The Historical Collections—the most conspicuous collection of its kind in Italy documenting the production of maps by the Royal Geological Office—include, among other artifacts, 17 geological and historical models and plan reliefs produced from 1877 to 1920 that once provided three-dimensional representations of certain areas of particular geological and economic importance to the Kingdom of Italy.

These models testify to early attempts at making a 3D geological representation of the Italian territory, thus providing a real-time image of the geological reality existing between the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th century, which was subsequently re-modelled by volcanic eruptions, earth movements, water erosion, and climate change. The materials displayed are a tangible sign of the desire of the new Kingdom of Italy’s scientists and politicians to endow the nation with uniform knowledge of its territory in anticipation of the economic and infrastructural development to come, thus representing a historical need, but also the risks human activities pose to the natural environment. The models faithfully reproduce certain vitally important areas for the nation’s growing industrial economy (the island of Elba, the Massa Marittima coastline, the Apuan Alps, and Montecatini-Val di Cecina), areas subject to geological risk (Monte Etna, Monte Vesuvio, the Province of Naples and the Phlegraean Fields, the island of Ischia, the Latium Volcano), and areas significant from specific geomorphological points of view (Monte Bianco, Monte Argentario, Monte Soratte). These plan reliefs were used in related decision-making processes and as tools in spreading greater awareness of Italian geological knowledge at Universal Exhibitions, a public event also linked to the history of the Museum of Civilizations and its objective of affirming universal and encyclopedic knowledge of the world.

The models were handmade by artists of the time working on detailed geological surveys of the areas in question prepared previously by engineers and specialized operators, and also to the geological reference map drafted before. Different soils are shown in different colors using the geological reference standards indicated in the legends attached. The materials used were prevalently hand-painted plaster, wood, and metals, such as bronze (Monte Vesuvio) or zinc and copper (Monte Etna) with the galvanic copper plating technique.