Tracce animate

Gustavo Petronio (Trieste, 1889 – Milan, 1974) was an illustrator and cartoonist for some satirical magazines in Trieste before moving on to short cartoon advertising films between the 1930s and 1940s. The discovery of part of his nitrate film collection (forty-five 35mm reels), formally donated to the University of Udine by his heirs, has sparked renewed interest in his work. Another significant part of the collection consists of Petronio’s private documents, which have been separated and fragmented over time, including storyboard pages sold individually to a Belgian collector. Tracing the fragments of this collection, now scattered across various owners and media, the essay reflects on the importance of collecting and digital preservation in passing down the historical memory of forgotten figures and works, offering an analysis of the role of collectors as unconscious custodians of a legacy at risk of being lost.