In today’s complex landscape, the protection of cultural heritage demands increasingly advanced and specialized expertise. To meet this need, the SAG (Scuola di Archeologia Giudiziaria®) was established several years ago. SAG trains experts, consultants, and court-appointed evaluators in the field of Forensic Archaeology®, a critical sector where historical and humanistic disciplines intersect with legal, scientific, and economic ones to combat crimes against art and cultural landscapes. Since its earliest editions, Art-Test has been among the faculty, and over the years, we have welcomed anyone wishing to undertake a training internship in our Florence laboratories.
The core of SAG’s educational model lies in its truly transdisciplinary approach. By moving beyond traditional academic boundaries, the program offers a comprehensive perspective essential for operating in the art and antiquities market. Students acquire the most cutting-edge methodological and technological tools to determine the authenticity, provenance, and economic value of artifacts and works of art.
The training is designed for a wide range of professionals: archaeologists, art historians, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and educators involved in prevention and awareness-raising. The program provides practical preparation for judicial and extrajudicial roles, such as Court-Appointed Technical Consultant (CTU), Expert Witness, Technical Consultant for a Party (CTP), and auxiliary collaborator with the Judicial Police, offering qualified career opportunities in the service of justice and institutions.
As a testament to its scientific rigor, the training program has recently received the prestigious Scientific Patronage of IUL Online University. This represents an indispensable opportunity for continuous learning and specialization for anyone who wishes to make the protection of beauty their profession.
Over these years of mutual dialogue, with the goal of training students in the best possible way, we have developed a curriculum that includes both theoretical instruction and case studies encompassing the challenges a forensic expert may encounter. Our teaching aims to provide an overview of possible analyses and their practical applications. We want experts to immediately identify which investigations to request—that is, which analyses would be most effective.
To date, there is still no shared protocol on which diagnostic investigations should be undertaken during expert evaluations. In fact, there are no shared protocols on many aspects of this field. Unfortunately, this leads to enormous confusion and often imprecise final results. We are confident that, with the excellence achieved by SAG in this area, the likelihood of establishing a real discussion table on these issues is high.
For those who are curious to learn more, those who are beginning to consider this as a potential career path, and those who, like us, still believe that protecting cultural heritage is an indispensable socio-political and cultural action, we suggest visiting this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHvIbsQ7YQoZ-c46_d4-rPCQVrgItULeP8o06KZ0wd3j1BRg/viewform
Enrollment for the next SAG program (2026–2028) is now open—consider joining!
