Vitaliano Donati’s achievements as an eighteenth-century scientist and traveller are significant. Donati was nominated leader of the expedition; instructions were specified in the Memoria Istruttiva; royal introductory letters, monetary funding and contacts were provided; in short, everything was pre-planned in order to ensure the success of the expedition. Donati would have been recognised for his valuable contribution to science and Egyptology. His Egyptian collection, the first to have been sourced directly from Egypt for a museum, would have symbolised a special moment during the Enlightenment in which Egyptian material culture took its place in a European museum. The failure of the king’s administration to take responsibility for Donati’s collection and ensure that it was accessioned at the museum, caused the loss of the collection, except for the large statues. The missed opportunity of the past could be redressed by bringing together Donati’s collection and writings for an exhibition at the Turin Egyptian Museum as part of the museum foundation collection.