From ART to art: Are museums restorative environments?

"Little research has dealt with the experience of art museums in relation to stress and psychological restoration. In the work which has been done, the relevance of the type of art for the restorative experience has been largely neglected. This study tests the hypothesis that ancient art museums (containing realistic or figurative artworks collections) vs. modern\/contemporary art museums (containing avant-garde and abstract paintings, installations and performances) promote recovery from stress and mental fatigue to different degrees. We are collecting data from visitors to two different art collections hosted in the ancient and modern sections of the National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM), Rome, Italy. Self-report and physiological measures (heart rate, blood pressure and, possibly, cortisol hormone) are being taken before and after the visit in these museum settings to test for differential restorative outcomes. Data collection is still in progress but will be completed during spring\/summer 2013. We expect that realistic or figurative artworks will prove more restorative compared to avant-garde and abstract paintings," (ENG)