“Making Italians” by Exhibiting the Italian School: School and Teaching Objects at the First Great National Exhibitions of Unified Italy

This article aims to analyse the first great Italian National Exhibitions in the years immediately following the profound transformation brought about by the birth of Italy itself through the unification process of 1861. The showcase represented by these Exhibitions is used to “read” the elements that can reveal the role attributed to schooling during this delicate phase of constructing a new national identity. At the same time, the article seeks to understand who the agents and materials are that promote the image of schooling within the “showcase” represented by the National Exhibitions. Tracing the evolution of the Italian school system through the lens of its representation in these exhibitions makes it possible to highlight the role of the Exhibitions both as a source for historical research and as a crossroads for multiple interpretive perspectives.