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2010-2011

florence

n.2 september-february

a half-yearly magazine on the arts

Poste Italiane s.p.a. - Spedizione in Abbonamento Postale - D.L. 353/2003 (conv. in L. 27/02/2004 n째 46) art. 1, comma 2, DCB Firenze In caso di mancato recapito inviare a Firenze CMP per la restituzione al mittente previo pagamento resi

photo Francesca Anichini

2• september 2010-february 2011

Visitart is published by Centro Di della Edifimi srl © All rights reserved Lungarno Serristori, 35 50125 Firenze (+39) 055 2342668 / 055 2342666 www.centrodi.it cover price (Italy): 8,00 € Editor Ginevra Marchi g.marchi@centrodi.it Managing Director Franco Cesati Editorial supervision Clara Gambaro claragambaro@visitartfirenze.com Production coordinator, design and layout Manola Miniati redazione@visitartfirenze.com Text editors and writers Patrizia Fabbri Chiara Sestini redazione@visitartfirenze.com Copy editor Alberto Bartolomeo alberto@centrodi.it English editing and “Foreigners in Florence” pages Alyson Price alison@visitartfirenze.com Translations Anthony Brierley Contributors to this issue Emilia Daniele “Architecture Walks”; Alberto Salvadori, Gabriele Ametrano “in the now”; Eleonora Negri “music in the city” Advertising Angelica Dalgas angelicadalgas@visitartfirenze.com Subscriptions and distribution Silvia Cangioli silviacangioli@visitartfirenze.com ISSN 2037-4658 Iscrizione al Registro Operatori di Comunicazione n. 7257 Printed by Petruzzi Stampa, Città di Castello, Italy, September 2010

Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

The Uffizi

The Uffizi Department of Prints and Drawings

Libraries

The Accademia

The Bargello

Palazzo Pitti

Opificio delle Pietre Dure and Restoration Laboratories

Cenacoli, Fresco cycles and Oratories

Medici Chapels

Orsanmichele

San Marco Museum

Santa Croce Monumental Complex

House Museums

Museo degli Innocenti

Archaeological Museums

Palazzo Strozzi

in the now

edited by Alberto Salvadori and Gabriele Ametrano

Civic Museums

Alinari National Museum of Photography

contents

half-yearly magazine on the arts in Florence created and directed by Ginevra Marchi

co n t en t s

photo, Francesca Anichini

Photo credits Illustrations in this magazine are generally supplied directly by Museums. The Publisher, when notified, will add or correct in the next issue any copyright inadvertently omitted.

Marino Marini Museum

Medici Villas

Mozzi Bardini Complex

Academies and Foundations

Natural History and Anthropology Museums

Fashion Museums and Archives

Photo on page 43: courtesy of Database of the Archivio Storico Foto Locchi

Stibbert Museum

Horne Museum

The illustrations in the section “Children” and “Music in the City” are by Silvia Cheli 055 23090543 338 3324349 cheli.ritratti@libero.it

Casa Buonarroti

Galileo Museum

Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Museum of Mathematics

Richard Ginori Museum

Fiesole Museums

Foreigners in Florence

The photographs on pages 1, 2, 6-7, 20, 30-31, 35, 58(1), 62-63 are by Francesca Anichini www.francescaanichini.com studio@francescaanichini.com The photographs on pages 12, 14 are by Massimo Listri courtesy FOR Gallery, Firenze www.forgallery.it

Notice to readers VisitArt is a half-yearly magazine, the calendar of events is current to the day of going to press. For up-dated information please refer to the websites of the various museums and soon, to our own site www.visitartfirenze.com Note from the editor The editorial team welcomes any change, update or addition to upcoming issues, to arrive no later than 45 days before the publication date. Send texts and photos to: redazione@visitartfirenze.com or VisitArt c/o Centro Di, Lungarno Serristori 35, 50125 Firenze

edited by Alyson Price

Children

Architecture Walks edited by Emilia Daniele

VisitArt is available in newsagents (edicole), in bookstores, in museum bookshops and can be ordered direct from the publisher: edizioni@centrodi.it (39) 055 2342668 Subscription (two issues): Italy 18,00 € Abroad 30,00 € Issue n° 3 comes out in March 2011

Music in the city

Books about town edited by Arte&Libri

in Tuscany

Cover (Italian): photo from the Archivio di Paolo Mantegazza, exhibition “Obiettivo uomo” at the Museo di Storia Naturale, Antropologia ed Etnologia section, Firenze (10 October 2010-31 January 2011). Cover (English): the Loggia de’ Lanzi with tourists, July 2010, photo by Francesca Anichini.

a selection of the events reported in the first and second issues of VisitArt

first issue (n. 1) April-August 2010

apr il “O Flos Colende. Sacred music in Florence”, in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Baptistery of San Giovanni (until 7 September) ʘ presentation of the restored Filippo Lippi Pala from the Uffizi ʘ “Cristalli” at the Specola, the most beautiful exhibition in the world (!) extended until ... ʘ the stolen Trittico della Vergine con Bambino e Santi, found by the Carabinieri, is back in the Stibbert museum ʘ the Premio Toscana Contemporanea (1st year) was awarded to Michelangelo Consani whose work was shown in an exhibition at EX3 ʘ the Alinari Museum opened its exhibition on Italo Zannier “Ansia d’immagini” (until 27 June) may the exhibition “Caravaggio e Caravaggeschi a Firenze” opened in 3 different sites (Uffizi, Pitti and Villa Bardini, until 17 October) ʘ “Estate al Bargello” took place again with a programme of theatrical events in the cortile of the Bargello ʘ after its restoration by the Opificio the Porcellino by Pietro Tacca returned to the Bardini Museum ʘ The Strozzina exhibition on time opened, “As soon as possible-Time and Social Acceleration” (until 18 July) ʘ “Greta Garbo al Museo Ferragamo”, an exhibition on the star’s wardrobe june the Science Museum opened with its new name, the Museo Galileo, and a state of the art arrangement ʘ “Virtù d’amore. Pittura nuziale nel 400 fiorentino”, an exhibition at the Accademia (until 1 November) ʘ An exhibition on the history of the hat “Dalla spiga al cappello” at the Marino Marini Museum until 31 July ʘ july an exhibition “Per utilità e per diletto” at the Villa Medicea di Cerreto Guidi (until 3 October) ʘ Words and music – summer evenings at the Casa Buonarroti ʘ “Notti dell’Archeologia”, evening openings of archaelogical museums and workshops ʘ “Architettura finlandese” − an exhibition at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno

in this issue (n. 2) September 2010-February 2011

sept em ber from 9 September an exhibition at the Alinari Museum on the origins of calotype in Italy (until 24 October) ʘ the first exhibition dedicated to the sculptor Giovanfrancesco Rustici, pupil and collaborator of Leonardo da Vinci, opens on 10 September at the Bargello (until 10 January) ʘ the Biblioteca Moreniana celebrates its 140th anniversary ʘ “Bronzino. Pittore e poeta alla corte dei Medici” – the new exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi (from 24 September) ʘ twenty works by Gio Ponti from the Museo Richard Ginori on show at the Triennale, New York ʘ “Athos Ongaro: Stelle rotanti” at the Museo Pecci from 25 September ʘ at Base a one man show of the Argentinian artist Thomas Saraceno from 28 September oct ober Biblioteca delle Oblate: a rich programme of events with “Leggere per non dimenticare”, “Ottobre piovono libri” and Thursday readings from mystery novels ʘ the exhibitions “Frank Lloyd Wright a Fiesole. Cento anni dopo” at the Museo Civico Archeologico of Fiesole (3 October) and “Una gloria europea. Pietro da Cortona a Firenze” at the Casa Buonarroti (11 October) close ʘ EX3 hosts Francesco Carone and Simon Roberts (from 7 October to 7 November) ʘ the exhibition dedicated to Paolo Mantegazza and anthropology in photographs opens at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology (until 31 January) ʘ the exhibition “Caravaggio e i caravaggeschi” closes on 17 October ʘ from 21 to 24 October Florence gives space to ideas with the Festival della Creatività ʘ “Archibugi alla prova del Gran Principe” – an exhibition at Casa Siviero (until 6 January) ʘ Festival Oltrarno Atelier, performances and workshops on the left bank of the city (from 21 October) ʘ Laboratorio Novecento at the Sala delle Reali Poste, workshops on contemporary art for children (until14 November) ʘ 7 festivals make up the 50 giorni di Cinema Internazionale from October to December ʘ La città degli Uffizi presents “Arte a Figline. Dal Maestro della Maddalena a Masaccio” ʘ beginning at the end of October, Glorytellers, indie/rock music from Musicus Concentus november at the beginning of the month the exhibitions “Virtù d’amore” (Galleria dell’Accademia) and “Parigi val bene una messa!” (Cappelle Medicee) close ʘ the restored Giotto’s Crucifix, inaccessible to the public since 1937, returns to Ognissanti ʘ until November Music@VillaRomana, a series of concerts of experimental music ʘ the new exhibition opens at the Museo Ferragamo ʘ one-man show of the Korean artist Koo-Jeong A at Base ʘ from 12 to 20 November, Florens 2010 ʘ from 17 November works by Charles Avery on exhibition at EX3 ʘ Florentine periodicals from the 1950s on exhibition at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale ʘ from 20 November at the Castello dell’Acciaiolo “I Ghirlandaio a Scandicci. Una famiglia di pittori del Rinascimento” ʘ “Costruendo il Mudi”: new exhibition on Francesco Datini, the ospedale and the children december after restoration the most well-known work by Fra’ Angelico, the Tabernacolo dei Linaioli, returns to the San Marco Museum ʘ Artiste “di capriccioso e destrissimo ingegno” autoritratte per gli Uffizi: women’s self-portraits at the Reali Poste (until 31 January) ʘ “D’Annunzio e Firenze. 1910: l’anno della fuga in Francia”at Palazzo Medici Riccardi ʘ until December workshops and guided tours for children at the Galileo Museum ʘ the exhibition on the myth of Garibaldi at the Museo Fattori of Livorno closes on 12 December january until 9 January “Lucca e l’Europa. Un’idea di Medioevo (V-XI secolo)” at the Fondazione Ragghianti of Lucca ʘ “Rodolfo Siviero collezionista del sacro”, a selection of liturgical objects on show at the house museum (until 30 April) ʘ “The Prato Project”, exhibition of works by Thom Puckey and Jan van der Ploeg at the Pecci closes on 9 January ʘ the Alberto Della Ragione collection on exhibition at the Estorick Collection in London (until 3 April) ʘ “Michel Comte. Not only women” at the Lu.C.C.A. closes on 23 January ʘ the exhibition celebrating 20 years of the Fondazione Studio Marangoni opens ʘ the exhibition of works by Gavazzi in the Giardino Bardini closes on 31 January ʘ Jeudi Cinéma at the Istituto Francese: from October to 27 January films in their original language showing on Thursday evenings february the Michael Lin exhibition at the Pecci in Prato close on 13 February ʘ on show at CCCS from 18 February to 1 May the best works from the Premio Talenti emergenti (awarding young emerging talent) ʘ the exhibition “Dubuffet in Italia” opens at Lu.C.C.A.

opera di santa maria del fiore

stablished at the end of the 13th century to oversee the construction of Florence’s new cathedral, the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore today administers a group of monuments and buildings of exceptional importance, structures that developed around the cathedral. The complex of buildings, apart from the Duomo and the Baptistery, consists of a variety of ‘places’ characterised by a striking individuality and a historical and functional specificity. The work of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore in conserving and improving its works of art is amply demonstrated in places such as the Museum of the Opera del Duomo, newly renovated and opened in 1987. Also worthy of note is the Bottega degli Scalpellini, or stonemasons’ workshop.

via della Canonica, 1 office hours: Monday to Friday 8-19, Saturday 8-14

www.operaduomo.firenze.it

Centro Arte e Cultura

The historic seat of the Opera di San Giovanni is now a multipurpose centre, providing information and services for visitors to the cathedral complex. The centre hosts meetings, lectures, educational activities and other cultural events. piazza San Giovanni, 7

www.artecultura.firenze.it

This image is taken from the cover of Itinerario di Firenze moderna (Centro Di, 1975) designed by Superstudio, courtesy of Loriano Bertini.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Santa Maria del Fiore, designed by the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, is now the world’s third largest church. It was built on the earlier church of Santa Reparata and dedicated in 1412 to Santa Maria del Fiore, clearly alluding to the lily, a symbol of the city. The façade was completed only at the end of the 19th century. open: Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Saturday 10-17; Thursday 10-16.30, in May and October 10-16, July to September 10-16.45 Sundays and major holidays 13.30-16.45

Crypt of Santa Reparata (archaeological site) A major excavation beneath the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, carried out between 1965 and 1973, brought to light the remains of the ancient basilica of Santa Reparata, the oldest evidence of early Christianity in Florence. open: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 10-17, Saturday 10-16.45, 1 May 8.30-17 closed: on occasion for major holidays

Giotto’s Campanile The Cupola

In 1418, the Opera del Duomo advertised a public contest for the dome of Florence cathedral. Although there were no official winners, Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti were appointed master builders: on 7 August 1420 construction began on the cupola (the largest brick dome ever constructed). From 1425 onward construction continued under Brunelleschi’s direction alone, and was completed up to the base of the lantern on 1 August 1436. open: 8.30-19, Saturday 8.30-17.40 closed: Sundays and major holidays

Giotto’s bell tower is one of the four principal components of Piazza del Duomo. At a height of 84.70 metres and about 15 metres wide, it is the most eloquent example of 14th-century Florentine Gothic architecture. open: every day 8.30-19.30

Baptistery of San Giovanni

With an octagonal plan, entirely faced with white and green marble from Prato, the Baptistery we see today was built over a smaller and earlier Baptistery dating from the 4th or 5th century. open: every day 12.15-19, Sundays and holidays closed: afternoons of the first Saturday of the month, 14-19

Museum

Established in 1891, the Museum conserves works of art removed from their outdoor location at Santa Maria del Fiore. piazza del Duomo, 9 open: Monday to Saturday 9-19.30, Sunday 9-13.40 closed: 1 January, Easter, 8 September, 25 December

Archivio dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore Archive projects Since the celebrations for the Seventh Centenary of Santa Maria del Fiore (19961997), the Archive of the Opera del Duomo has launched a series of projects to develop and make more accessible its collection of documents. To this end it has made use above all of computer technology. The years of the Cupola, a project directed by Margaret Haines, is a structured digital text archive of all the sources of the Opera relating to the twenty-year period 1417-1436. The work, based on a programme developed by C.N.R. of Pisa, was subsequently adapted for consultation on the Internet thanks to the collaboration of the Max Planck History of Science Institute in Berlin. By means of this sophisticated instrument, already usable on the website of the Opera, it is possible to consult a body of around 20,000 documents spanning a vast range of subjects of interdisciplinary interest. Other projects aim to make available special archive deposits through the Internet. This is the case with the choral codices and baptismal registers, which means that now anyone can, on his own computer, virtually leaf through the large parchment papers of the music books of the Duomo and Baptistery or trace the birthdates of past Florentines, from 1450 to 1900: up until the 20th century, in fact, the only baptismal font in the city was that of San Giovanni. Research into baptismal registers will in the future be further facilitated by the availability online of electronic files containing information relating to the early decades, while the indexing of 19th-century baptisms with the aim of facilitating genealogical research is currently undergoing a phase of experimentation. via della Canonica, 1 reading room open: Monday 14-18, Wednesday and Friday 9-13

The Museum of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore: past and future

opera di santa maria del fiore

focus / Museo dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore The setting up of a museum in the old storerooms of the “fabbriceria di Santa Maria del Fiore”, behind the apse of the Cathedral, and its opening to the public in May 1891, were the result of seventy years of conflict and discussion. The story began in 1822 with the transfer of thirty-seven sculptures which the then president of the Opera had had moved to the Uffizi. These pieces included various ‘icons’ of the early Renaissance: the panels made by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti for the competition for the doors of the Baptistery and the figurative parts of the galleries (cantorie) made by Luca della Robbia and Donatello for the Duomo. The reason for this action was the concern of the president, Count Giovanni degli Alessandri, over the cultural usability and even the safety of the masterpieces, which he considered to be ‘at risk’ in the deposits of the Opera. Back in the 16th century, Giorgio Vasari had already had cause to complain about the negligence of the Opera del Duomo, which he believed had lost Brunelleschi’s designs for the outer gallery of the drum of the cupola. From the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century, there must have been a certain amount of chaos in the deposits of the fabbriceria. The Count’s urgency to have the works moved to more suitable premises is therefore understandable, although the whole episode remains somewhat obscure since the director of the museum destined to receive these works, the Reale Galleria delle Statue at the Uffizi, in those years was none other than Count Giovanni degli Alessandri himself! In 1885, following a series of alternating episodes in which various claims for possession of the works were made, the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore announced its intention to set up, on its property, a museum worthy of the cantorie and other works of art. In April 1886 the permanent Fine Arts Commission proposed to the minister of Public Education the restitution of the cantorie and the approval of the project for the new museum, on the condition that it remained open to the public. On 29 November 1886 the minister authorised the start of work on the museum, which was thus built at the same time as the neo-Gothic façade of the Cathedral designed by Emilio De Fabris; the museum’s design was commissioned to a collaborator of De Fabris, Luigi Del Moro. The opening ceremony was held on 3 May 1891, “in the presence of Noble and Distinguished Persons”, including His Royal Highness the Duke of Aosta and Cav. Guido Carocci, Inspector of the Royal Commissariat of Fine Arts which had originally attempted to obstruct the initiative. In 1891 the aforementioned “Noble and Distinguished Persons” were greeted by the majestic Madonna with Glass Eyes by Arnolfo di Cambio, once above the central door of the Duomo and in the museum placed in front of the entrance, in a position similar to that of its original location. Climbing the neo-Brunelleschian staircase visitors could view various fragments of the old facade and Bandinelli’s choir, and in the room at the top of the stairs could admire the much-disputed cantorie, set up facing each other in an arrangement evocative of their original positions above the doors of the two sacristies of the Duomo. This original nucleus of works expanded during the course of the 20th century. In 1937 Arnolfo’s Madonna was rearranged, together with other sculptures from the old façade, in a room made from what was a courtyard and called the ‘Room of the Façade’. The same spirit of conservation was, six years earlier, behind the setting up of the 14th-century reliefs of the Campanile in a new room on the first floor, and in 1948 the rest of the original sculptural decoration of the bell-tower was moved to the museum: the statues of Andrea Pisano, Donatello and others were set up in the historic ‘Room of the Cantorie’. This however made it necessary to move out church ornaments and vestments, which in turn forced the removal of 19th-century drawings and paintings, which ended up in the deposits. In 1954 a chapel was created on the ground floor housing the most important relics of the Cathedral and Baptistery in their precious reliquaries. In 1981 Michelangelo’s Pietà was moved here from the Duomo. Unfortunately the museum’s disjointed growth in the course of almost a century resulted in discontinuous organization and a multiplicity of arrangement criteria. The modern need for legibility, instead, together with the expansion of the collection due to the removal of the Doors of Paradise from the Baptistery in the 1980s for reasons of conservation, have convinced the present governing body of the Opera, presided over by Anna Mitrano, to undertake important measures of adaptation. The first of these, dating from the period 1997-2000, led in particular to the enlargement of the museum for the Holy Year celebrations. The second, extremely important initiative, started in 1998 with the purchase of the building adjacent to the present museum, the former ‘Teatro degli Intrepidi’. A plan is now being developed for the creation of a single collection, with a chronological organization, in the rooms of the two unified buildings. This expansion of the museum area, entrusted to the architect Adolfo Natalini together with his assistants Piero Guicciardini and Marco Magni, will be an historic achievement, since the new and enlarged Museo dell’Opera will for the first time enable the exhibiting of the entire collection, in addition to monumental works which in years to come might need to be placed here: the other two doors of the Baptistery, for example, together with the sculptural groups above them. Unlike museums with heterogeneous collections of varied provenance, the Museo dell’Opera houses pieces closely related to each other, forming part of still intelligible iconographical programmes; works associated with physical sites and with liturgical and devotional functions still verifiable just a short distance away. Where possible, the presentation of the museum pieces should therefore evoke some characteristics of the original site, suitably highlighting the interaction of distinct categories of objects: for example, the illuminated books used by the schola cantorum and the cantorie that housed other elements of the choir. The vast open space of the former ‘Teatro degli Intrepidi’ has provided the opportunity to arrange the external sculptures in such a way as to emphasise their monumental character, that is, as seen from below looking upwards, from the piazza. In a similar way, the rooms reserved for internal furnishings – the rooms of the old Museum – should take up something of the colour scheme of the Cathedral interior. Even the lighting of the rooms housing internal furnishings should be distinguished from the ‘daylight’ of the external section of the museum. Above all – as previously mentioned – the ‘internal’ section will be laid out not with a rigid separation of sculptures from paintings, from sacred vases and vestments, but in the evocative encounter of these elements which, in the Cathedral’s original liturgical context, were present together. Timothy Verdon Canon of the Cathedral of Florence, Director of the Ufficio Diocesano d’Arte Sacra e dei Beni Culturali Ecclesiastici and member of the Consiglio d’Amministrazione dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

the uffizi www.polomuseale.firenze.it/uffizi

piazzale degli Uffizi open: Tuesday to Sunday 8.15-18.50 closed: Monday, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December We advise visitors to make a reservation

photo Francesca Anichini

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011 Caravaggio e caravaggeschi a Firenze Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti Galleria degli Uffizi exhibition project: Gianni Papi curated by Stefano Casciu, Antonio Natali and Gianni Papi until 17 October 2010 The exhibition continues, celebrating Caravaggio and his followers on the 4th centenary of the death of the artist. Over one hundred works from Florentine galleries are on display, brought to light again following recent research relating to both documents and attributions.

