The National Institute of Science, Letters and Arts founded by Napoleon in 1810, ‘regenerated’ in 1838 by the Emperor of Austria Ferdinand I, who renamed it Imperial Regio Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, was created to represent the top of a complex system of studies and knowledge management. Promoter of scientific and technological innovations, it boasts Italian and foreign corresponding members, guaranteeing a national and international dimension that was then sanctioned also by the new Italian Kingdom: the Reale Istituto Veneto, in fact, was placed, by rank and official recognition, among the national Academies of the pre-unitary States called to form the various higher councils of Public Education. The Institute also provides the State and local administrations with advice on specific cultural or technical issues, relating to higher education programmes or land management, on topics ranging from meteorology to public health, to hydrological, but also on linguistic issues, and organizes periodic exhibitions of artefacts and machinery to encourage innovation in agricultural and industrial production.