Celebrated through a major exhibition at the Vatican and various cultural initiatives across Italy—in anticipation of the four-hundredth anniversary of his death in 2010—Matteo Ricci was the religious figure who introduced China to the West and the West to Chinese culture. He is an emblematic figure whose legacy was revisited at the conference “Relations between Italy and China: A Body of Knowledge to be Consolidated,” organized by the Italian Geographical Society and the European University Centre for Cultural Heritage in Ravello, with the support of MiBAC and the MAE.

Following the opening remarks—delivered by Franco Salvatori, President of the Italian Geographical Society; Alfonso Andria, President of the European University Centre for Cultural Heritage in Ravello; Massimo Pistacchi, representing MiBAC; and Federico Failla of the MAE—Filippo Mignini, Director of the Matteo Ricci Institute for Relations with the East in Macerata, introduced the topic with a presentation titled “Matteo Ricci: At the Roots of Modern Cultural Relations Between China and Italy.”

However, the Jesuit Ricci serves merely as the starting point for an in-depth look at cultural relations between Italy and China—relations that have involved distinguished scholars engaged in both scholarly dialogue and concrete cooperation programs. Participants included, among others, Paolo Sabbatini, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Shanghai, who outlined the Expo 2010 programs; Zhang Jianda, Cultural Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Italy; Theodore Mascarenas, Head of the Asia and Africa Department at the Pontifical Council for Culture; and Lionello Lanciotti, a doyen of Sinology.

One session of the day was dedicated to Italian-Chinese collaborative efforts in the field of cultural heritage restoration—an area where Italy is well-positioned to share innovation, technology, and specialized expertise. The discussion featured insights from experts such as Stefano De Caro (Director General for Archaeology at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities) and Maria Laurenti (an archaeologist at the Central Institute for Restoration); technical specialists including conservators Maria Cristina Pace (from the Superintendency for Abruzzo/SBSAE) and Paolo Crisostomi (of the eponymous Conservation and Restoration Studio); and university professors Santo Lucà and Fulvio Mercuri, who shared their experience in training within this sector. Following the roundtable discussion—moderated by Sinologist Annamaria Palermo—Undersecretary Vincenzo Scotti delivered the concluding remarks.