Laboratorio Novecento Sala delle Reali Poste curated by Federica Chezzi and Chiara Toti with Claudia Tognaccini, in conjunction with the Educational Department of the Cultural Heritage Authority 8 October-14 November 2010 The exhibition and events related to Laboratorio Novecento are based on the theme of education for contemporary art and are organised by the Uffizi Gallery in conjunction with the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe (Prints and Drawings Department). An educational project, the exhibition presents a selection of works representing artistic movements of the later 20th century and the new millennium. Workshop activities are free and are intended for school groups and on Sundays for families with children. Laboratorio Novecento aims to introduce the public to contemporary artistic techniques through practical work and games, offering a stimulating opportunity for self expression. Visits by appointment according to regulations posted on the website www.polomuseale.firenze.it. Sunday open to all.

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the uffizi

Stunning masterpieces

The Uffizi management has often been accused of being too restrictive in its loans policy. For the past two years the Gallery has issued its own ‘Bollettino’ (published by Centro Di), which lists the works requested for loan and granted to exhibitions both in Italy and abroad each year. These lists should be read, and only after that should any judgement be made on whether or not our approach is intransigent. Rereading the lists myself I have the uncomfortable feeling that we have been, if anything, too generous. Leaving aside the risks to the art works when they are moved from place to place (by aeroplane and lorry), we cannot overlook the fact that visitors to the Uffizi (especially those coming from far away) have every right to find in place the art works described in their guides to the Gallery. Exhibitions, like museums, do have an educational purpose, and it is obvious that this presupposes the presence of works of art coming from different places. It is also true, however, that precisely because of the proliferation of exhibitions, there is an increasingly urgent need to reflect on the identity of both museums and temporary exhibitions. If a museum is the place where the patrimony which belongs to it is conserved and treasured, exhibitions are opportunities to rethink our approach to artists, periods and cultures. The museum collection is therefore stable, exhibitions are episodic. For these connotations to be valid, I believe it is indispensable to reduce the number of exhibitions. Exhibitions should again come to be regarded as cultural happenings aimed at educating, always bearing in mind the relationship between investment and income, yet never forgetting that the ultimate goal is the enrichment of the soul. Words – I am well aware – that seem out of place in these chaotic times we live in but words that must be spoken aloud. If we sit down at a desk with the aim of finding a subject that guarantees financial success, then inevitably we have already made the wrong move. It is of course natural to fish around in the stagnant waters of tourist mythology, sticking to wellknown names and sensational works of art, never mind if we put at risk the safety of creations that are among the highest expressions of poetry of all time. Undoubtedly we can rely on a profitable return. But is this what is asked of those who conserve the treasures of the State or of those who should contribute to the formation of a higher understanding? Success is easily achieved by moving some sublime work by Leonardo or Botticelli or Raphael from a museum on one continent to a museum on another. But does this not merely serve powerful fetishism rather than lead to an understanding of the culture and spirituality underlying a work of art? Every time a celebrated masterpiece has been exhibited on its own there have been endless queues of visitors, and consequently talk of a great success – judging by numbers there is certainly no doubt about this. Are we so sure, however, that the same can be said on the level of education? What is the use of exhibiting a masterpiece if around it there is nothing that puts it into perspective – that describes its connection with other artists, with earlier works, with what came after, with its contemporaries? Little else is considered, because the masterpiece exhibited alone is enough to obtain the hoped-for result, which is not to educate, but to impress and make a success at the box-office. Antonio Natali Director of the Galleria degli Uffizi

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011 “La città degli Uffizi 4”

“La città degli Uffizi 5”

Arte a Figline Dal Maestro della Maddalena a Masaccio

I Ghirlandaio a Scandicci Una famiglia di pittori del Rinascimento

Figline Valdarno, Palazzo Pretorio curated by Angelo Tartuferi 16 October 2010-16 January 2011

Scandicci, Castello dell’Acciaiolo curated by Annamaria Bernacchioni 20 November 2010-April 2011

The fourth exhibition in the successful “La città degli Uffizi” series, conceived by Antonio Natali, aims to present the culturally and qualitatively highest examples of artistic production in the area of Figline Valdarno and its immediate environs between the second half of the 13th century and the first half of the 15th century. The latter period is of particular interest, poised as it was between the expressions of a still flourishing late Gothic period and the incipient revolution of Masaccio, documented in the exhibition by the San Giovenale Triptych from Cascia, the youthful masterpiece of the Valdarno genius.

The exhibition, promoted by the municipality of Scandicci for the series “La città degli Uffizi”, presents to the public the relationship linking Domenico Ghirlandaio and his brothers (David and Benedetto) and son Ridolfo, to a particular area of Florentine territory, today identifiable as the commune of Scandicci. Sixteen works are exhibited, including some masterpieces from Florentine museums, together with those visible at the Badia di San Salvatore e Lorenzo at Settimo, focal point of the Ghirlandaio family’s artistic production, where Domenico and his workshop painted a number of panels, today still in situ, and the frescoes of the façade of the great chapel, unfortunately almost all of them completely lost. These paintings illustrate the family-based character of the artistic workshop of the Ghirlandaio family, frequented by numerous disciples and assistants, from which various masterpieces emerged.

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the uffizi

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The Portrait of a Youth by Hans Memling from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum of Madrid

Sala della Niobe This superb portrait by Hans Memling comes from the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, to which the Florentine Gallery has in exchange lent the Adoration of the Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio. The tondo will be among the most eminent works of an important exhibition built around the Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, this also painted by Domenico Ghirlandaio and housed in the Madrid collection. The amicable relations between the two European institutions have made possible an exchange which is undoubtedly fundamental for the subject matter of the Thyssen Museum exhibition, but which is no less important for the Uffizi, both because of the substantial nucleus of works by Memling housed in the Gallery, and because of the strong influence that Flemish works exerted on Florentine artists in the 15th century.

The Vasari Corridor

One kilometre in length, the Corridor connects Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, passing through the Uffizi Gallery and across the Ponte Vecchio. It was built in 1665 for Cosimo I de’ Medici, on the occasion of the marriage of his eldest son, Francesco I, to Giovanna d’Austria. Today, 17th- and 18th-century paintings from the Uffizi, and a precious collection of artists’ self-portraits, are displayed there. For information on opening hours and on how to book an appointment see:

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/vasariano

The Contini Bonacossi Collection

The Alessandro Contini Bonacossi Collection is one of the most important 20th-century compendia of Italian art. A portion, bequeathed to the state in 1969 and earmarked for the Uffizi Gallery, consisting of about 50 works, is on exhibition in several specially arranged exhibition spaces located between Via Lambertesca and Chiasso Baroncelli. The works include items of furniture, ceramics, sculptures, and masterpieces of European painting from the 1300s to the 1700s (with paintings by Andrea del Castagno, Giovanni Bellini, Girolamo Savoldo, Velasquez and Bernini). Free visits. For information on opening hours and on how to book an appointment see

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/continibonacossi

Nuovi Uffizi Opening of the “Sale degli Stranieri” The first rooms of the “New Uffizi”, dedicated to paintings of 17thand 18th-century foreign schools, open in the autumn of 2010. On the first floor of the gallery the rooms overlook the courtyard of the “Reali Poste” and Chiasso dei Baroncelli, near to the Contini Bonacossi Collection. Access is via the stairs located at the end of the third corridor. The ‘Sale degli Stranieri’ contain works by Dutch, Flemish, French and Spanish artists and include masterpieces by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Chardin, Liotard, and Goya as well as other important works (about one hundred paintings in all), very few of which have been on display before now. These new rooms illustrate the deep-rooted interest the Medici had in collecting Flemish and Dutch painting, and Ferdinando II of Lorraine’s desire to broaden the schools represented in the collection with acquisitions of French works in 1792.

information from the museum Several sections of the Gallery are currently under construction. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to visitors.

completed restoration •Marco Benefial, Massacre of the Innocents, 1730 Inventario San Marco e Cenacoli, n. 3 This large and dramatic painting, from the Feroni collection, is signed and dated 1730 by Marco Benefial, one

of the most important and controversial exponents of 18thcentury art in Rome. The work was for a long time stored in the deposits of the Uffizi. Before the restoration, directed by Valentina Conticelli, carried out by Elda Nozzoli and still in progress, awaiting the exhibition of the canvas in the rooms of the New Uffizi, the pictorial surface was completely darkened by a thick layer of very unhomogeneous, badly deteriorated yellowed varnish. The difficult and laborious restoration has resulted in the recovery of an

example of 18th-century art of considerable value.

new publications • Studi e Restauri III. I marmi antichi della Galleria degli Uffizi, edited by A. Romualdi Firenze, Polistampa, 2010 • E. Spalletti, La Galleria di Pietro Leopoldo: Gli Uffizi al tempo di Giuseppe Pelli Bencivenni, Firenze, Centro Di, 2010 • Bollettino degli Uffizi 2009, edited by F. Chezzi, M. Marini, Firenze, Centro Di, in process of publication

Uffizi pages edited by Valentina Conticelli with Monica Alderotti

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011 “I mai visti”

“La città degli Uffizi 6”

Artiste “di capriccioso e destrissimo ingegno” autoritratte per gli Uffizi

Giovanni Martinelli

Sala delle Reali Poste curated by Giovanna Giusti 16 December 2010-31 January 2011 This is the “I mai visti” exhibition which, as usual in the Christmas period, the Gallery and the Associazione Amici degli Uffizi dedicate in particular to the people of Florence. A selection of about sixty self-portraits, conserved in the Vasari Corridor and in the deposits of the Uffizi, brings faces to be rediscovered back into the limelight. After the first well-known women painters were included in the ‘Collection of self-portraits’ by Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici in 1674 (Lavinia Fontana and ‘la Tintoretta’), followed by the celebrated likenesses of Carriera and Vigée Le Brun, the entry of other women in the collection was truly a rare event. The exhibition is thus an opportunity to see about twenty new self-portraits of both Italian and foreign female artists executed with a range of different techniques, including painting, graphic art and sculpture, but also photography or visual poetry, typical of more modern times.

Montevarchi curated by Andrea Baldinotti and Bruno Santi March-June 2011 The exhibition, promoted by the municipality of Montevarchi for the “La città degli Uffizi” series, is dedicated to Giovanni Martinelli, one of the most intriguing figures in Florentine painting of the 17th century, but also, outside of a limited circle of specialists, one of the least known. In keeping with the principle consistently pursued by the series, the Montevarchi exhibition also has at its centre a work housed in the deposits of the Florentine gallery, The Banquet of Baldassarre, considered by art critics a sort of sum total of the painter’s artistic world, emblematic in gathering within its vast and complex compositional scheme most of the themes and subjects around which Martinelli most laboured in the course of his career.

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the uffizi department of prints and drawings (gabinetto disegni e stampe)

he prestigious collection of drawings and prints of the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi (GDSU), began with the Medici family collections and in particular with the works assembled by Leopoldo de’ Medici, who became cardinal in 1667. Leopoldo made use of numerous agents to purchase folios by the greatest Renaissance and Mannerist artists. The Lorraine, who came to the throne of Tuscany in 1737 following the extinction of the Medici dynasty, enriched the collection, which was added to in the period following the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy thanks to a great many donations. Today, the collection contains over 150,000 works by Tuscan artists, artists of other Italian schools, and Flemish and Dutch, French, Spanish, and German artists.

via della Ninna, 5 Opening hours follow those of the Uffizi. Access to the Sala di Studio is reserved to scholars, upon letter of presentation. open: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8.30-13.30, Tuesday and Thursday 8.30-17

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/disegni

events Linea II. Tangenze, Intrecci, Nodi, Labirinti. Strutture lineari tra antico e contemporaneo International Conference organised by Marzia Faietti and Gerhard Wolf 4-5 November 2010 The second meeting of a three-stage project. The central aim of the conference is to focus on the intrinsic dynamics of linear sign-language from antiquity to modern times, identifying lines that run parallel, lines that interlace or become entangled, and lines that create labyrinths or indicate a way out. The linear structures identified recur in very different materials and artistic genres: in drawings and manuscripts; in prints and metalwork; in textiles, ceramics and dressed leathers; in painting and mosaic work; in engravings and sculptures, and the list can go on, to include even labyrinthine architecture. The geographical area under examination comprises western culture in its various expressions, but does not ignore Islamic and Far Eastern art.

Presentation of the Giulia Napoleone donation from 3 November 2010 Presentation of the donation of graphic works executed by Giulia Napoleone up to 2003. The donation comprises 40 works illustrating the artist’s activity in the world of contemporary engraving in Italy.

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011 abroad: China

From the Collections of The Uffizi Gallery The Genres of Painting: Landscape, Still Life and Portrait Paintings curated by Antonio Natali Wuhan (17 June-12 September 2010) Shenyang (26 September-16 November 2010) Changsha (29 November 2010-27 February 2011) Beijing (12 March-17 May 2011) This travelling exhibition organised by the Shanghai International Culture Association with the Uffizi, takes place in China in 5 different places. The exhibition consists of a selection of paintings (usually in storage at the Uffizi) dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries, with the addition of works housed in the Vasari Corridor. Based on previous editions of “I Mai Visti”, shows which presented little known landscape and still life paintings, the Chinese exhibition also includes a section dedicated to portraits and self-portraits of artists. The exhibition focuses on the painting that was closest to the hearts of Medici collectors, including Cosimo II, Cardinal Leopoldo, Cosimo III and Prince Ferdinando. By the time it closed on 6 June, at its first stop in Shanghai, the exhibition had been seen by 426,000 visitors.

Japan La Collezione degli autoritratti della Galleria degli Uffizi: 1664-2010 abroad:

curated by Shigetoshi Osano, Antonio Natali and Giovanna Giusti Tokyo (11 September-14 November 2010) Osaka (27 November 2010-20 February 2011) In the two Japanese exhibitions self-portraits are displayed that offer a diachronic presentation of the collection, from the likenesses of artists of the 16th century (Primaticcio, Barocci, Fontana) to significant acquisitions by artists of later centuries, such as Rembrandt, Bernini, Carriera, Reynolds, Vigée Le Brun, Ingres and Leighton, up to artists of the 20th century (Balla, Denis, Foujita, Cagli, Sciltian, De Chirico, Vedova, Marini, Pistoletto, Ceroli, Paladino and Zaborov), the object of more recent acquisitions. In Tokyo 62 self-portraits are on show, while in Osaka 70 works represent more widely the contemporary section of the collection, most of which is presently housed in the deposits of the Gallery.

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libraries

Biblioteca Riccardiana

opened to the public: after 1659 origin: the collection of Riccardo Romolo Riccardi made in the 17th century collection: 4450 manuscripts, 5529 single leaves, 725 incunabula, 3865 cinquecentine, 20,000 antique printed books, 40,000 modern printed books, 276 drawings of note: the precious collection of manuscripts includes autographs of the most important humanists architecture: the Medicean palace, built in the 1400s to a design by Michelozzo, was enlarged and altered when it was bought by the Riccardi in 1659 to see: frescoes by Luca Giordano and stucco work by Giovan Battista Foggini; original shelving, inlaid and gilded via Ginori, 10 open: Monday and Thursday 8-17.30, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 8-14

www.riccardiana.firenze.sbn.it

Biblioteca Magliabechiana (Uffizi)

opened to the public: 1998 in the restored rooms of the ex Biblioteca Magliabechiana origin: the first public library in Florence, founded by Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine in the mid 18th century collection: 74,000 titles, including 470 manuscripts, 5 incunabula, 192 cinquecentine, 1445 books from the 17th to the 19th centuries, 1136 periodicals of note: the library holds numerous manuscripts from the collections of Florentine museums and specialises in the history of art architecture: the site once housed a small theatre, the Zanni, built in the 16th century and destined for popular performance, later adapted by Giovan Battista Foggini to see: Rinaldo Botti’s decoration; 18thcentury bookshelves, designed by Foggini Loggiato degli Uffizi open: Tuesday 9-17, Wednesday 9-13.30, Friday 9-13

www.polomuseale.firenze.it

anniversary

The 140 years of the Biblioteca Moreniana Scholars from all over the world come to Florence to consult works housed in the prestigious collections of the two libraries of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the Biblioteca Riccardiana and the Biblioteca Moreniana, two unique institutions of national importance. The year 2010 marks the 140th anniversary of the foundation of the Biblioteca Moreniana. Begun with the acquisition of the collection saved from dispersion by Pietro Bigazzi (1870), the library got its name from Domenico Moreni (17631835), owner of the original nucleus, and was subsequently enriched with later additions. Most of the works kept in the library concern the history of Florence and the region: from the first alphabet of the Tuscan language by Leon Battista Alberti to the genealogical trees of the most illustrious families, from religious manuscripts to the military correspondence of Florence under the Medici family. The library was opened to the public in 1942.

c on f er en ce Anniversary of the foundation of the Biblioteca Moreniana 14 September 2010

This year the 140th anniversary of the foundation of the Biblioteca Moreniana is marked by a study conference. This is followed by an exhibition, set up in association with the Biblioteca Riccardiana, showing the most highly prized pieces of the documentary and cartographic collections.

Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Laurentian Library) opened to the public: 1571 by order of Grand Duke Cosimo I origin: a collection begun by Cosimo il Vecchio collection: approx. 11.000 manuscripts, 2500 papyri, 150 drawers of single leaves, 43 ostraka, 566 incunabula, 1681 cinquecentine, 592 periodicals and 126,527 printed books of note: the Palatine collection of works in Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, Syrian and Coptic architecture: after Michelangelo’s work (1524-1534), the building was completed under Cosimo I, while the Vestibule was only finished at the beginning of the 20th century to see: the two cloisters; the staircase in the Vestibule, designed by Michelangelo and completed by Ammannati (1599); the desks in the reading room (designed by Michelangelo); the Tribuna d’Elci, designed by Pasquale Poccianti (1841) piazza San Lorenzo, 9 open: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8-14, Tuesday, Thursday 8-17.30

www.bml.firenze.sbn.it

exhibition Díaita. Le regole della salute nei manoscritti della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana 6 September 2010-5 January 2011 The exhibition on lifestyle and diet as preventive strategies for physical and mental health reopens. In Italy, Regimina sanitatis, works containing regulations for health, inherited from a classical tradition enriched by contact with the Arab world, became common in the princely courts and the homes of rich merchants. The concept of ‘regime di vita’, in Greek Díaita, includes, in addition to diet, all the areas of life that a human being must care for to have a healthy life. Among the codices on show, dating from the 12th to the 16th centuries, are the Trattato di cucina of Apicius, the Taccuino di Sanità of Ibn Butlan, the Regime del corpo of Aldobrandino of Siena and the so-called Consigli contro la peste (Advice against the Plague). Monday to Saturday 9.30-13.30

c on f er en ce Firenze e i suoi tesori ebraici: la raccolta di codici della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana 4 October 2010 from 10.00 to 13.00 Ida Zatelli’s conference is staged as a part of the “Ottobre Piovono libri 2010” event, marking the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the “Amicizia Ebraico Cristiana” in Florence. Some important Jewish manuscripts preserved in the Biblioteca are exhibited on the occasion.

opened to the public: 1752 founder: Francesco Marucelli (1625-1703) collection: the core of the collection, which grew as a result of successive acquisition, consists of about 6000 volumes s; since 1911 the library has been the repository for all books published in Florence and its province of note: a significant collection of drawings and prints acquired by Francesco di Ruberto Marucelli, including a study by Raphael, portraits by Ottavio Leoni and engravings by artists including Schongauer, Dürer, Raimondi, Della Bella and Callot architecture: designed by Alessandro Dori between 1747 and 1751, the complex now includes the buildings on either side to see: Andrea Dori’s wooden model of the palazzo; original 18th-century bookshelves and other library furniture of different periods given by the Biblioteca Nazionale; bust of Francesco Marucelli (Pietro Bracci, 1749); bust of Giacomo Leopardi (Adriano Cecioni, 1885); portrait of Francesco Marucelli (attributed to Davide Canoniche, 17th century) via Cavour, 43-47 open: Monday to Friday 8.30-19, Saturday 8.30-13.45

www.maru.firenze.sbn.it

libraries

Biblioteca Marucelliana

Biblioteca Nazionale

Biblioteca delle Oblate

opened to the public: 1861, with the unification of the Magliabechiana and Palatina libraries origin: Antonio Magliabechi (Magliabechiana) and Ferdinando III (Palatina) collection: 6,000,000 printed books, 120,000 periodicals, 4000 incunabula, 25,000 manuscripts, 29,000 cinquecentine and more than 1,000,000 autographs of note: since 1869 the library has been a copyright library and receives a copy of every book published in Italy architecture: a rare example of library architecture, designed by Cesare Bazzini, building began in 1911; in 1962 enlargement of the library was begun by Vincenzo Mazzei to see: original furnishings from the 1930s in the Sala di Consultazione and the Sala Manoscritti; bust of Antonio Magliabechi (Antonio Montauti); statue of Letizia Bonaparte (copied from Antonio Canova)

opened to the public: 2007, following the restoration of the complex origin: the Biblioteca Comunale Centrale (1913) collection: the section on conservation and local history alone consists of over 50,000 documents of note: the collection of almanachs and lunar calendars, and the section of historic periodicals, including the ‘Antologia’ of Vieusseux (1821) and the Florentine journals that document the Italian avantgarde of the 20th century, including ‘Leonardo’, ‘La voce’ and ‘Lacerba’ architecture: the library is inside an old convent complex of the 14th century which once housed women in the care of the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova to see: the cloister and the various loggia with sculptures by 20th-century artists such as Guasti, Raphael Mafai, Berti, Vangi, Viani via dell’Oriuolo, 26 open: Monday 14-19, Tuesday to Saturday 9-24 (times subject to change)

piazza dei Cavalleggeri, 1 open: Monday to Friday 8.15-19, Saturday 8.15-13.30

www.bibliotecadelleoblate.it

www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it

exhibitions Legni e parole: la rivista di xilografia ‘Smens’ 7 October-5 November 2010 On the occasion of the initiative “Ottobre piovono libri 2010”, an exhibition on the journal ‘Smens’ founded in 1997 by Gianfranco Schialvino and Gianni Verna.

Libri d’Artista nelle scuole 8-12 November 2010 In collaboration with the Istituto Regionale Ricerca Educativa. Artists’ Books made by students from Florentine high schools

Giornali e riviste a Firenze dopo la Liberazione (agosto 1944-48) 16 November-14 December 2010 Palagio di Parte Guelfa A conference is planned to accompany the exhibition. Organised with the Coordinamento Riviste Italiane di Cultura during Florence 2010

events

ac t i vi t i es October

Leggere per non dimenticare weekly at 17.00 from 1 October Meetings with writers, poets and others, organised by Anna Benedetti. www.comunedifirenze.it/ leggerepernondimenticare www.bibliotecadelleoblate.it

Ottobre piovono libri On the occasion of this initiative, the library takes part in “Tipi di biblioteca” with a series of meetings, seminars and journeys in literature. Each event is accompanied by a bibliography with suggestions for reading and themed bookstands. www.librari.beniculturali.it

Il giovedì alle Oblate si tinge di giallo 7, 14, 21 and 28 October at 18.00 Readings from detective and mystery novels with the participation of the public. November

October

AIB (Associazione Italiana Biblioteche)

Concerts in museums and libraries arranged by Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini

On the occasion of AIB’s national conference the library hosts a meeting on the project “Nati per leggere” (born to read), a non-profit national project to promote reading aloud for children from 6 months to 6 years old.

information: www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it November

Una notte alla Biblioteca Nazionale A night at the Biblioteca Nazionale, in collaboration with the Teatro della Pergola and Confesercenti during Florens 2010 (Settimana internazionale dei beni culturali e ambientali – International week of cultural heritage). A journey through the rooms of the BNCF, with accompanying history, readings, performance and music.

the accademia

n 1873 Michelangelo’s David was transferred to the specially designed tribune from Piazza della Signoria. The presence of the David, the Prisoners and St. Matthew indicate that in the 19th century the Gallery was already identifying itself as a Michelangelo museum. Yet the Gallery’s main collection is built upon the 18th-century collections of the Academy of Design and the Academy of Fine Arts, enriched with work from the suppressed monasteries. The works collected here, in addition to the plaster casts, were used as teaching materials for the students of the Accademia. The holdings comprise mostly paintings by major artists who worked in and around Florence between the mid-13th and the late 16th century. The collection is especially important for its unique paintings on a gold background, the splendid late-Gothic polyptychs and the collection of Russian icons.

via Ricasoli, 58-60 open: Tuesday to Sunday 8.15-18.50 closed: 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/accademia

focus / Department of Musical Instruments The museum, part of the Galleria dell’Accademia, exhibits about fifty musical instruments coming from the private collections of the grand dukes of Tuscany, both Medici and Lorraine. Collected between the second half of the 17th century and the first half of the 19th, in 1863 they passed to the Regio Istituto Musicale di Firenze, subsequently the present Conservatorio Cherubini di Firenze, which in 1996 granted them on free loan to the Galleria dell’Accademia. Among them are some remarkable instruments, both for their sound (audible on headphones at the terminals of the excellent computer guides set up in a specially equipped room, consultation recommended) as well as for their exquisite workmanship. Among the most precious pieces, with the mounting of the Medicean coat of arms in mother-of-pearl inlay, are the surviving pieces of the Quintetto mediceo, the magnificent gift made to Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici by the Cremonese nobleman Bartolomeo Ariberti, who had had the pieces made by Antonio Stradivari in 1690: the tenor viol – the only instrument made by the celebrated craftsman of stringed instruments that has been perfectly conserved in all its parts – and the cello. In addition, visitors can admire one of the finest violins by the Stradivari, made in 1716 in Norwegian spruce and maple (with a superb sound, audible on headphones), a magnificent cello made by Niccolò Amati dating from 1650, and an enormous double bass, dated 1715, which is perhaps the oldest stringed instrument made by Bartolomeo Cristofori. Cristofori, who was the ingenious inventor of the forte piano, also built the precious harpsichord made of ebony, an extremely difficult material to work and evidence of the craftsman’s experimentalism, which was encouraged by the visionary and empassioned musical enthusiasm of Grand Prince Ferdinando. Other instruments that can be admired are the oldest vertical pianoforte, built in 1739 by the Mugello-born Domenico Del Mela, the 17thcentury psaltery in Carrara marble, an unusual pianoforte guitar, and rare and unusual exemplars of the marine trumpet and the serpent (whose sounds it is worth listening to on the computer). The splendid backdrop for the instruments exhibited consists of various paintings representing scenes of the musical life of the Medicean court (such as those by Anton Domenico Gabbiani, who also portrays Grand Prince Ferdinando with his beloved musicians), panoplies and still lifes surrounded by musical instruments painted by, among others, Bartolomeo Bimbi and Cristoforo Munari. The abovementioned computers enable one to listen to the sound of all the instruments exhibited and offer exhaustive information on the musical culture of grand-ducal Florence. Eleonora Negri open: Tuesday to Sunday 8.15-18.50 closed: Mondays, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December Visits by appointment: Firenze Musei 055 294883

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/cherubini

exhibition Virtù d’amore. Pittura nuziale nel Quattrocento fiorentino curated by Franca Falletti, Daniela Parenti, Elisabetta Nardinocchi and Ludovica Sebregondi until 1 November 2010

Galleria dell’Accademia, Massimo Listri. courtesy FOR Gallery, Firenze www. forgallery.it

The bedroom was the heart of the Renaissance home: the most intimate and protected place where the marriage was consummated, children were born, and people died. Spalliere (headboards) like the Cassone Adimari in the Galleria dell’Accademia which has inspired the exhibition, and the decorated panels of marriage chests are exemplary objects of the Florentine Renaissance home showing high fashion, the celebration of festivities, the ritual that accompanied marriage. The exhibition has been organised in conjunction with the Horne Museum which presents important examples from the large nucleus of painted chests (cassoni) in its collection, enriched on this unique occasion by several works on loan from private collectors.

the bargello

he Bargello National Museum is found in the former Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, built in 1255 and embellished in 1287 with the beautiful loggia which opens onto the courtyard. In 1502, the palace became the seat of the Consiglio di Giustizia, headed by the Bargello or chief of police, and was then used as a prison. In 1865 the Bargello was transformed into a museum of sculpture and examples of the “minor arts.” Some of the greatest sculptures of the Renaissance have found their home here: masterpieces by Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, Cellini and Giambologna. Over time, prestigious collections of small bronzes, majolica-ware, wax pieces, enamel work, medals, ivories, seals, and fabrics, some from the Medici collections and some from private donations, have enriched the museum’s holdings.

exhibition I grandi bronzi del Battistero. Rustici e Leonardo curated by Tommaso Mozzati, Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi and Philippe Sénéchal 10 September 201010 January 2011 The first exhibition devoted to the sculptor Giovanfrancesco Rustici (1475-1554) who, educated under the protection of Lorenzo il Magnifico, learnt from Andrea del Verrocchio and Benedetto da Maiano; pupil and collaborator of Leonardo da Vinci, in 1528 he transferred to France on the invitation of Francesco I. The centrepiece of the exhibition is the Predica del Battista, an imposing sculptural group in bronze raised above the north door of the Baptistery in 1511, and restored in 2008; the planning and realization of the work saw Leonardo’s contribution, proved by comparison with Leonardo autographs: among these is the Saint John the Baptist from the Louvre. The exhibition allows us for the first time to reconstruct Rustici’s artistic personality, developed in recent studies, presenting an almost complete review of his work (glass, marble, terracotta, paintings and bronzes) demonstrating his style and his enormous technical versatility.

via del Proconsolo, 4 open: Monday to Sunday 8.15-17; Monday 8.15-14 from 2 November to 24 December closed: 1st, 3rd, 5th Sunday, 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/bargello

concerts Music at the Bargello

Summer at the Bargello 2010 Sogno di un mattino di primavera by Gabriele D’Annunzio, directed by Sandro Lombardi and Federico Tiezzi photo by Marcello Norberth, courtesy of Compagnia Sandro Lombardi

Autumn-Winter 2010/2011 The Bargello hosts musicians well-known on the international scene.

among works on loan are • Tino di Camaino, Madonna col Bambino in: Casole d’Elsa, Museo Archeologico della Collegiata, until 3 October 2010 for the exhibition: Marco Romano • Benvenuto Cellini, Perseo in: Shanghai, Padiglione Italiano, Esposizione Universale, until 31 October 2010 for the exhibition: La città dell’uomo. Vivere all’italiana • Maestro del Giudizio di Paride, Il Giudizio di Paride, birth plate • Il Palio di San Giovanni, historiated chest in: Firenze, Galleria dell’Accademia, until 1 November 2010

for the exhibition: Pittura da camera. Arredi dipinti del Rinascimento fiorentino • Various works from the 5th to the 11th century, among them a diptych which belonged to the Roman Consul Basilio (480) and a helmet foil showing the Apotheosis of King Agilulfo • A collection of late Roman coins from the Roman Zecca, Benevento and Ravenna. in: Lucca, Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi, from 1 September to 1 December 2010 for the exhibition: Lucca e l’Europa. Un’idea di Medioevo • Apothecary jar in maiolica, c.1580 • Bronze casket with mythological

scenes, 16th century in: Carpi, Musei di Palazzo dei Pio, from 17 September 2010 to 9 January 2011 for the exhibition: Dea Fortuna. Antichità ed immagini d’Arte • Egyptian casket in: Munich, Haus der Kunst, from 17 September 2010 to 9 January 2011 for the exhibition: The Future of Tradition. Il Futuro della Tradizione • Bartolomeo Ammannati, Leda, marble group from a drawing by Michelangelo • Benvenuto Cellini, Ganimede, marble • Baccio Bandinelli, Bust of Cosimo dei Medici, marble in: Firenze, Palazzo Strozzi, from 24 September 2010

to 23 January 2011 for the exhibition: Bronzino. Pittore e poeta alla corte dei Medici • Various bronze statues, including a Seated Satyr and a Crab by Andrea Briosco known as il Riccio in: Caraglio, Il Filatoio, from 23 October 2010 to 23 January 2011 for the exhibition: Animalia. Animali reali e fantastici nell’arte europea dal XV al XX secolo • Francesco Laurana, Bust of Battista Sforza in: Rovereto, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, from 18 December 2010 to 27 March 2011 for the exhibition: Modigliani scultore

palazzo pitti

leonora di Toledo, wife of Cosimo I, bought and greatly extended Palazzo Pitti to create a light and airy residence for the large ducal family and surrounded it with superb gardens. The palace was linked by the Vasari corridor to the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio which remained the official power base and seat of government. In the course of its history the building has been home not only to the grand dukes, but also to Italy’s royal family. Today it houses several impressive collections of paintings, sculptures and artefacts, in perfectly preserved surroundings. This prestigious structure now houses seven museums.

piazza Pitti

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/palazzopitti

Sala Bianca Palazzo Pitti, Massimo Listri. courtesy of FOR Gallery, Firenze www. forgallery.it

The Palatine Gallery and Royal Apartments

The Palatine Gallery was created in the late 18th and early 19th centuries by the Lorraine family to exhibit masterpieces mainly from the Medici collections, and houses works by Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, Pietro da Cortona and other Italian and European masters of the Renaissance and the 17th century. The 14 rooms of the Royal Apartments, formerly the private residence of the sovereigns, are decorated with furnishings, fittings and works of art dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries. open: Tuesday to Sunday 8.15-18.50 closed: Monday, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December. The Royal Apartments are closed in January for general maintenance

Gallery of Modern Art

Once the residence of the Lorraine grand dukes, the Gallery shows paintings and sculptures mainly by Italian artists, dating from the late 18th century to the First World War. The works range from the neoclassical period to Romanticism and include a fine collection of the Macchiaioli artists, as well as important examples of late 19th and early 20th-century artistic movements. open: Tuesday to Sunday 8.15-18.50 closed: Monday, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

Silver Museum

The museum is named after the silver which belonged to the collections of the bishops of Salzburg, brought to Florence in 1815 by Ferdinando III of Lorraine. The museum also contains the famous Medici Treasury and an important collection of Italian and European jewellery, dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries, as well as elegant Chinese and Japanese porcelain.

Porcelain Museum

Located in the 18th-century “Palazzina del Cavaliere”, the museum houses the finest European porcelain collected by Pietro Leopoldo and Ferdinando III, alongside the porcelain hastily removed from the historic residences of the Savoy at Parma, Piacenza and Sala Baganza in 1860, in order to furnish the royal apartments in Florence. Silver Museum Porcelain Museum open: every day, 8.15-16.30 from November to February, 8.15-17.30 March and October after official summer time sets in, 8.15-18.30 in April, May, September and October, 8.15-18.50 to June from August closed: first and last Monday of each month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

Carriage Museum

The museum houses fine examples of carriages used by the Lorraine and Savoy courts during the 18th and 19th centuries as well as antique harnesses for horses. The collection is currently housed in a warehouse awaiting completion of the project which will provide more suitable accommodation for the carriages in the Medici stables. open only on request

Boboli Gardens

Behind the Pitti Palace lie the magnificent Boboli Gardens, a veritable open-air museum, filled with antique and Renaissance statues, and enhanced with grottoes and grand fountains. The grounds were first laid out at the time of the Medici, creating the Italianate garden that would become a model for many of the European courts. open: every day 8.15-16.30 from November to February, 8.15-17.30 in March and October after official summer time sets in, 8.15-18.30 in April, May, September and October, 8.15-19.30 from June to August closed: first and last Monday of each month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

The Gallery was founded in 1983 in the Palazzina della Meridiana. Dedicated to the history of fashion from the 18th century to the present day, it houses clothes, accessories and jewels (including an interesting section donated by Flora Wiechmann Savioli), as well as stage costumes, most of which come from the Umberto Tirelli donation. It also houses the funerary clothes of Cosimo I, Eleonora di Toledo and her son Don Garzia, on display after a complex restoration. There is also an important collection of papers, including archive documents, sketches and drawings, including Thayaht’s studies.

