In September 1944 Renato Bonelli founded the Istituto Storico Artistico Orvietano, hereafter ISAO, as a special place of reference for historical studies and research, cultural initiatives and activities of artistic and musical interest. His intentions were to offer a concrete support for those who were interested in the culture of this territory and a place where they could meet.

The underlying aims of the association were subsequently more specifically defined by the founders and shared by a growing number of members. This led to the constitution and rapid development of the Institute, whose point of departure was an awareness of the total spiritual impoverishment that ensued after the dramatic events of World War II. It was therefore deemed necessary to found anew, and not simply reconstruct, cultural pathways. The nascent association thus began to take shape, concretely and with well defined features, as a pathway to be laid out with innovative methods and instruments, keeping in mind the historical tradition of academies and associations that had in past centuries characterized the cultural life of the city of Orvieto. The desire to inaugurate a new season of meetings, lectures, concerts and art exhibits was not simply done in the wake of the customary nineteenth-century type of intellectual club, but was distinguished by a new awareness of the social valence of the cultural and artistic experience. It was intended to be an initiative aimed at the diffusion of culture, aspiring in the words of Renato Bonelli, to “a patient, constant, methodic work of edification so that the numerous aspects of our civilization might better be understood,” “a diffused and constant work of education.” The Institute to be founded was therefore seen as an extremely modern and essential instrument for the promotion of this objective - centered on and catalyzing the activities “of those who are dedicated to subjects dealing with local history or art” in order to “promote, encourage and publish the scientific studies aimed at establishing or evaluating our past, so that they will be available to all.” At the same time they are to be open and accepting to those “scholars, Italian or foreigners (often a goodly number)” so that here they can find “a guide,” “a small scientific …. center, an organism that will be of real help” for investigation and research. And finally that seeing to “the publication of articles considered worthy of printing, and moreover a periodical bulletin,” would contribute directly to the circulation of culture.

As time passed the Institute acquired an identity of its own, with a constant and continuing programming of study days, lecture cycles, exhibitions, concerts and cultural visits. There were many occasions in which well-known figures appeared, lending honor not only the activities of the Institute but leaving a mark on the cultural life of the city. A few names will suffice: Giuseppe Ungaretti, Concetto Marchesi, Raul Manselli, Cesare Brandi, Vincenzo Cappelletti, Giovanni Pugliesi Carratelli, great names of Italian culture, to whom one must add that of the founding father of the institute, Renato Bonelli, who died in 2004.

The most consistent commitment has always been that of the ISAO publications, which fall into three categories: the “Bollettino”, an internationally distributed journal; the “Quaderni del Bolletino”, featuring graphic and photographic illustrations, and, since 2000, the “Lettera Orvietana”, a four-monthly publication of cultural information drawn up by the younger members of the Institute. The Library of around 4500 books, and the Archives, with an important “Pericle Perali” photographic fund, are of particular historical importance and are constantly growing. But an equally valuable patrimony is the network of contacts, collaborations and operative agreements promoted and undertaken with institutions, foundations and bodies in the common interest of the cultural development of the city and its territory.