In 1998, the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum launched a project dedicated to the discovery and highlighting of artistic craftsmanship in Lombardy. The research, planned by the museum's director at the time Rosanna Pavoni, was made possible by a contribution from the Direzione Generale dell'Artigianato Servizio Sviluppo delle Imprese Artigiane della Regione Lombardia. The strong point of the project is the innovative census of artisans and their workshops active in Milanese and Lombard building and furnishing projects, from the Unification of Italy to the First World War. The census was based on private archives of Lombard families involved in important urban and territorial renewal at the end of the 19th century. 

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum provides on-line access to this database useful to scholars of different disciplines, from the history of art to artistic techniques, the history of economics, and the history of Milan's urban growth and development. It is hoped that it will be possible to continue enriching this on-line archive through further research in archives and contemporary specialized journals. 

To access the database (available in Italian), scholars are kindly asked to compile the form to request authorization.