Exhibitions, donations and restoration

Director of the Galleria del Costume

e ven t s Giovanni dalle Bande Nere Long believed lost, this painting of the celebrated soldier has been retrieved from the storerooms of the Palatine Gallery and restored. It was produced before 1548 by Francesco Salviati for Cosimo I.

A new space for contemporary jewellery The jewellery gallery, unique in Italy, has been enriched in the last few years by the donations of families, artisans and artists from all over the world. In June 2010 this precious collection of work by Florentine, Italian and international artists was rearranged for public display.

open: every day, 8.15-16.30 from November to February, 8.15-17.30 March and October after official summer time sets in, 8.15-18.30 in April, May, September and October, 8.15-18.50 from June to August closed: first and last Monday of each month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

Donna Franca Florio. Archive of the Galleria del Costume

The Galleria del Costume is an unusual museum in that its collections change repeatedly. Every two years clothes and accessories, displayed in showcases, are replaced by others taken from the deposits. Their arrangement in the rooms has followed a chronological order up to the present exhibition entitled “Moda fra analogie e dissonanze” which opened last January. This selection comprises a variety of different models which, although from different periods, have similarities, but also contrasting forms, in a play of references and interaction which also involves the paintings on the walls taken from the deposits of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna. Temporary exhibitions are also held alongside the selection. In the ballroom, in the autumn, an exhibition is planned dedicated to the recent donation of the extraordinary creations of Dianora Marandino: sketches and models of clothes that she herself made and painted by hand in the 1960s and 1970s, generously donated by her husband, the painter Enzo Faraoni. Although the early nucleus of the Gallery was owned by the State, which over the years enlarged the collection through acquisition, it must be said that the museum owes its importance to the generosity of its donors, who have continued to contribute to it constantly. Donating clothes is always a difficult and delicate operation, for clothes, being an explicit expression of one’s very identity, are about as personal a thing as we can imagine. Here, even though each and every donor would deserve to be mentioned, we shall refer only to some of the most significant ‘historic’ donations. Among the early donations, the most substantial and important is that of Umberto Tirelli, the founder of a theatrical tailor’s workshop in Rome; the donation comprises a nucleus of historical clothes and accessories collected by him and important stage costumes made by his workshop on models by artists like the costumer-designer Piero Tosi or Pier Luigi Pizzi. Another important collection is the wardrobe of Donna Franca Florio, with clothes of the Belle Époque and the 1920s, purchased by the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and donated to the Gallery in 1986. Among recent donations the most considerable is that comprising the numerous haute couture and prêt-à-porter clothes chosen for Florence by Gianfranco Ferré (2000). The aim of restoration is to return clothes and accessories, subjected to the wear and tear of time, as close as possible to their original condition, without cancelling their history or creating a fake. Clothes often arrive having already been modified by owners who in the course of time have adapted them according to the fluctuations in taste and fashion, or to the changing size of their own body. Frequently being handed down through generations, clothes can inevitably be subject to many changes. Having evaluated the type of work necessary, each item is revived in the textile restoration laboratory annexed to the Gallery. For a museum dedicated to the history of fashion the presence of a laboratory dedicated exclusively to the restoration of textile manufactures is absolutely essential; all clothes and accessories must pass, sooner or later, through the laboratory for a verification of their state of conservation or for ordinary maintenance. Caterina Chiarelli

palazzo pitti

focus / Costume Gallery

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011 Paola Staccioli. Ceramiche animate Porcelain Museum curated by Ornella Casazza until 3 October 2010

Caravaggio e caravaggeschi a Firenze Palatine Gallery Uffizi Gallery Exhibition design: Gianni Papi Exhibition Director: Stefano Casciu, Antonio Natali, Gianni Papi until 17 October 2010 On the occasion of the fourth centenary of the death of Caravaggio two of the principal musuems of the Polo Museale Fiorentino combine 100 well-known and lesser-known paintings, in this exhibtion devoted to Caravaggio and his followers.

Vinum nostrum. Arte, scienza e miti del vino nelle civiltà del Mediterraneo antico Silver Museum curated by Museo Galileo and the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei until 15 May 2011 From Mesopotamia to our table today, from the rite of communion to lewd drunkenness, from a distasteful habit to the gates of spirituality, wine and the vine are the protagonists of this exhibition. Original artefacts, sculptures, frescoes and mosaics, accompanied by multimedia and video installations, recount the history of the grapevine and of wine across thousands of years, as well as the important influence they exerted over ancient culture: from the origin of wine-growing in the Near East, its flowering in the Hellenic world, up to the production and wide-scale diffusion achieved by the Romans.

septemberseptemberoctoberoctobernovembernovemberdecemberdecemberjanuaryjanuaryfebruaryfebruary

opificio delle pietre dure and the restoration laboratories

s might be gathered from its unusual name, the origin of the Institute is composite, fruit of an ancient and illustrious tradition and modern, wide-ranging activity. Founded under Ferdinando I de’ Medici in 1588 for the manufacture of furnishings using semiprecious stones, in the late 19th century the work of the Opificio changed character, shifting toward restoration. Following the catastrophic flood of November 1966 and the establishment of the Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Assets in 1975, the old Medici Opificio and the Restoration Laboratory of the Fine Arts Service were merged to create a single entity, a true “rapid response team” for the restoration of works damaged by the flood. This was later flanked by the “minor” laboratories that grew up in response to the needs of the post-flood period. When the Ministero was reorganised in 2007, the Opificio became an Istituto Centrale in recognition of its value at the national and international levels. The institute is subdivided into specific sections including: tapestries, bronzes and antique weapons, paintings on canvas and on panel, wall paintings, works on paper and fibre, stone materials, mosaic and Florentine commesso work, goldsmiths’ and silversmiths’ work, painted wooden sculptures, ceramics and models, and textiles.

Offices: via degli Alfani, 78; Fortezza da Basso, viale Strozzi, 1; Sala delle Bandiere, Palazzo Vecchio

The adjacent

Museum is the

direct descendent of the older artistic workshop. The museum does not depend on collecting but rather mirrors the history of the centuries of production carried out here. The most prestigious creations are today preserved in palaces and museums throughout Europe, whence they arrived as gifts from the grand dukes, while the production workshops mainly contain uncompleted works or the results of later modifications of originals. In short, the material that survived the dispersal of the 1800s, which was called to a halt in 1882 when the collection was granted museum status. The collection contains pieces of great evocative power and sophistication, outlining the history of the workshop over three centuries, as well as an important collection of antique marbles and works in semiprecious stone exemplifying the commesso fiorentino inlay technique.

activities open to the public Among the many opportunities offered by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, mention must be made of the opportunity for visitors to encounter the world of restoration. Of particular note are:

“effetto restauro” This initiative is designed to show the public some of the most significant works after their restoration or in the course of restoration in the Opificio laboratories. guided tours of the Restoration Laboratories Guided tours of the Restoration Laboratories in via degli Alfani, the Fortezza da Basso and the workshop for the restoration of the tapestries in Palazzo Vecchio For information and reservation opd.promozioneculturale@beniculturali.it

via degli Alfani, 78 open: Monday to Saturday 8.15-14 Thursday 8.15-19 closed: Sunday and holidays

new publications ‘OPD Restauro’ published by Centro Di is the Opificio’s official Journal. Initiated in 1986 this is an annual publication containing the most significant findings following restoration in all fields. • The Journal’s first series includes three issues (1, 1986; 2, 1987; 3, 1988) with the title ‘OPD Restauro. Quaderni dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori di Restauro di Firenze’. • The second series is now at its 21st volume (1, 1989-21, 2009) with the title ‘OPD Restauro’. To be noted among recent monographs is • La ‘coperta’ Guicciardini. Restoration of the Guicciardini ‘coperta’ showing scenes from the story of Tristan, edited by Rosanna Caterina Protopisani, Marco Ciatti, Susanna Conti, Maria Grazia Vaccari, Firenze, Edifir-Edizioni Firenze, 2010.

Salone dell’Arte e del Restauro di Firenze Stazione Leopolda, Firenze 11-13 November 2010 The Institute is participating in the second year of the Salone with its own stand and a rich calendar of events.

www.opificiodellepietredure.it

r es e ar ch p r oj e ct “Tebaidi del Sud Italia” Italo-Japanese conference on the study of mural paintings in southern Italy

The Japanese government is financing a four year research project on the mural paintings of southern Italy, carried out by the Opificio in association with the University of Kanazawa. Following the restoration of the frescoes of the Cappella Maggiore in the church of Santa Croce in Florence – executed by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and financed for the most part by a Japanese patron through the University of Kanazawa – the Japanese government has approved the request for financial backing presented by the University of Kanazawa for a

project of diagnostic research and documentation on the methods of execution and state of conservation of the mural paintings of the peninsular territory of southern Italy, with particular regard to the Byzantine and early medieval period. The aim of the research project, whose results will be stored in a digital archive, is to acquire greater knowledge of a little-known yet absolutely unique segment of Italy’s artistic heritage, represented by churches, chapels and cenobitic rock sites, the result of the settlement of Orthodox monks coming from the East and from Sicily between the 6th and 11th centuries. The project is particularly innovative since there is no systematic or wide-ranging knowledge of the techniques and types of mural painting in the mideastern Byzantine area.

opificio delle pietre dure and the restoration laboratories

i n d e p t h / the most important restoration projects The restoration in Santa Croce is complete

The Tabernacle of the Linaioli restored

At the beginning of 2011 one of the most important expressions of late Gothic art will again be accessible to the public. Before the present year is out, work will be completed on the restoration of the Legend of the Cross by Agnolo Gaddi in the Cappella Maggiore of Santa Croce which, with its 800 sq. m of painted surface, is the last of the great Florentine pictorial cycles to be restored. The work has been carried out by the Opera di Santa Croce and numerous university and research institutions working on diagnostic procedures for artistic treasures.

In March 2011 the Tabernacle of the Linaioli (Flax-workers) by Beato Angelico returns to the Museo di San Marco after restoration, in a series of events on conservative restorations made by the Polo Museale Fiorentino with the contribution of Banca Intesa. The problems of conservation were twofold: of a structural nature, with various serious fractures in the main panel due partly to the unusual construction technique, and of an aesthetic nature, with the presence of extensive repaintings and overglazings. The cleaning resulted in an improved reading of the polychrome painting of Angelico, and enhanced the modelled effect of the figures, especially the four Saints on the doors.

Giotto’s Crucifix returns to the Church of Ognissanti On 5-6 November the Crucifix of Ognissanti, inaccessible to the public since 1937 due to the closing of the Sacristy, is allocated a more appropriate place in the church following a delicate restoration. The restoration, rendered complex by the age of the work, by its state of conservation and by its enormous size (4.86 x 3.75 m) has been one of the most important restoration projects on works of art ever carried out in Florence. The results have also led to the deepening of our knowledge of the work, contributing to support its attribution to Giotto.

A polychrome terracotta by Donatello A statue representing the Madonna and Child, 110 cm high, was identified in the church of San Francesco at Citerna (Umbria) and attributed to the hand of Donatello with a proposed dating between 1415 and 1420. Devotional works in painted terracotta, characterised by a rich polychrome, often suffered from pictorial alterations that distorted their appearance and in some cases completely changed their original colour. This is the case with the Madonna of Citerna which still bears the coarse repainting executed by Amato del Citerna in 1839. As many as three separate applications of paint have been identified on top of the original one, whose removal together with the consolidation of the original polychrome, has highlighted the refinement of the flesh tones and the clothing embellished with gold decorations. Restoration work is due to finish at the end of 2012.

restoration − in progress or recently completed

courses reopen In October, after a period of closure, courses begin again in the Opificio’s Scuola di Alta Formazione

Hundreds of works, among them some of the most significant in world art, have been restored in recent decades. Among them are: a Lamentation of the Dead Christ, in painted terracotta, attributed to Michele da Firenze, from the Musei Civici of Modena; the Guicciardini ‘Coperta’ from the Bargello. Among works in progress are: a Madonna and Child in glazed and painted terracotta, attributed to Luca della Robbia

The Banderuola of the Tower of Arnolfo in Palazzo Vecchio

On 4 June the Opificio Laboratories received the original banderuola, which for centuries had been mounted at the top of Arnolfo’s Tower in Palazzo Vecchio, now replaced by a copy in fibre-glass executed in 1981 when the original was taken into the Cortile della Dogana. The work was put on the tower in 1453, the year in which Michelozzo began his renovation of the building, and for this reason some scholars attribute its design to the architect. The copper banderuola, standing some 5 metres high and surmounted by a lily, represents a lion rampant (the Marzocco). All over the work there are traces of gilding and signs of old repairs, together with remains of the impressed initials of whoever carried them out (AS) and the dates of the work (RATOPPATO 1843; 1844). The restoration will be completed within a few months.

Madonna and Child by Jacopo Sansovino

The restoration of a splendid bas-relief in terracotta, the work of Jacopo Sansovino, representing a Madonna and Child has been completed. The work comes from the Musei Civici in Vicenza and will be exhibit to the public at the laboratories of the Fortezza da Basso before going back to Vicenza.

il Giovane, from Citerna; the Paliotto fiorito from the Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella in Florence; the Paliotto di San Zanobi by the Maestro del Bigallo; the Triptych of San Michele from the Museo di Asciano by Ambrogio Lorenzetti; the Madonna and Child by Andrea Mantegna from the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo; Titian’s La Bella from the Galleria Palatina; Roman mosaic paving from the Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi in Lucca; the Fontana dell’Isola, in marble and bronze, from the Boboli

Gardens in Florence; the two heads of Prophets in bronze, by Donatello, from the Cantoria in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence; the 13th-century embroidered Veil from the Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana of Siena; the painted Crucifix from San Marco; the original base of the ‘Porcellino’, a bronze sculpture by Pietro Tacca, from the Bardini Museum. Almost completed is the work on the doors of the Porta del Paradiso of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence.

oratories • cenacoli and fresco cycles

1. Church and Monastery of

3. Church and Monastery of Ognissanti

Santa Maria del Carmine

to see: Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1480) and its sinopia

to see: Last Supper by Alessandro Allori (1581); Cappella Brancacci with frescoes by Masaccio and Masolino and finished by Filippino Lippi

borgo Ognissanti, 42 open: Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, 912 closed: the whole month of August, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

piazza del Carmine open: Monday and Wednesday to Saturday 10-17, Sunday 13-17; reservation required for the Cappella Brancacci closed: Tuesday, 1 and 7 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

4. Chiostro dello Scalzo to see: episodes in the Vita del Battista e Virtù frescoed by Andrea del Sarto (1509-1526) and da Franciabigio (1518-1519)

2. Church and Convent of

Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi

via Cavour, 69 aperto: lunedì, giovedì, sabato 8.15-13.50 chiuso: 1 gennaio, 1 maggio, agosto e Natale

to see: Crucifixion, fresco by Perugino (1493-1496) borgo Pinti, 58 temporarily closed

7. San Salvi

to see: Last Supper attributed to Perugino and his workshop (1490)

to see: Last Supper by Andrea del Sarto (1526-1527)

via Faenza, 42 open: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 9-12 closed: 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

6. Sant’Apollonia to see: Last Supper by Andrea del Castagno (c. 1450) via XXVII Aprile, 1 open: everyday 8.15-13.50 closed: 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays, 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

via di San Salvi, 16 open: Tuesday to Sunday 8.15-13.50 closed: 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

8. Santo Spirito to see: fragments of the Last Supper by Andrea Orcagna; Crucifixion; museum of the Fondazione Salvatore Romano piazza Santo Spirito, 29 open: Saturday from April to October 9-17, from November to March 10.30-13.30 closed: 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

4 5

1 1 2

8 3

Oratories are small chapels used as places of worship and assembly by the confraternities, lay organisations of local citizens, also called compagnie. The brothers met in oratories to pray, sometimes to flog themselves, to offer reciprocal help, to provide for adequate funeral ceremonies, to participate in processions and to organise theatrical pieces. The religious aspect was demonstrated principally through charitable work with the poor and needy.

5. Fuligno

1. Oratorio dei Buonomini

3. Oratorio di San Sebastiano dei Bini

The Confraternita dei Buonomini, was founded by Saint Antoninus to assist the “poveri vergognosi” and was established in 1478 in the church of San Martino, which was eventually transformed into an oratory. The space is decorated with a series of lunettes, painted around 1480 by Domenico Ghirlandaio’s workshop, illustrating the story of San Martino and the work of the Misericordia managed by the Buonomini. The adjacent rooms house a rich archive documenting over five centuries of work of the confraternity.

This oratory stands where once there was also a hospice for the poor and for pilgrims. It was restored by the Bini family in the 15th centuries and dedicated to Saint Sebastian. Between the 16th and 19th centuries it was the seat of various congregations. Valuable works are conserved in the interior, such as the 16th-century polyptych commissioned by Bernardo di Pietro Bini for the high altar, the Tabernacle of Saint Sebastian in which Filippino Lippi played a part, and other work from the Ghiberti and Donatello workshops.

via dei Magazzini open: every day 10-12, 15-17 closed: Fridays and holidays

via Romana 10 open: Friday, Saturday and Sunday 16-19

2. Oratorio di Santa Maria

And more...

di San Martino

delle Grazie

Since its foundation (it was built in 1874 in the garden of the Palazzo Alberti-Malenchini) the oratory has contained the revered Madonna delle Grazie, attributed to the Master of Santa Cecilia (c.1313). The miracleworking image was transferred here from a 14th-century chapel on the Ponte alle Grazie, patronised by the Alberti family. The interior is decorated with frescoes by Olinto Bandinelli and Giuseppe Ciseri. lungarno Diaz 8 open: Monday to Friday 7-10, 16-18

Oratorio della Confraternita dei Contemplanti di San Tommaso d’Aquino (known as San Tommasino dei Nobili) via della Pergola, 10

Oratorio della Confraternita di San Francesco Poverino e Buca di San Girolamo in San Filippo Benizzi Loggiato dei Serviti, on the corner with palazzo Budini Gattai

Oratorio dei Santi Jacopo e Filippo via della Scala, 9

Oratorio dei Vanchetoni (Arciconfraternita di San Francesco) via Palazzuolo, 17

Oratorio di San Niccolò del Ceppo via dei Pandolfini, 5

Oratorio di Gesù Pellegrino (known as dei Pretoni) via San Gallo on the corner with via degli Arazzieri

Oratorio della Confraternita di Sant’Antonio Abate (known as la Buca) via degli Alfani, 65r-67r

