Two Research Priorities: Architecture and Painting (1975–1999)

In 1977, Matthias Winner and Christoph Luitpold Frommel were appointed as academic members of the Max Planck Society and directors at the Hertziana. Frommel's studies put Roman architectural research on a new methodological footing. His systematic combination of formal observations with architectural and archival findings and their contextualisation in sociological, political and urban contexts has shaped international architectural research to this day. The creation of a second directorial research position independently from the library management led to an expansion of the institute’s research horizon with a greater emphasis on painting. Matthias Winner’s studies focused on ecclesiastical and secular visual arts from the Renaissance to the Baroque era. A stronger connection to Italian institutions and research institutes was sought through intensified scientific cooperation. Within this context, the Hertziana organized an international congress on the subject of "Raffaello a Roma" in cooperation with the Vatican Museums in 1983. With the purchase of the "Villino Stroganoff" on the opposite side of the Via Gregoriana in 1980, much needed space was created for the growing holdings of the library and Photographic Collection.