and Lucca, such as the Lucchese Historical Institute, carrying out projects to promote contexts less known to the general public.