Oratorio della Compagnia di San Michele della Pace piazza Sant’Ambrogio

note These oratories, some of them deconsecrated, are open only on special occasions or for religious celebrations

in depth

Monica Bietti Director of the Cappelle Medicee

The programme of restoration – following that of the tabernacles of the Cambio (Bankers) and the Tribunale di Mercanzia (Merchants’ Court) – this year concerns the tabernacle of Calimala (Cloth Importers). The Calimala Guild, which, like other Florentine guilds of professional men and merchants, found representation in one of the tabernacles of Orsanmichele, was one of the most powerful and had workshops and stores in the nearby Via Calimala. The cloth merchants imported raw wool textiles and other materials from all over Europe; various illustrious Florentine families like the Albizi, the Pazzi and the Strozzi were members of this Guild. Thanks to the riches they accumulated they attended to the patronage and maintenance of building complexes like the Baptistery and the church of San Miniato al Monte. With the exception of the Renaissance tabernacles of the Cambio and the Tribunale di Mercanzia, the tabernacles of Orsanmichele are Gothic, with pilasters flanked by slender twisted columns surmounted by an arched tympanum and lateral pinnacles at the top. Between the first and the second decade of the 15th century the making of the niche of the Calimala tabernacle and its statue of St John the Baptist, the Guild’s patron, was entrusted to Lorenzo Ghiberti, who was already engaged on the doors of the Baptistery. The sculpture, which is larger than all the others of Orsanmichele, marks a return to the technique of casting large works in bronze which had been interrupted since Roman times. Today the results of the restoration help us to imagine the richer and more magnificent appearance of the tabernacle occupied by the shining statue of the saint. A precious decoration in mosaic and glass, now lost, must have made everything glisten in the rays of the morning sun, exposed as it is toward the East. A significant and evocative example of that beauty is suggested by the Calimala eagles, placed at the extremities of the base, whose gilding, unexpectedly conserved and revived by the restoration, again recalls that luminous magic of glass, coloured enamels and golds. Antonio Godoli Director of Orsanmichele

piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6 open: 8.15-16.50 closed: 2nd and 4th Sundays, 1st, 3rd and 5th Mondays of every month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/cappellemedicee

exhibition Parigi val bene una messa! 1610: l’omaggio dei Medici a Enrico IV re di Francia e di Navarra curated by Monica Bietti, Francesca Fiorelli Malesci, Paul Mironneau until 2 November 2010 After the success in France at the Musée National du Chateau de Pau, the exhibition put together by the Cappelle Medicee continues until November. Italy and France celebrate Henry IV, linked to Florence through his marriage to Maria de’ Medici, and assassinated in Paris on 14 May 1610. The fulcrum of the exhibition is represented by the 19 monochrome canvases that Cosimo II de’ Medici commissioned from Florentine academic painters to celebrate a funeral service for Henry IV, held with great pomp on 16 September 1610 in the Basilica of San Lorenzo.

uilt in the 13th century as a granary and market, in the next century it became a religious place and in the middle of the 14th century was consecrated for Christian worship. From then until the 17th century the building, which served both civil and religious functions, was modified and enriched by the city guilds with the fourteen canopied niches of the exterior. The church is regularly officiated and concerts of classical music are held there; inside is the splendid marble tabernacle by Orcagna and the 14th-century Madonna delle Grazie by Bernardo Daddi

orsanmichele

The Calimala tabernacle and the bronze of St John the Baptist

•

A king of France in Florence. An exhibition on Henry IV four hundred years after his assassination in Paris in 1610 at the hands of Ravaillac and the solemn funeral celebrated by the Medici in San Lorenzo. The occasion to honour the king was seized by the young Grand Duke Cosimo II, who had just succeeded his father Ferdinando I (died 1609), in order to reassert the influence of the Medici on the European scene. Grand Duke Ferdinando had moved skilfully on the international chessboard, succeeding in obtaining a strong alliance for the small state of Tuscany with the marriage celebrated in 1600 between his niece Maria and the king of France – of which there is, in the exhibition, the sketch by Rubens with the Landing of Maria at Marseilles. The alliance was further consolidated by the proclamation of Maria as queen of France on 13 May 1610, just one day before the death of the king. A strange destiny indeed, that of Maria’s regency, which maintained a politico-economic balance on a European scene stricken by dynastic divisions and conflicts that would lead shortly thereafter to the Thirty Years War. Cosimo II decided therefore to pay an official tribute to the memory of the king with a funeral celebrated in the basilica of San Lorenzo, the aim clearly being to reaffirm the solidity of the alliance made with France by the grand dukes of Tuscany and the legitimacy of the regency and the succession to the throne. And it is precisely that great funeral which constitutes the heart of an exhibition which sees on display the 19 surviving canvases of the 26 that were executed for the occasion. The rhetoric of mourning as pure spectacle was played out, with a glorification of the king’s military enterprises, especially those in defence of the Catholic religion, in which the diplomatic function of the Medici was decisive and which ended with the signing of the act of abjuration – from which the celebrated phrase of the exhibition’s title – and with the grandiose ceremony of Maria’s consecration in the basilica of the kings in Saint Denis.

medici chapels

A king of France in Florence. An exhibition on Henry IV

state museum since 1869 the history of the Medici Chapels is tied to the history of the basilica of San Lorenzo to which they belong. The museum includes the New Sacristy, designed by Michelangelo, the Chapel of the Princes, a mausoleum in hard stone, the crypt, containing the tombs of the Medici grand dukes and their relatives, and the Lorraine crypt, with the tombs of the Lorraine princes and the funerary monument to Cosimo il Vecchio. The museum also displays items from the Treasury of the basilica of San Lorenzo.

Sculpture Hall

On the first floor of Orsanmichele are the original statues from the tabernacles. Copies now occupy the niches in order to preserve the completeness of the decoration. On the upper floor are other small badly damaged statues that once formed part of the exterior.

via dell’Arte della Lana open: Church, every day 10-17. Museum, Monday 10-17

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/orsanmichele

san marco museum

he museum building, designed in 1436 by Michelozzo, occupies a vast area of the Dominican convent of San Marco, which played an important role in the cultural and religious life of Florence, especially at the time of Savonarola, prior of San Marco. The museum owes its renown especially to the paintings of Fra’ Angelico, one of the great artists of the Renaissance, who made frescoes in many of the convent’s spaces. Other works by Fra’ Angelico were assembled here in the 20th century. There is also an important collection of 16thcentury paintings including works by Fra’ Bartolomeo. The museum has a section devoted to artefacts from buildings of the city centre which were demolished in the 19th century.

piazza San Marco, 3 open: Monday to Friday 8.15-13.50, Saturday, Sunday and holidays 8.15-16.50 closed: 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday, 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/sanmarco

The restoration of the south end of the Cloister of St Antoninus in the San Marco Museum The restoration of the first cloister of the museum of San Marco, the Cloister of Saint Antoninus – which takes its name from the frescoes of the stories of the saint applied over the course of the 17th century – has various points of interest. Up to now, one side has been completed, the south side, adjacent to the Pilgrims’ Hospice. The restoration has involved both the frescoes and the architectural structures with their sculptural elements. The restoration of the frescoes includes not only the seven lunettes on the wall, ranging from celebrated works by Fra’ Angelico to similarly well-known representations by Bernardo Poccetti and his collaborators, but also the gallery of portraits of illustrious Dominicans painted inside medallions on the pendentives of the vaults. Also of particular interest, emerging from the restoration, is the discovery of traces of polychrome and gold on the capitals and column bases, which suggests that the cloister must once have had a very different appearance. The refound continuity of the wall’s decoration means we can once again appreciate the perspective of the scenes that make up the sequence and the details of landscape that constitute a unique document of the reality of the time. This brings to completion the initial phase of the cloister’s restoration begun by the Soprintendenza, and its achievement in so short a time is thanks to the generous and consistent commitment of the Friends of Florence Foundation. Magnolia Scudieri Director of the Museo di San Marco

exhibition Fra’ Angelico’s Tabernacolo dei Linaioli restored 8 December 2010-30 April 2011 After a long period of absence for examination and for a complex and delicate restoration carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the most famous work by Fra’ Angelico, the Tabernacolo dei Linaioli, returns to San Marco. During the exhibition multimedia installations focusing on the restoration and on the technique of the work help to enlighten the interested visitor on every detail of the painting and its history. restoration in progress frescoes in the Chiostro di Sant’Antonino (east end): • Ludovico Buti, Sant’Antonino resuscita un fanciullo della famiglia Da Filicaia • Alessandro Tiarini, Sant’Antonino predice ad un mercante che sarebbe scampato da una terribile burrasca • Alessandro Tiarini, Il restauro della Chiesa e del Convento di San Marco • Beato Angelico, Cristo in pietà, lunette • Giovan Battista Vanni, La carità e La Giustizia, lunettes frescoes in the Chiostro di Sant’Antonino (south end): • Beato Angelico, Cristo pellegrino accolto dai Domenicani, lunette • Beato Angelico, Pala di San Marco, tempera on wood

works on loan • Beato Angelico, La guarigione del Diacono Giustiniano, part of the predella of the Pala di San Marco, tempera on wood in: Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny, Musée Maillot, 29 September 2010-31 January 2011 for the exhibition: Le trésor des Médicis

• Jacopo Vignali, San Pietro visita Sant’Agata in carcere, oil on canvas, in: Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi, until 17 October 2010 for the exhibition: Caravaggio e i caravaggeschi a Firenze photo Francesca Anichini

santa croce monumental complex

he Franciscan basilica of Santa Croce is a sort of open workshop that in seven hundred years has seen the most extraordinary religious, and civil events and contains an exceptional wealth in works of art. It contains the tombs of many great figures in Italian history, thus defined as the ‘tempio delle itale glorie’.

A visit to the monumental complex includes: • the Basilica • the cloisters and the early Renaissance Pazzi Chapel • the hall of 17th-century funerary monuments • the exhibition devoted to the wood engraver Pietro Parigi, the great 20th-century Italian illustrator • the Museo dell’Opera, which includes the Sala del Cenacolo (Refectory), with important works including Cimabue’s Crucifix and Taddeo Gaddi’s frescoes of the Last Supper and the Albero della Vita (Tree of the Cross).

piazza Santa Croce open: Monday to Saturday 9.30-17.30, Sunday, 6 January, 15 August, 1 November, 8 December 13-17.30 closed: 1 January, Easter, 13 June, 4 October, 25 and 26 December A single ticket gives access to the entire complex.

www.santacroceopera.it

project Nel nome di Michelangelo (In the name of Michelangelo) The project offers itineraries linking the Museo della Casa Buonarroti and the Santa Croce Monumental Complex. The two places have an important link in Michelangelo: from the masterpieces of the artist’s youth on exhibition in the Casa Buonarotti, to his place of burial in the church of Santa Croce. This new initiative, begun in April 2010, also highlights the importance of the Santa Croce quarter with cultural and promotional activities. Among the lectures are: 23 September Luciano Bellosi, Vent’anni da “Pittura di luce”: una mostra per una predella, capolavoro di metà Quattrocento 21 October Pina Ragionieri, Michelangelo e le Repubbliche fiorentine

house museums

Palazzo Davanzati

focus / Casa Martelli

Palazzo Martelli, which became a state museum in 1999, was opened to the public on 22 October 2009 to make available for general viewing the historic home and artistic collections of this noble family. An example of a house museum which is not the result of a posthumous reconstruction but derives from the centuries-old stratification of a family’s life. via Zannetti, 8 open: Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning by appointment

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/casamartelli

Interior with a cup of chocolate. It is with this image, represented in the painting by Giovan Battista Benigni of 1777 in the first room of the picture gallery, that the Martelli family presents itself to visitors to the palace, the family residence until 1986. Three generations are portrayed in the picture gallery, a model of Florentine private collecting between the 17th and 18th centuries. In the Martelli household one breathes in an atmosphere of homeliness, made up of ordinary objects and day to day living, that mingles with an air of high standing and culture provided by the collection of paintings, dotted with real ‘gems’ which the old city guides never failed to mention. At the top of the staircase the visitor is welcomed by a copy of the family arms attributed to Donatello. The original work, now at the Bargello, was purchased by the State from the Florentine Curia, which had inherited it together with the palace by written will of the last descendant of the family, Francesca Martelli. This purchase involved the subsequent donation of the Martelli patrimony to the State and the beginning of restoration work, the fruits of which can be seen today. In the 15th century, when they engaged in commerce, became bankers and administered business even on behalf of the Medici, the Martelli family devoted itself to art patronage, becoming patrons of Donatello. But it was particularly from the middle of the 17th century and throughout the 18th century that the picture gallery was consolidated, evidence of the interest in the Florentine artistic scene and of the awareness of grand-ducal collectionism, but also of the appreciation for those tendencies that were becoming established outside the confines of the city and which figured as novelties and rarities: the Neapolitan baroque (Salvator Rosa and Luca Giordano), Caravaggism (Orazio Borgianni), early 18th-century Roman landscape painting (Locatelli, Zuccarelli and Anesi). The Martelli family put into practice a policy of acquisitions that enriched their collection, both through the initiatives of various particularly enlightened family members who were interested in art and also through fortuitous events, as in the case of those works which debtors of the ‘Martelli banks’ sent as payment, or the paintings of north European taste, including the two country scenes by Pieter Brueghel the Younger which Marco Martelli bought during his exile in Dijon. The importance of the picture gallery is accompanied by the charm of the surroundings: rooms imbued with the memory of family life, celebrated also in the frescoes, and with furnishings and ornaments that recall the taste of the owners. Of considerable impact are the rooms where the trompe l’oeil decoration deceives the astonished eye of the observer, inebriating the senses. In the jardin d’hiver the painters have created a vine arbour inhabited by exotic animals, with plant arches framing perspective views and spouting fountains, hermae painted in false marble supporting real architectural elements and ruins shrouded in a romantic bucolic atmosphere at sunset.

Vera Laura Verona

An almost unique example of a typical 14th-century Florentine house, which developed out of the medieval tower and preceded the appearance of the Renaissance palace. Built in the mid- 14th century by the Davizzi family, during the 16th century it passed to the Bartolini and then in 1578 to the Davanzati who owned it until the late 1800s. In 1904 it was bought by an antique dealer named Elia Volpi who restored the palace and furnished it with items from his collection. The palazzo was bought by the State in 1951 and opened to the public in 1956. The furnishings, paintings, tapestries and items of everyday use effectively recreate the interior of a noble Florentine house as it would have been from the 14th to the 17th centuries. There are also numerous paintings with secular and religious subjects including the tryptych by Lorenzo Monaco (1410) and the 15th-century tondo decorated with the Gioco del Civettino (Game of the Fop) by Giovanni di ser Giovanni known as lo Scheggia. Sculptures include Antonio Rossellino’s Bust of a young man. Of great interest is the collection of ceramics and majolica dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries and the rare wall decorations, such as those in the Sala dei Pappagalli and the bedroom known as the Castellana di Vergy. via Porta Rossa, 13 open: Monday to Sunday, 8.15-13.50 closed: 2nd and 4th Sunday and 1st, 3rd and 5th Monday of each month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/davanzati

house museums

focus / Museo Casa Rodolfo Siviero

The Casa Siviero was built in the neo-Renaissance style in 1875, the year the new Lungarno Serristori was completed. Rodolfo Siviero, known as the “James Bond of the art world” for his important contribution in ensuring that many stolen works of art were returned to Italy, bought the building in 1944 and lived there until 1983. He left the house and its furnishings to the Regione Toscana on the condition it became a public musuem. The house museum contains Siviero’s personal collection: furniture, paintings, sculpture, arms and edged weapons, which as a whole document the taste of Florentine domestic interior decoration in the middle of the 20th century. Siviero’s taste was for the antiquarian but he was open to all styles, periods and types, even modern art as long as it was figurative. Thus, in his collection we find Soffici landscapes and still life, works by Annigoni, drawings and medals by Manzù and about 15 paintings and drawings by Giorgio De Chirico. The father of metaphysics had strong ties to the house, not only through his friendship with Siviero, but more through his close relationship with the art historian Giorgio Castelfranco, the former owner of the house and his patron. De Chirico lived and worked here in lungarno Serristori, 1-3 open: Saturday, from October to May 10-18, the early 1920s and between the wars Castelfranco kept an from June to September 10-14 and 15-19; extraordinary collection of De Chirico’s work, including Le Muse Sunday and Monday, all year 10-13 Inquietanti, the second version of Ettore e Andromaca, the closed: 1 January, 1 May, 24 June, 15 August, 25-26 December; all holidays that not occur on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays Autoritratto con busto di Mercurio and the two versions of the www.museocasasiviero.it Ritorno del Figliol Prodigo. In 1939-41 Castelfranco, from a Jewish family, found himself in difficulty because of the racial laws and his collection was dispersed. Three paintings and a drawing by De Chirico once owned by Castelfranco are today in the Casa Siviero. As well as looking after the collection, the house museum organises conferences and educational activities around the figure of Siviero, among them the ‘Detective dell’Arte’, the events for the ‘Notti dell’Archeologia’ and exhibitions involving other museums and collections or dedicated to Siviero’s artist friends, such as Manzù, Annigoni, De Chirico and Pignotti. All these activities are organised by the Regione Toscana with the Associazione Amici dei Musei Fiorentini. Photographs taken while visiting the house museum will be published on the museum web site and at the end of the year a prize of some of the Regione’s publications will be given to the best photograph. Attilio Tori Museum curator

exhibition Archibugi alla prova del Gran Principe curated by Mario Scalini 2 October 2010-6 January 2011 The exhibition concentrates on a small nucleus of guns and pistols dating from the 18th to 19th centuries conserved in the museum, and includes other little known homogeneous collections of ancient weapons: a group of arquebuses from the Curia of Pistoia and the remains of firearms from the Museo Civico in the same town, weapons equipped with the famous “Pistoiese barrels” which help to shed light on baroque production and on the relations the Medici had with such production.

event New rooms in the Museum In June 2010 the Casa di Dante opened the Museo degli Originali, the first new exhibition spaces since its foundation, displaying a collection of edged weapons, ceramics and objects in everyday use from the Middle Ages.

competition

exhibition Rodolfo Siviero collezionista del sacro: calici, pissidi, ostensori curated by Diletta Corsini 29 January-30 April 2011 On the upper floor of Casa Siviero, currently not accessible to the public, is an interesting group of liturgical objects which has not yet beeen displayed or studied. These, after having been catalogued, are displayed with an explanation of their use even through comparisonwith similar objects preserved in other Tuscan museums and churches.

Young Collectors’ Competition An initiative for young people up to the age of 25 which aims to promote the passion for collectionism which Siviero had from the time he was a boy. Participants must send written and photographic documentation of their collection before 31 December 2010. Prizes will be awarded to the collections which are the most original and which testify direct involvement and commitment in finding and ordering objects. The winners of each of the three categories (up to 12 years old, 12-18 years old, 18-25 years old) will receive a book or music token and will see their collection published on the museum website. The most important collection will be exhibited in the house museum. for information: www.museocasasiviero.it

House of Dante

Casa Guidi

via Santa Margherita, 1 open: Tuesday to Sunday 10-18 closed: Monday

piazza San Felice, 8 open: from 1 April to 30 November, Monday, Wednesday, Friday 15-18

The Casa di Dante we know today dates back to 1911 when the architect Giuseppe Castellucci reproduced a rather quaint medieval style building in the area in which the poet was said to have lived. The museum is mainly educational in content and the works displayed reflect the life and times of Dante and the Florence of his times.

www.museocasadidante.it

After their secret marriage (1846) the poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning fled to Italy and lived in Florence until Elizabeth’s death (1861); the house was bought in 1971 by the Browning Institute of New York which restored the apartments, filling them with objects and furniture, some of which once belonged to the couple. 23

museo degli innocenti

he history of the Istituto degli Innocenti in Florence began in 1419 with the foundation of the “Spedale”, or foundling hospital, built by the Silk-Makers Guild, thanks to a bequest from Francesco di Marco Datini, a merchant of Prato. The intention was to “begin a new place […] which will nourish children and allow them to grow up”. Culture and beauty have always been an integral part of the social and educational function of the Istituto degli Innocenti. The modernity of the Renaissance architecture and a new concept of child care were closely linked in the structure designed by Brunelleschi. The museum, housing works such as the Adoration of the Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio, a Virgin and Child by Luca della Robbia, the Virgin and Saints by Piero di Cosimo, and a splendid Virgin and Child by Sandro Botticelli, is located in the gallery, originally the children’s living quarters, above the portico which enhances the façade.

