  V2O3 is an archetypal system for the study of correlation induced,
Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transitions. Despite decades of extensive
investigations, the accurate description of its electronic properties remains
an open problem in the physics of strongly correlated materials, also because
of the lack of detailed experimental data on its electronic structure over the
whole phase diagram. We present here a high resolution X-ray absorption
spectroscopy study at the V K-edge of (V(1-x)Crx)2O3 to probe its electronic
structure as a function of temperature, doping and pressure, providing an
accurate picture of the electronic changes over the whole phase diagram. We
also discuss the relevance of the parallel evolution of the lattice parameters,
determined with X-ray diffraction. This allows us to draw two conclusions of
general interest: first, the transition under pressure presents peculiar
properties, related to a more continuous evolution of the lattice and
electronic structure; second, the lattice mismatch is a good parameter
describing the strength of the first order transition, and is consequently
related to the tendency of the system towards the coexistence of different
phases. Our results show that the evolution of the electronic structure while
approaching a phase transition, and not only while crossing it, is also a key
element to unveil the underlying physical mechanisms of Mott materials .