Creating the Mudi: research, restoration and exhibitions for the new Museo degli Innocenti

in depth

The planning phase of the Mudi project began in 2004 by defining a new identity for the museum, no longer a container of works of art but instead a cultural project that could describe the history of the Institution through its works of art. It was this concept that inspired the idea of a new museum that would recount the exceptional history of the Foundling Hospital, a project in progress, developed from 2006 through research, restoration and temporary exhibitions. In 2007 the Rinascimento dei Bambini (Children’s Renaissance) exhibition focused on the history of the Foundling Hospital, examining the daily life of the children and how they were fed, clothed and educated. On this occasion the finestra ferrata, or barred window, was restored, that is, the aperture (in use until 1875) through which orphaned babies, deposited in a stone basin, were consigned to the care of the Institute. Modifications were also made to the museum designed by Luciano Berti in 1971: the monumental courtyards were included in the museum itinerary, thus conferring importance to the architecture, and the sculptures of the Madonna and Saint Joseph, attributed to Marco della Robbia, were moved from the place where foundlings were abandoned and set up in the gallery symbolising a greeting of the orphans. In 2008, with the exhibition Gli Innocenti e la città (The Foundling Hospital and the city), relations between the Hospital and the city government were studied, both in the communal period and at the time of the Medicean Grand Duchy. The 15th-century fresco in the lunette above the church entrance was restored, paving the way for the recovery of the Medicean cycle created at the beginning of the 17th century; the 14th-century statue of Saint John the Evangelist, executed for the Silk Guild at Orsanmichele, which came to the Innocenti at the beginning of the 16th century, was also put on display in the museum after having been in the deposits for more than forty years. In May 2010 the exhibition Madri, figlie, balie (Mothers, daughters, wet-nurses) focused on the female community of the Institute. This study ran parallel to the restoration of the arch on Via della Colonna and the spaces above it including the small coretto adjoining the church of Santa Maria degli Innocenti, spaces inhabited for centuries by the children and wet-nurses. The ‘Costruendo il Mudi’ project continues with the exhibition in November on the 600 years of donations by Datini. In 2011 the collection of historic photographs of the Institute will be shown for the first time in an exhibition devoted to the history of the Innocenti in the 19th and the 20th centuries.

piazza Santissima Annunziata, 12 open: every day 10-19 closed: 1 January, 25 December

Stefano Filipponi, coordinator Mudi Eleonora Mazzocchi, conservator Mudi

www.istitutodeglinnocenti.it

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011

Costruendo il Mudi Madri, figlie, balie. Il Coretto della chiesa e la comunità femminile degli Innocenti

Costruendo il Mudi Il mercante, l’Ospedale, i fanciulli. La donazione di Francesco Datini, Santa Maria Nuova e la fondazione degli Innocenti

until 30 September 2010

27 November 2010-31 March 2011

The exhibition continues of a series of tabernacles with devotional sculptures dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, in the collections of the Institute.

The exhibition in the museum’s gallery and recently restored choir reconstructs the history of charitable institutions in Florence between the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries through a series of works linked to the most important charities in the city.

septemberseptemberoctoberoctobernovembernovemberdecemberdecemberjanuaryjanuaryfebruaryfebruary

In 1881 the Museum was transferred to the 17thcentury Palazzo della Crocetta, built for Cosimo II’s sister, Maria Maddalena de’ Medici. Over time it has acquired masterpieces from the Medici and Lorraine collections and fine examples of art from the Greek, Etruscan and Roman periods, flanked by the important Egyptian Museum collection. Among the large bronzes not to be missed are the Chimera, found near Arezzo in 1553, and the Orator, a bronze statue by the Etruscan sculptor, Aule Meteli. The collection of rare figured ceramics is equally prestigious and includes the large black figure François Vase (c. 570 B.C.). The Museum also has an important group of rare Etruscan funerary artefacts, with urns from the areas around Chiusi and Volterra and stone and marble tomb sculptures, including the famous painted Amazon sarcophagus (4th century B.C.). The delightful garden can be visited on Saturday mornings. piazza Santissima Annunziata, 9/B open: Tuesday to Friday 8-19, Saturday and Sunday 8-14 closed: Monday, 1 January, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

www.firenzemusei.it/archeologico

exhibitions Antichi signori di Maremma 8 October 2010-Spring 2011 An exhibition of the most significant materials and tomb furnishings illustrating the history of Etruria from Populonia to Vulci.

Arte per la ricerca curated by the Fondazione di Farmacogenomica FiorGen Onlus 22 November-18 December 2010 An exhibition of works of art, donated largely by Tuscan artists, going to auction on 17 and 18 December. Proceeds are to go to grants for young researchers working on degenerative and genetic deseases.

Villa Corsini

Villa Corsini, on the western outskirts of Florence in the Castello district, was donated to the Italian State in 1968. The Villa was used for storage by the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Toscana and has now been completely restored to display an important group of antique sculpture, including the recently restored Arianna dormiente and the Apollo saettante. The Antiquariium shows the results of research on objects found locally, dating from the Iron Age to the Roman period. via della Petraia, 38 open: from Thursday to Sunday 10-13 e 15-19 until 14 November Free guided tours, Saturday at 16 and Sunday at 10 until 14 November After 14 November visits by appointment

archaeological museums

focus / National Archaeological Museum

in depth

The Egyptian Museum

Second only in Italy to the famous Egyptian Museum of Turin, the museum is housed in the building of the Museo Archeologico. An early nucleus of Egyptian antiquities already existed in Florence in the 18th century, in the Medici collections, though in the course of the 19th century it was significantly increased thanks to the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopoldo II, who financed an expedition to Egypt in the years 18281829. The Franco-tuscan expedition was led by Jean François Champollion, who deciphered hieroglyphic script, and by the Pisan Ippolito Rosellini, the father of Italian Egyptology: among the numerous objects collected along the journey was a chariot dating from the 18th dynasty, a pillar and relief with the goddess Ma’at from the tomb of Seti I (which has been chosen as the museum’s logo), the tomb furnishings of the wet-nurse of the daughter of the pharaoh Taharqa and the portrait of a woman from Fayum. In 1855 the Egyptian Museum of Florence was formally established and in 1880 the Piedmontese Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli was charged with the setting up of Egyptian antiquities in the present location, together with the Museo Archeologico: the showcases and rooms were decorated in Egyptian style, imagined as ruins of ancient temples under a starry sky. Under Schiaparelli the Florentine collections again grew considerably, thanks to his excavations and purchases made in Egypt before becoming director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin. The last group of collections coming to the museum consists of donations made by private individuals and scientific institutions; particular mention should be made of the finds donated by the Papyrological Institute of Florence, coming from the excavations carried out in Egypt between 1934 and 1939, including the rich collection of Coptic fabrics. Maria Cristina Guidotti Director of the Egyptian Museum

The “Paolo Graziosi” Florentine Museum and Institute of Prehistory

Located on the first floor of the historic Oblate Convent, the museum was created in 1946 by Gaetano Pieraccini, then mayor of Florence, and Paolo Graziosi, an anthropologist and palaeontologist; the various collections of prehistoric artefacts scattered throughout the city were finally brought together for classification and conservation. Open to the public since 1975, the museum was completely renovated in 1998 when photographic and descriptive panels were added, as well as workshops and a library consisting of about 3000 volumes.

via Sant’Egidio, 21 open: Monday 14-17, Tuesday and Thursday 9.30- 16.30, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 9.30-12.30 closed: Sunday, 1 January, Easter and Easter Monday, 1 May, the week of the 15 August, 24-26 and 31 December

www.museofiorentinopreistoria.it

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/villacorsini

exhibition Prima di Firenze – Uomo e ambiente nella preistoria dell’area fiorentina

Pagliazza Museum

In the historic Pagliazza tower, the museum houses Roman and Renaissance archaeological artefacts found during the excavations carried out when the building was radically restored. piazza Sant’Elisabetta, 3 visits upon request 055 27370

until 2013 The exhibition, which follows the museum’s didactic display, higlights the most ancient history of the Florentine area, before the Etruscans, from Mesolithic camps to Bronze Age settlements. The chronological sweep, from 8000 to 1000 B.C., is presented through descriptions of handcraft production in the human groups that lived in the Florence area. Alongside archaeological finds – earthenware, instruments in stone, bone and metal – are reconstructions of living spaces, funerary structures, casts of inhabited sites and the first clay ovens.

palazzo strozzi www.palazzostrozzi.org

piazza Strozzi open: every day 9-20, Thursday 9-23

in depth

Palazzo Strozzi. A work in progress

About five years ago, some of Florence’s most visionary citizens – among them the then President of the Provincia (now Mayor of Florence) Matteo Renzi, Iacopo Mazzei, Leonardo Ferragamo and Luca Mantellassi – became convinced that the cultural strategy pursued since the early 1980s that had made Florence a ‘Renaissance Disneyland’ to attract one-time tourists had left the city ravaged and almost uninhabitable for its own citizens. The once premium brand of Florence had been devalued by mass tourism, and the city was now seen by many as a whistle stop between Rome and Venice, where tourists were disgorged from their buses, visited the Uffizi, bought a sandwich and an apron decorated with David’s private parts and left, leaving nothing behind but a trail of paper wrappers and a few crumbs on the city’s streets. The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi was born as an initiative to make Florence more liveable for its own citizens. This strategy turned its back on decades of focus on one-time tourists, in the belief that if a city is loved by its own citizens, it will also attract quality tourism. The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, founded in Spring 2006 by the City of Florence, the Province of Florence, the Florentine Chamber of Commerce and an Association of Private Partners, is an innovation in three distinct ways. At the level of governance, it is exceptional for the formal autonomy of its Board, and the inclusion on the Board of members nominated by both public and private sectors, and the Foundation’s Statutes were recently changed to recognise this fundamental parity. Its business model is exceptional for its mix of public and private funding streams, and on its high percentage of earned revenue. Finally, at a cultural level, its approach of ‘visible listening’ makes it an exceptional experiment in sustainable cultural strategy – tourism measured in terms of users, not visitors. The first gesture was symbolic – to open the massive doors. Since September 2006, the Palazzo has been open from 9am until 8pm daily, until 11pm Thursday evenings. In 2007 we installed new signage, put in benches and plants, opened the Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina (CCCS), a permanent exhibition on the Palazzo Strozzi, and a caffè. In 2008 we opened AgoraZ, a design-and-bookshop with a wide range of carefully selected objects and a small exhibition space. One of the first slogans of the Palazzo Strozzi was ‘not just exhibitions’ and in fact we have worked very hard to create exhibitions that offer a high-quality, interactive experience for the city’s residents, in stark contrast to the socalled ‘blockbusters’, opportunistically designed to pump as many tourists through as possible by trading on the reputation of over-exposed names such as Michelangelo, Monet, and Warhol. Instead of looking for high volume, we aim at creating high quality. Like education, culture isn’t a one-time, one-off event, it only flourishes over time. Like a garden, the Palazzo Strozzi needed time for the first seeds to germinate, and for the first flowers to poke their heads up. Now, three years later, the first results have been very encouraging. The Palazzo is now used by more and more people (1.2 million in 2009, from 500,000 in 2007), even whilst the number of visitors to the Palazzo’s exhibitions remains relatively constant. The number of repeat users of the Palazzo is growing steadily, despite the ups and downs (mostly downs) of Florence’s tourist-dependent economy. The Palazzo Strozzi’s family and children’s programmes have earned an international reputation, as has the CCC Strozzina’s innovative programme of contemporary art. The Palazzo Strozzi was born as – and remains – an expression of the whole city (which includes the surrounding provincia), and is an important part of its identity. Like a garden, the Palazzo Strozzi is never finished. It is still a work in progress, and much remains to be done as we begin the Palazzo Strozzi’s second three-year season. What challenges do we face in the years that come? The future we are confronting is one of deep cuts to public spending, increased unemployment, and the erosion of tourism. Future growth will clearly depend on the continued and resilient support of both public and private sectors if the Palazzo Strozzi is to continue creating value for Florence and its citizens. Our current three-year programme of exhibitions is robust, exciting and varied, including this fall’s Bronzino. Artist and Poet at the Court of the Medici and Portraits and Power, and Picasso, Miró, Dalí and Money and Beauty. Botticelli, the bankers and the Bonfire of the Vanities in 2011, along with the 2nd edition of the Emerging Talents Award. In 2012 Florence celebrates the 500th Anniversary of Amerigo Vespucci’s death with a year of events dedicated to the city’s links with America, including the exhibition Americans in Florence. Sargent and the American Impressionists, as well as a rich programme of contemporary art with an American focus. The Palazzo Strozzi is the city’s laboratory for new ways to reach new audiences, and in the coming three years we will be looking for ways in which the experiments conducted at the Palazzo Strozzi can have an impact beyond the Palazzo’s walls – and the city limits. Instead of expecting people to come to the Palazzo Strozzi, the Palazzo Strozzi is looking for ways to go to its users. In addition to the hugely successful Open Studios programme developed for the Regione Toscana in 2009, and continuing for the next two years, we are working on new ways to reach out to families and children – especially those in need – such as taking the Palazzo’s ‘family suitcases’ into the schools, parks and hospitals. Closer to home, we are working together with the Odeon and other ‘neighbours’ to create a coherent cultural programme for the piazza Strozzi, which will include performance, films, events and installations of contemporary art. Over the past three years, the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi has proven it can build on its strengths. Now, as the Fondazione enters its second three-year period, its programme consists of exhibitions entirely conceived, curated and produced in Florence, and it has ceased to be merely an empty space that hosts occasional exhibitions, and has become a vital centre for culture, a refuge, and urban piazza. In the coming years, the Fondazione will continue to function as an open public laboratory for innovation in cultural communication, and continue to contribute to making Florence a dynamic, contemporary city for its residents, and a destination for quality tourism for repeat visitors. James M. Bradburne Director of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi

Bronzino’s pentimenti: three restored paintings The Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence has restored three masterpieces by Bronzino on display in the exhibition: • Venus, Cupid and Jealousy (or Envy), c. 1550, oil on wood, 192 x 142 cm Budapest, Szépm˝uvészeti Múzeum The reflectography has shown up a clear iconographical variation: at the level of the child’s back in the foreground there is, instead of the mask, the drawn face of a satyr looking at Venus from below with a beckoning expression. During execution of the work Bronzino may have considered the presence of the drawn-in figure excessive and replaced it symbolically with the mask. • Crucified Christ, c. 1540, oil on wood, 145 x 115 cm Nice, Musée des Beaux-Arts Described by Vasari and believed to be lost, it has been identified and added to the artist’s corpus of pictorial works. Analysis of the painting has revealed a preparatory drawing in which the head and the body of Christ are in a different position, with a dramatic effect that Bronzino subsequently toned down and made more serene. • Double portrait of the dwarf Morgante, ante 1553, oil on canvas, 150 x 98 cm Florence, the Uffizi Represented on both sides, in the 19th century the dwarf, considered obscene, was transformed into a Bacchus and its nudity concealed; the restoration has eliminated the 19th-century additions, returning the painting to its original appearance.

upcoming Picasso, Miró, Dalí. Giovani e arrabbiati: le origini dell’arte moderna 12 March-17 July 2011 curated by Christoph Vitali Dedicated to the early works of Picasso, Miró and Dalí − artists who played a decisive role in the origins of modern art − the exhibition concentrates on Picasso’s pre-Cubist period, while the works by Miró and Dalí, rarely seen in exhibition, show how each painter worked before they became Surrealists.

Agnolo di Cosimo, also known as Bronzino (1503-1572), embodied the fullness of the maniera moderna in the years of the government of Cosimo I de’ Medici. Most of his paintings are conserved in Florence, but this exhibition, the first to be dedicated to his pictorial work, is enriched with loans from some of the most important museums in the world and presents works never before shown to the public. The exhibition makes it possible to admire a selection of works of the highest level with paintings by Bronzino and artists associated with him – like Pontormo and Alessandro Allori – as well as artists who reelaborated his style, for the first time allowing a direct comparison between paintings never before exhibited together. Particularly significant restoration has been carried out in preparation for the exhibition, resulting in some surprising discoveries on the origin of three works by Bronzino and on his pentimenti. • 4 years’ work The conception and planning of the exhibition has seen curators and scientific groups engaged in a long period of constant work that now makes available to visitors the most recent critical and philological updates on the work of Bronzino.

Bronzino Artist and Poet

palazzo strozzi

focus / the exhibition

at the Court of the Medici 24 September 2010-23 January 2011

curated by Carlo Falciani and Antonio Natali Exhibition concept: Cristina Acidini, Carlo Falciani and Antonio Natali

• over 60 works by Bronzino Paintings by Bronzino never before on display or never seen together at the same time, presented together with the works of Pontormo, Benvenuto Cellini, Niccolò Tribolo, Baccio Bandinelli, Pierino da Vinci and Alessandro Allori. • works from abroad Alongside the paintings from the Uffizi, the exhibition presents works like the Adoration of the Shepherds from the Szépmu˝vészeti Múzeum in Budapest, the Portrait of a Young Man with a Book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and two versions of the Holy Family with the Young Saint John, one from the Louvre in Paris and the other from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. • 3 works never seen before Presented to the public for the first time are the newly restored Panciatichi Crucifix, the San Cosma − the right-hand panel that originally formed part of the Besançon Altarpiece and the Christ Carries the Cross.

FONDAZIONE PITTI IMMAGINE DISCOVERY

FONDAZIONE STUDIO MARANGONI Founded in 1989, the Fondazione is a centre dedicated to contemporary photography. The FSM organises cultural events, cycles of lectures and exhibitions in collaboration with public and private institutions. The centre offers a full range of photography courses at all levels, from foundation courses to the three-year course, courses of digital photography and Adobe Photoshop®, specialised courses in reportage and digital printing, black and white fine art, and workshops with photographers of international renown.

promotes events in which art and fashion come together, with highquality creations and innovative artistic events. Pitti Immagine offers a calendar of international events at the Stazione Leopolda. via Faenza, 111

www.pittimmagine.com Stazione Leopolda viale Fratelli Rosselli, 5

www.stazioneleopolda.com

Fragranze N. 8 10-12 September 2010 the salon-event featuring the best creations in the world of high-level perfumery and dedicated to the evolution of olfactory culture.

via San Zanobi, 32r and 19r

www.studiomarangoni.it exhibitions September 2010 Final exhibition of the 3rd-year students of the 3-year Photography Course.

in the now

edited by Alberto Salvadori and Gabriele Ametrano

The photographs on this page are by the 2nd-year students of the 3-year Photography Course: Giacomo Belluomini, Matteo Cesari, Beatrice El Asmar,Tommaso Fontanella, Valentina Maggetti, Mattia Polisena

Switch, Higher Ground Connecta. Basket ground Cascine, 11 June 2010. (photo Matteo Cesari)

October 2010 exhibition in association with the French Institute and the Festival della Creatività November 2010 Exhibition of photographs by Elina Brotherus

Taste 12-14 March 2011 the sixth edition of the event dedicated to tastings, debates and presentations on the theme of taste and the excellence of Italian speciality food and wine. The Taste events are accompanied by FuoriDiTaste, a series of initiatives aimed at promoting enogastronomical interest in the city.

January 2011 Exhibition for the 20th year of the FSM March-December 2011 Exhibitions of the “Grand Tour/Global Tour” cycle

focus / CENTRO DI CULTURA CONTEMPORANEA STROZZINA (CCCS) Created in 2007 as part of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, the centre houses exhibition projects of contemporary art which explore themes and modes of expression with an interdisciplinary approach through meetings, debates, conferences, workshops and video projections. Strozzina activity is distinguished by a programme expressly centered on the artistic developments of recent years, favouring multimedia projects and relational and interactive forms of art. piazza Strozzi

www.strozzina.org

Ritratti del potere. Volti e meccanismi dell’autorità curated by Peter Funnell, Walter Guadagnini, Roberta Valtorta and Franziska Nori 1 October 2010-23 January 2011

CCCS, Progetto open artists studio. Daniela De Lorenzo, 10 June 2010. (photo Valentina Maggetti)

Artworks investigating the close relationship between power and its representation through different media, developing an analysis of the portrayal of political, economic and social power in the modern world.

Premio Talenti emergenti promoted by Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and organised by CCCS 18 February-1 May 2011 Exhibition of the most interesting works submitted for the young Italian artists award, now in its second edition.

is a centre for artistic education independent of official curricula. Four young German artists are housed in the building to produce works that at the end of their stay are displayed in an exhibition. In addition to its educational activity, Villa Romana offers meetings, study initiatives and exhibitions dedicated to contemporary art and forms of expression.

The most important artistic developments on the Italian and international scene are presented at the Base Gallery. Lovers of contemporary art meet and exchange news and ideas in this non-profit gallery, created by a group of Florentine artists in 1998. Base is also a cultural association and collaborates with other groups to present interesting programmes and events the year round. via San Niccolò, 18r

www.baseitaly.org

via Senese, 68

www.villaromana.org

Music@VillaRomana until November 2010 The festival presents a series of events with experimental music. The calendar features What’s New (4 October), dedicated to the chamber music production of young composers, and Music For Strings, featuring the Prometeo string quartet with pieces by the composer Salvatore Sciarrino who is attending the event.

exhibitions from 28 September 2010 One-man show Thomas Saraceno November 2010 One-man show Koo-Jeong-A

ACCADEMIA DI BELLE ARTI DI FIRENZE

early in 2011 guest artists Christian Jankowsky and Patrick Tuttofuoco

in the now

BASE

VILLA ROMANA

A prestigious institution, founded in 1784, today committed to developing the creative potential of its young students with university level courses that stimulate the search for artistic Start Point/ expressions and contemporary forms Accademia in mostra of art in the wake of the great Second edition of the important Florentine artistic tradition. exhibition that involves the city in a via Ricasoli, 66

www.accademia.firenze.it

rich programme, Traiettorie/Città Delle Arti. Immagine e musica nel Barocco e nel Contemporaneo, in collaboration with the Istituto Superiore per Le Industrie Artistiche and the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini. To be awarded on the occasion is the special prize for sculpture Campolonghi, open to students and graduates of the last 5 years.

Switch, Higher Ground Connecta. Basket ground Cascine, 11 June 2010. (photo Matteo Cesari)

Festival Oltrarno Atelier

CANTIERI GOLDONETTA The contemporary reality of body language is housed in the Cantieri Goldonetta (Cango), in the Oltrarno neighbourhood. Directed by Virgilio Sieni, Cango offers performances and resident workshops for dance companies of international acclaim. via Santa Maria, 23-25

www.cango.fi.it

from 21 October until November 2010 The festival gathers together and displays a compendium of practices and events on contemporary forms of expression, identifying in the extensive area of the Florentine Oltrarno the ideal context for an in-depth study on the nature of places and the poetic force of the territory. In addition to Cango, the festival involves other spaces in the area (Palazzo Pitti, the Museo Zoologico La Specola, the church of Santo Spirito, the church of San Carlo dei Barnabiti and some craft shops) with performances and workshops.

SWITCH

Creative Social Network SWITCH explores the relationship between public and urban creativity. With a work in progress calendar it features meetings with musicians, deejays, urban writers and digital artists, creating in the city an artistic network in locations that rarely house art and music. via Scipio Slataper, 2

www.switchproject.net

29 Switch, Street Art. San Salvi, 23 May 2010. ( photo Mattia Polisena)

in the now

MUSICUS CONCENTUS

New on the music scene in Florence is Musicus Concentus. Every year it offers concerts with international groups and musicians as part of a calendar of events featuring electronic, rock and alternative music. piazza del Carmine, 19

www.musicusconcentus.com

The Piano Hours Series

from the end of October 2010 for four Fridays the third edition features leading international pianists in duets exploring the thrilling experience of contemporary composition.

Glory Tellers from the end of October 2010 the historic indie/rock music festival, with acoustic performances and many guests from all over the world on the stage of the Sala Vanni in Piazza del Carmine.

open: 10-19, 1 January 15-19 closed: Tuesday, 1 January 10-15, 25 and 31 December viale della Repubblica 277, Prato

Thom Puckey, Jan van der Ploeg: The Prato Project until 9 January 2011 The exhibition combines new marble sculptures by Puckey and the monumental wall-paintings by Van der Ploeg. The two artists have worked together to bridge the enormous gap between the spatial characteristics of their respective works.

Athos Ongaro: Stelle rotanti curated by Marco Senaldi 25 September 2010-9 January 2011 The title refers to the binary system concept adopted in astronomy to describe two celestial bodies linked by the force of gravity: the artist and the material he models, the artist and his model seen through Ongaro’s historic sculptures and new paintings.

Michael Lin: The light is bright and the color is generous curated by Marco Bazzini and Felix Schöber 16 October 2010-13 February 2011 Since 1993 Lin has used printed fabrics of the Japanese and Taiwanese tradition for his work with floral motifs. For the exhibition the artist will produce some works with fabrics from Prato.

of the first edition of the Premio EX3 Toscana Contemporanea Michelangelo Consani, winner of the first edition of the Premio EX3 Toscana Contemporanea 2010 with the project called “Dynamo”, describes himself as “Livornese, unpleasant and visionary”. Born in 1971, the Tuscan artist started his artistic activity in 2000, collaborating with the studio of the architect Norman Foster on an illumino-technical creation, to then dedicate himself entirely to art, exhibiting his works at the Frankfurtmesse in Frankfurt, at the 2WK2 in Berlin and exhibiting in various Italian cities. How would you define your artistic expression? “A looking at the edge”. I always start from some details to compose my works, concentrating on the fact that little things grow into big things.

How did “Dynamo” come about? I’ve always been fascinated by people who have been forgotten by history. For “Dynamo” I was really moved by the story of the African-American athlete Marshall Walter Taylor, who won the world one-mile track cycling championship in 1899. He was the victim of racial discrimination and yet he continued to win races with tenacity and will-power, until his death consigned him to oblivion. Reflecting upon his story I came to consider more wide-ranging issues, including the relationship between environment, energy, equity and social justice.

In the project, three cyclists activate a light-bulb, which is separated from them by a wall. What did you want to convey to the public? Society has to come to terms with the end of energy resources, it’s a simple fact. But development is not improving human relations; they are deteriorating because of it, creating a gap that divides those who must produce from those who are able to use the resource. An injustice that is transmitted to the reader of the work: the public can hear only the noises of those who work to light the lamp, enjoying that light laden with social injustice. The architectural division between cyclists and spectators also has the aim of destroying the spectacle, against every vacuous and spectacular attitude which the art of today tends to evoke. What does it mean to be an artist today? I believe in applicable creativity, in the useful gesture of the artist. Each of us ought to be able to enter into a dialogue with other artists and propose real changes to the contemporary vision of society.

by Gabriele Ametrano

winner

In addition to the permanent collection of works, the Centre periodically stages temporary exhibitions, workshops and events.

www.centropecci.it

NexTech Festival

16-18 September 2010 features electronic music, offering concerts with Alva Noto and Glixa Bargeld, the group Lali Puna and an evening with deejay Erol Alkan.

interview with Michelangelo Consani

CENTRO PER L’ARTE CONTEMPORANEA LUIGI PECCI

ex3

viale Giannotti, 81/83/85 open: Wednesday to Saturday 11-19, Sunday 10-18

www.ex3.it

exhibitions

Francesco Carone 7 October-7 November 2010 A Sienese artist and one of the most interesting in the world of young Italian artists, Carone, through mediums that range from installation to sculpture and video, reflects on the theme of the transformation and circularity of the creative process.

Simon Roberts An exhibition featuring two projects by the English photographer, the first entitled We English and the second Motherland Homeland, regarding the themes of English and Russian identity respectively.

Charles Avery 17 November 2010-8 January 2011 The overflowing fantasy and astonishing creativity of the Scottish artist seems to know no bounds and is shown in the invention and meticulous description of a multitude of characters, divinities, scenes and phenomena whose make-believe and absolute peculiarity are quite dazzling.

(50 days of International Cinema)

in the now

50 giorni di Cinema Internazionale

An initiative offering the city festivals, retrospectives, premières, meetings, films in their original language, documentaries and art videos with continuous projections, from morning to night. The Mediateca Toscana Film Commission and the Fondazione Toscana Sistema coordinate, at the Cinema Odeon, a programme of 7 festivals of film genres and film research.

Cinema Odeon via de’ Sassetti, 1 for information: Mediateca Regionale Toscana via San Gallo, 25

www.mediatecatoscana.it

France Odeon 21-24 October 2010 national premières of selected art-house films by French directors

Festival della Creatività 21-24 October 2010 An initiative open to contemporary projects and creative forms of expression, an event organised as a series of conferences, performances and workshops involving both individuals and groups, and big names in the world of art, innovation, economy and culture. The fifth edition of the festival involves the entire city of Florence with events in many of the city’s cultural locations. The Festival della Creatività is a project of Fondazione Toscana Sistema, promoted by the Regione Toscana. www.festivaldellacreatività.it

Immagini e suoni dal mondo 31 October-2 November 2010 images and sounds from around the world, a series of ethno-musical documentaries and films

Cinema e donne 5-11 November 2010 a festival of women’s films

Festival dei Popoli 13-20 November 2010 a festival illustrating and promoting documentary films

Schermo dell’arte

22-25 November 2010 a festival featuring films on the subject of contemporary art

Florence Queer Festival

26 November-2 December 2010 a journey into the gay world as expressed in cinema, theatre, literature, photography, music and costume

River to River 3-9 December 2010 a festival dedicated to Indian cinema and films about India

Premio Nice Città di Firenze 10 December 2010

CAFFÈ CORSINI AND EX3 OF FLORENCE: AFFINITIES OF MODERN ART. Caffè Corsini embraces the modern art of EX3, the Centre for Contemporary Art in Florence, becoming the main sponsor for the year 2010-2011. A collaboration, between Corsini and EX3, full of affinities and with a common denominator: the promotion of culture through projects and events developed in a varied and creative way. With EX3, Caffè Corsini shares a natural inclination for travel and the discovery of always extraordinary tastes in every corner of the globe, though always from an unequivocal starting point: Tuscany.

photo Francesca Anichini

Dynamo, 30 april 2010

civic museums

The Musei Civici Fiorentini are made up of a varied and comprehensive group of collections. Their function is to preserve and exhibit the rich heritage of Florentine art, encouraging its enjoyment by the general public. Belonging to this cultural patrimony are some of the most important Florentine churches, religious buildings and numerous collections donated by collectors, artists and city institutions.

www.museicivicifiorentini.it

Palazzo Vecchio

Palazzo Vecchio was built in 1299 as the seat of the standard bearer and ‘priore’ and became a ducal residence in the mid16th century when Cosimo de’ Medici moved his family and his court there. A tour includes the Michelozzo courtyard, the Salone dei Cinquecento, the Apartments of Leo X and of Eleonora di Toledo, the Sala degli Elementi, the Studiolo of Francesco I. Not to be missed are Verrocchio’s Putto, Donatello’s Judith, Michelangelo’s Genius of Victory and works by Vasari, Ghirlandaio, Salviati and Bronzino. piazza della Signoria : every day 9-24, Thursdays and mid-week holidays 9-14 : 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

events Events around the exhibition Bronzino. Pittore e Poeta alla corte dei Medici, (Palazzo Strozzi, 24 September 2010-23 January 2011) • Series of lectures, Sala dei Duecento at 17.30 8 October 2010 James Bradburne, Antonio Natali, Carlo Falciani, Marco Ciatti, presentation of the book Bronzino rivelato. Segreti di tre capolavori 3 December 2010 Clarice Innocenti, Il restauro degli arazzi della Sala dei Duegento su cartone del Bronzino per Cosimo de’ Medici 14 January 2011 Daniela Dini, Restaurare il Bronzino: la Cappella di Eleonora e San Lorenzo 21 January 2011 Thierry Radelet, Elena Biondi, Alessandro Bovero, Daniela Russo, La Cappella di Eleonora a 360°: un approccio innovativo per la lettura e la diagnostica non invasiva at the end of the meeting participants may visit the Palazzo Vecchio Museum free of charge

• Guided tours 29 September, 27 October, 24 November 2010, 19 January 2011 at 17.30 reservation required 055 2469600 • exploration of the Bronzino paintings through interactive multimedia material, Chapel of Eleonora di Toledo

The excavations of the Roman Theatre in Palazzo Vecchio The Musei Civici Fiorentini increase the number of museums open to the public In 2010 work finished on the archaeological excavations beneath Palazzo Vecchio, excavations that unearthed the old Roman theatre (1st-2nd century AD), capable of holding 8,000-10,000 spectators. The inner edge of the platform of the orchestra and parts of the burelle (the walled radial corridors on which the semicircular cavea was mounted), including the vomitorium (the central corridor which provided access into the theatre) have reemerged. The discovery of a group of amphoras for food storage, broken and reused for water drainage, has made it possible to date the construction of the burelle to the imperial age; it is possible, however, that the original nucleus of the theatre dates from the period of the foundation of the Roman colony – at the end of the 1st century BC – and that it was later enlarged. Over the Roman remains, in successive layers, are structures from the medieval period (12th-14th centuries), such as wells, house foundations and other buildings. A street front has also been identified, with medieval portals and corresponding road paving, incorporated into the enlargement of Palazzo Vecchio in the 16th century. Silvia Colucci Visits by appointment only. The excavations are partially accessible to disabled visitors not in wheelchairs (and accompanied by carers), and are not accessible to children younger than 8 for safety reasons.

For information and booking: +39 055 2768224/2768558 www.palazzovecchio-museoragazzi.it

Santa Maria Novella Museum

The Museum includes the cloisters decorated between the 14th and the 15th centuries – including the Chiostro Verde with important work by Paolo Uccello – , the Cappellone degli Spagnoli (Spanish Chapel), decorated with frescoes by Andrea di Bonaiuto, the Cappella degli Ubriachi and the Refettorio with the late 16th-century work of Alessandro Allori. piazza Santa Maria Novella open: Monday to Thursday and Saturday 9-17; mid-week holidays 9-14 closed: Friday and Sunday, 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

temporarily closed

• Display of some of the tapestries from the series Storie di Giuseppe Ebreo based on a cartoon by Bronzino for the Sala dei Duecento Sala dei Gigli, 24 September 2010-23 January 2011

Rinaldo Carnielo Gallery

FLORENS 2010 Forum Internazionale dei Beni Culturali e Ambientali Palazzo Vecchio, 18-20 November 2010 Events and initiatives linked to the themes discussed during Florens 2010 www.florens2010.com

Collezioni del Novecento

The former home and studio of the sculptor Rinaldo Carnielo (1853-1910) now houses over three hundred of his works and some paintings by artists who were his contemporaries. Includes the Alberto Della Ragione Collection and the FeiRosai and the Palazzeschi donations.

Museum

Bardini

Stefano Bardini (1854-1922) created a museum in the building he bought in 1881 to house his antiques’ business. The recent renovation entirely reflects the character of the collection as it was when Bardini left it to the city of Florence in 1922. Among more than two thousand paintings, sculptures and objects in the applied arts are Tino da Camaino’s Charity, Donatello’s Madonna dei Cordai, Antonio del Pollaiolo’s Michael Archangel, Guercino’s Atlas and Pietro Tacca’s famous bronze Porcellino. There is also an interesting collection of medallions, bronzes, oriental carpets, 15th-century marriage chests and the precious armoury. via dei Renai, 37 open: Saturday, Sunday, Monday 11-17; group bookings Tuesday to Friday closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

www.museicivicifiorentini.it/bardini

Museo“Firenze com’era”

The collection of paintings, prints and models provides unique documentation on the history of Florence’s urban development from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century. via dell’Oriuolo, 24 For information on access: www.museicivicifiorentini.it

Salvatore Romano Foundation

The museum is located in the historic refectory of the monastery of Santo Spirito. The valuable collection of sculptures, architectural fragments and wall paintings, mainly medieval, were donated to the city in 1946 by Salvatore Romano, an antiquarian who designed the arrangement of the museum. piazza Santo Spirito, 29 open: Saturday, from April to October 9-17, from November to March 10.30-13.30 closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

exhibition abroad: United Kingdom

From Morandi to Guttuso. Masterpieces from the Alberto Della Ragione Collection London, Estorick Collection 12 January-3 April 2011 A significant selection of about 40 works from this extraordinary collection (from Collezioni del Novecento), temporarily housed in the Forte di Belvedere and now on show in London, includes paintings and sculptures by Carlo Carrà, Giorgio Morandi, Filippo De Pisis, Renato Guttuso, Marino Marini, Enrico Prampolini and Emilio Vedova.

This Lion, protector of the city and for centuries a symbol of its pride and independence, can today be returned to the Florentines in all its splendour. The restoration of the sculpture, which has taken more than a year, was sponsored by the Florentine Lions.

civic museums

focus / Stefano

City of the lion… historic animals at the Stefano Bardini Museum

It is enough to walk around the centre of Florence to understand how special and deep-rooted the city’s connection is with the lion. Representations of the beast are found in sculptures, paintings, heraldic symbols and bas-reliefs that decorate the façades of numerous historic buildings in the city centre. Many cities in the medieval period chose the lion as their symbol, embodying as it did the positive qualities of regality, strength and pride that were traditionally associated with the animal. However its presence in Florence is even more deeply rooted, for it appears constantly in the life of the city from the time of its foundation, two thousand years ago, through the centuries, notwithstanding historical and political changes, from the age of the commune to the period of Medici domination and right up to the present day. It would seem that the city’s very foundation took place under the sign of the lion, for it is said that the animal was represented on the standards of the Roman legion that founded the colony of Fiorenza in the 1st century BC. A lion also appears, albeit indirectly, in the legendary version of the city’s foundation, recorded by Gelli (1544): in this case the founder is indicated as Ercole Libio, a mythical hero whose iconographical attribute was a lionskin. However, it was the association with Mars, despite being inappropriate and the fruit of a misunderstanding, that would make the lion the talisman and symbol of the city. The god of war was the object of particular veneration in the Florence of the Roman age and was the titular deity of a temple just outside the city. Early Florentine chroniclers, and even Dante himself (Inferno, XIII, verses 143-151), mention the existence of an ancient and mutilated effigy of the divinity set up at the foot of Ponte Vecchio, to which were attributed magical powers and a protective function towards the city. From the name of Mars derived the word with which the Florentines were wont to refer to this simulacrum – martocus – which further corrupted to Marzocco and became the name of the lion that was the symbol of Florence. In the communal period the lion became the symbol of the ordinance of the primo popolo, created in 1250, figuring prominently in the iconographies of the twenty companies instituted on this occasion and embellishing the bell-tower in Por Santa Maria, at whose chiming the citizens belonging to the companies were called to arms. The figure of the lion stood out on perhaps the most representative monument of Florentine liberty, Palazzo Vecchio: above the entrance door, on the flagstaff of the tower, on the four corners of the building and on the ringhiera (the enclosure, no longer existing) built onto the façade in 1323 to house the Signoria during public functions. And so we come to the lion which is the subject of this piece. In 1349 the sculpture was placed above the main door of Palazzo Vecchio, decorating the pediment, together with another lion that was its matching companion. This event was subsequent to the flood of 1333, which, with the destruction of the Ponte Vecchio, had resulted in the loss of the figure of Mars that for centuries had been the city’s protector. Some 18th and 19th-century guides attribute the two lions, which were originally gilded, to the sculptor Giovanni dei Nobili, of whom unfortunately we have no records. Due to its poor state of conservation, in 1884 the right-hand lion, perhaps sculpted in 1527 during the restoration of the pediment, was replaced by a copy commissioned to the sculptor Angiolo Marucelli (though later executed by his son). In 1923, as part of a more extensive programme of restoration of the pediment above the main door of Palazzo Vecchio, the second lion, now in a bad state of repair, was also substituted. Of this original there is no longer any trace, while the right-hand lion, replaced by Marucelli’s copy, was moved to the Bargello on 31 March 1885, as a permanent deposit of the Comune of Florence, as documented in the inventory of sculptures. The same catalogue later attests its transfer, on 16 February 1915, to the Museo di San Marco. The restored sculpture is now on permanent display in the rooms of the Bardini Museum, dedicated to works belonging to the Comune. Antonella Nesi Curator of the Museo Bardini

alinari national museum of photography

he Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia (Alinari Brothers National Photographic Museum), managed by the Fratelli Alinari Fondazione per la Storia della Fotografia (Alinari Brothers Foundation for the History of Photography), includes a space for temporary exhibitions of historical and contemporary photography and a permanent exhibition space devoted to the history and the techniques of photography. A particular feature of the museum is the Museo Tattile (Tactile Museum) for the blind: for the first time, a museum space devoted to photography includes specially designed braille supports for “reading” the works.

piazza Santa Maria Novella, 14a red open: Monday and Thursday 15-19, Tuesday 10-15, Friday to Sunday 10-19 closed: Wednesday

www.mnaf.it

permanent exhibition: The origins of photography (1839-1860) The first images on silver plate made after Daguerre’s invention (7 January 1839), the first photographic prints taken from paper negatives, calotypes, through a selection of works divided by genre. The golden age of photography (1860-1920) In parallel with developments on a technical level, from the second half of the 19th century the genres already delineated at the origins of photography became consolidated, such as portraiture and the reproductions of works of art, responding to the vast demand for souvenir images by travellers to Florence. The advent of the avant-garde (1920-2000) In the 20th century photography became one of the expressions of contemporary art, developing an autonomous and self-referential language. This section shows examples of works by 20thcentury photographers who have enriched our visual culture with images that have become icons of our time. Images in transparency The history of photographic negatives illustrated through a varied series of originals, observable in transparency: from paper negatives to glass plates with different sensitization techniques, from the first attempts to produce colour with autochromes and hand-coloured glass slides to the film reels of the second half of the 20th century. Photographic collection: photo albums A rare and important collection of albums designed to “keep” photographs, underlining the value and prestige they were gradually acquiring. A great variety in both the size, materials and workmanship of the covers, as well as the inner pages bearing all kinds of photographs and decorations.

exhibition L’elogio del negativo. Le origini della fotografia su carta in Italia 1846-1862 Ville de Paris, Atelier de Restauration e Conservation des Photographies de la Ville de Paris, Fratelli Alinari. Fondazione per la Storia della Fotografia 9 September-24 October 2010 The exhibition is the first scientific study of the production of calotypes in Italy made by early Italian and foreign photographers. It was William Henry Fox Talbot who first introduced the negative-positive procedure that made it possible to obtain different positive images from a single negative, made on paper. The exhibition, focusing on four main genres – the photography of architecture, of landscapes, of works of art and of “pictorial studies” – displays a selection of works created by the Italians Giacomo Caneva, Domenico Bresolin, Stefano Lecchi and Vero Veraci, the Englishmen John Brampton Philpot, George Wilson Bridges, Calvert Jones and James Graham, the Frenchmen Eugène Piot, Frèderich Flachéron, Alfred-Nicolas Normand, Edouard Delessert and Gustave de Beaucourp, and many more.

Step by step: photographic equipment from 1839 to 2000 A fascinating survey of ‘the instruments of photography’, from the first rudimentary ‘camera obscura’ to the most sophisticated cameras that were developed after the Kodak revolution and the massive diffusion of digital photography. Eight thematic sections and nine monographs that make up the history of the development of photographic technique. Around photography A collection of headed notepaper, documents, postcards, advertisements and other media that show how photographers communicated and commercialised their activities and products: photography in unusual contexts − ceramics, glass, fabrics, jewels, furniture, everyday objects −, medals and certificates of merit, accessories and commercial products associated with the history of photographers’ shops, the relationship between the image and the context in which it is presented to the viewer through the frame.

piazza San Pancrazio open: Monday and Wednesday to Saturday 10-17 closed: Tuesday and Sunday, holidays and August

www.museomarinomarini.it

exhibitions Lucia Baldini from 17 September 2010 Photographs taken on the set of Carlo Mazzacurati’s latest film, “La passione”, in collaboration with FST, Mediateca Toscana Film Commission

Nadar 13 October-8 November 2010 during the Festival della Creatività

One-man show: Luca Rento February 2011

events Rewind 8-15 October 2010 Third edition of the festival of contemporary music, organised by Tempo Reale 12-20 November 2010 Permanent international workshop of the Beni Culturali e Ambientali in collaboration with Florens 2010 photo Francesca Anichini

marino marini museum

he Museo Marino Marini is an exhibition space devoted to contemporary art. Founded in 1998, the museum houses the collection of Marino Marini’s (1901-1980) own works, exhibits devoted to contemporary art and culture, and in-depth learning and training activities. It also collaborates with the Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery.

silver in the factory

a century of designs, shapes, prototypes and workmanship Visits to the Pampaloni factory show the original processes of design and manufacture of the historic and contemporary collections factory via del Gelsomino, 99 Firenze (visits by prior appointment)

tel. 055 289094

shop via Porta Rossa, 99r Firenze www.pampaloni.com

medici villas

Villa medicea di Poggio a Caiano

original owner: Lorenzo il Magnifico architecture: the villa was built to a plan by Giuliano da Sangallo and reflects the humanist trends in architecture inspired by classical antiquity. After an initial phase of work (1485-1492) the building was finally completed in the second half of the 16th century under Lorenzo’s son Giovanni, then Pope Leo X to see: the central salone decorated with frescoes by Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Franciabigio and Alessandro Allori piazza Medici, 14, Poggio a Caiano open: every day, in January, February, November, December 8.15-16.30, in March 8.15-17.30 (official summer time 18.30), in April, May, September 8.15-18.30, from June to August 8.15-19.30, in October 8.15-18.30 (after official summer time 17.30) closed: 2nd and 3rd Monday of the month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/poggiocaiano

ev en t Restoration of the Della Robbia frieze La scelta dell’anima until 30 November 2010 Restoration began early in 2010 on the frieze ordered by Lorenzo il Magnifico for the façade of the villa. The glazed terracotta frieze shows “La scelta dell’anima” and is attributed to Bertoldo di Giovanni and his assistants (c.1490-1494). The restoration workshop, in the room in the villa where the frieze is usually on show to the public, allows visitors to see the progress of the work during their visit. Meetings with specialists at work on the frieze illlustrate art historical themes, the techniques used and the methodology of the restoration.

Museo della Natura Morta (Still Life Museum)

The first Still Life Museum in Italy exhibits around two hundred paintings focusing on this genre, dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries and belonging to the Medici collections. To visit the Museo della Natura Morta reservations are required and can be made by telephone on 055-877012. opening hours: every day, January and February 9-10, 11-12, 14-15; March 9-10, 11-16; April, May, September and October 9-10, 11-17; June, July and August, 9-10, 11-18; November and December, 9-10, 11-15. closed: 2nd and 3rd Monday of the month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

focus / Villa medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Museo della Natura Morta

The new Still Life Museum – which opened in June 2007 in sixteen rooms on the second floor of the Medicean villa of Poggio a Caiano – is dedicated to still lifes and paintings with naturalistic subjects which come from Medici collections and now belong to the Florentine state galleries. The layout of the museum, originally conceived by Marco Chiarini and supported by Antonio Paolucci, was put in place under the direction of the present author from 2002. Over two hundred paintings are exhibited in an order that follows the development of the Medici collection of a genre that represents the themes and subjects of Nature. The works on display are for the most part paintings of flowers, depicted in great variety and imaginatively arranged (in vases, in garlands, singly and in small bunches), fruits and animals (illustrated also from a purely scientific view), but also include precious items and objects of everyday use combined with other elements of nature to form intense and refined compositions, sometimes loaded with symbolic meaning. The collection spans a period of time that goes from the end of the 16th century to around the middle of the 18th century, and represents the development of this pictorial genre particularly in its golden age, the 17th century. There are masterpieces by both Italian and foreign artists, who came to Florence thanks to the shrewd and well-informed patronage of the Medici, whose portraits, from Cosimo II to Anna Maria Luisa, are also on

display. In the museum of Poggio a Caiano the greatest artist of them all is undoubtedly the Florentine Bartolomeo Bimbi, represented here with 59 works, including his celebrated samples of fruits produced in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany: twelve exceptional paintings that with infinite detail and scientific precision illustrate the innumerable varieties of citrus fruits, grapes, pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, apples, figs and plums which, between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, were produced in the countryside and gardens of Medicean Tuscany (and which today have almost completely disappeared). The canvases are still contained in splendid frames carved with flowers and fruits made specially by the Dutch craftsman Vittorio Crosten. There are other paintings by Bimbi in the musuem which ‘photograph’ exotic, ‘monstruous’ or remarkable animals, seen through the eyes of an artist-scientist. The works by Bimbi are not the only surprises for visitors to the museum, which houses other important paintings by Willem Van Aelst, Felice Boselli, Jan Brueghel, Margherita Caffi, Giovanni Agostino Cassana, Filippo Napoletano, Giovanna Garzoni, Jan Davidsz. De Heem, Monsù Aurora, Bartolomeo Ligozzi, Otto Marseus, Antoine Monnoyer, Cristoforo Munari, Pietro Navarra, Mario de’ Fiori, Giuseppe Recco, Andrea Scacciati, Giovanni Stanchi, Franz Werner Tamm, and others. Stefano Casciu Former Director of the Medicean Villa and Still Life Museum of Poggio a Caiano

medici villas

Parco mediceo di Pratolino Villa Demidoff

original owner: Medici modified by: Francesco I de’ Medici (1568); Ferdinando III of Lorraine (1819) architecture: the Medici Villa, designed by Buontalenti and demolished in 1822, was inside a large park that, with its water games, automatons and fountains, was imitated all over Europe. The existing Villa Demidoff was adapted from the paggeria while the transformation of the garden into an English park was carried out by Joseph Fritsch in the Lorraine period to see: the park with its centuries-old trees; some of the aspects of the park of the Buontalenti period including the Colossus of the Appenines and the Mugnone grotto (Giambologna), the Cupi grotto (Buontalenti, 1577) the Casino di Montili (Cambray Digny, c.1820) and the chapel on a hexagonal plan (Buontalenti, 1580) via Fiorentina, 276 – Loc. Pratolino (Vaglia) open: Saturday and Sunday from June to August 10-19, May and September 10-18; Sundays only in April and October from 10 to 17 closed: from November to March

www.provincia.fi.it/pratolino

Villa medicea di Cerreto Guidi

original owner: Cosimo I de’ Medici architecture: the villa was built in 1556 as a hunting residence and garrison for the area, to a plan attributed to Bernardo Buontalenti to see: became a museum in 1978 and houses furniture and portraits of members of the Medici family during the 16th and 17th centuries; since September 2002 the first floor of the villa has housed a Historic Museum of Hunting and the Countryside, with an interesting collection of arms, mainly for hunting and shooting

Villa medicea di Castello

original owner: Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici (from 1477) modified by: Cosimo I architecture: the villa is one of the oldest suburban residences of the Medici family, restored, with its garden, in the 16th century, under the supervision of Niccolò Tribolo, Giorgio Vasari and Bernardo Buontalenti to see: the interior is not open to the public, but the magnificent terraced garden, considered by Vasari to be one of the most magnificent in Europe, is well worth the visit, as are Bartolomeo Ammannati’s Fountain of Hercules and Antaeus and the well-known Grotta degli Animali. via di Castello, 47 – Castello open: from November to February 8.15-16.30, in March 8.15-17.30, in April, May, September, October 8.1518.30, from June to August 8.15-19.30 closed: 2nd and 3rd Monday of the month

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/villacastello

via dei Ponti Medicei, 7, Cerreto Guidi open: everyday 8.15-19 closed: 2nd and 3rd Monday of the month

Villa medicea della Petraia

original owner: the Brunelleschi family; the Strozzi family modified by: Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici architecture: the building came into the possession of Ferdinando in the second half of the 16th century and it was the cardinal himself who transformed the small castle into an elegant villa, changes that were augmented in the following century by Giulio Parigi to see: the interior contains the late 19th-century furnishings and interesting decoration; the entrance courtyard, and later ballroom, with 17th-century frescoes by Volterrano; the formal garden planned by Niccolò Tribolo; the fountain with Giambologna’s Fiorenza, transferred from the Villa di Castello via della Petraia, 40 – Castello open: from November to February 8.15-16.30, in March 8.15-17.30, in April, May, September, October 8.15-18.30, from June to August 8.15-19.30 Open only upon staff availability. Please call before visiting closed: 2nd and 3rd Monday of the month

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/petraia

www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/cerretoguidi

exhibition

Villas and Gardens

Per utilità e per diletto. “Cittadini” in Villa

Discovering art and archaeology just outside Florence

Villa medicea di Cerreto Guidi

until 14 November 2010

curated by Giovanna Damiani until 3 October 2010 An exhibition dedicated to “living in the villa”. The exhibition looks back over the centuries, paying particular attention to the period from the 16th to the 19th centuries, from humanism to the post-unification period.

The 2010 edition of Piccoli Grandi Musei presents five gems just outside Florence, with a series of fascinating itineraries exploring architecture, furnishings, marbles, porcelain, botanical attractions and masterpieces by Botticelli. Thursday to Sunday 10-13 and 15-19 Information: www.villegiardinifirenze.it

Villa Corsini at Castello

Discovering the Villa and the Antiquarium

The Medici Villa della Petraia “Preziosi tesori in Villa”

The Garden of the Villa Medici di Castello

Admiring the collection of citrus trees

The Etruscan tomb ‘La Montagnola’ at Sesto Fiorentino Rediscovering the Etruscans

Museo Richard Ginori of the Doccia Porcelain Manufactory at Sesto Fiorentino “Omaggio a Venere”

mozzi bardini complex

n 1977, the Italian government acquired the complex of buildings that includes the Palazzi Mozzi Bardini, in Piazza dei Mozzi, impossible to miss when crossing Ponte alle Grazie heading towards the Oltrano area. The austere façades that stretch between Via San Niccolò and Via de’ Bardi give no hint of the extraordinary buildings they conceal: ancient medieval structures, once the property of the Mozzi family. The antiquarian Stefano Bardini purchased the complex in the late 1800s and proceeded to restore it in its entirety, accentuating its medieval characteristics; at his death, the property passed to his son and daughter, Ugo and Emma. Upon the death of Ugo Bardini the Italian government – and thus the Ministero per i Beni Culturali – acquired not only the entire complex of buildings but also the many artworks they contained, a treasure equal, in quality if not in quantity, to the bequest made by Ugo’s father Stefano to the City of Florence in 1922 and today on display in the city museum that bears his name. This is an immense legacy, conserved and augmented by Ugo as he continued his father’s commercial activities and indulged in a similar passion for collecting. The massive assets, now under the umbrella of the Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico, Artistico e Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze, consist of a great variety of objects from different historical periods and made in all sorts of materials, some originating in Florence and others sought out and purchased throughout Italy. The collection includes paintings, sculptures from ancient times to the 19th century, decorative architectural pieces, weapons, rugs, fabrics, plaster pieces, musical instruments, majolica-ware, examples of the applied arts in metals, and a great quantity of furnishings and furniture, all collected by Stefano and Ugo Bardini over more than a century. Today, portions of this extraordinary collection are preserved in many of the rooms in the Palazzi and in the garden that climbs the hill behind the the Palazzi to Villa Bardini, Ugo’s residence until his death. This extraordinary treasure has been restored over the last ten years, though much remains to be done, and is earmarked as the nucleus of the future Museo delle Arti Applicate e dell’Antiquariato (Applied Arts and Antiques Museum), a precious addition to Florence’s already exceptional set of national museums and designed to illustrate just one more aspect of the city’s rich cultural life in the 1800s and 1900s.

Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron

The Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron was founded in 1998 by the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze following the restoration project targeting the Bardini buildings, and the later purchase of the Fonte Lucente complex from the well-to-do Peyron family from Piedmont. The Bardini complex includes the 17thcentury villa at Costa San Giorgio 2 (home of the Museo Annigoni and the Fondazione Capucci) and the extensive Bardini Gardens, with its entrance at Via dei Bardi 1r. The Peyron complex, covering about 40 hectares, includes the villa at Via di Vincigliata 2 (Fiesole) and the Bosco di Fontelucente’s woodlands. Giardino Bardini via dei Bardi, 1r e costa San Giorgio, 2 open: January, February, November and December 8.15-16.30; March 8.15-17.30; April, May, September and October 8.15-18.30; from June to August 8.15-19.30 closed: 1st and last Monday of the month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December. For information on opening times and events, please consult the website

www.bardinipeyron.it

exhibitions La Grande Madre. I legni ‘non finiti’ di Giuseppe Gavazzi curated by Mario Ruffini and Max Seidel until 31 January 2011 The exhibition presents the most recent production of Giuseppe Gavazzi dedicated to the theme of maternity as a powerful generating force. In the archaic and primitive essentiality of the “unfinished” wooden sculptures the Tuscan artist expresses the enigmatic fascination of women and mothers, timeless and nameless austere female figures that blend in perfectly with the garden of Villa Bardini.

Caravaggio e la modernità. I dipinti della Fondazione Longhi curated by Mina Gregori until 17 October 2010 At the same time as the exhibition of the Uffizi and the Galleria Palatina commemorating the fourth centenary of the death of Caravaggio, Villa Bardini exhibits the Boy bitten by a lizard and a series of paintings from Caravaggio’s time owned by the Fondazione Longhi. The collection comprises rare paintings by the artist’s early followers, Borgianni and Saraceni, masterpieces by Caroselli, Caracciolo, Preti, and Ribera.

Museo Pietro Annigoni

The Fondazione Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze bought works formerly owned by Benedetto and Ricciarda, the children of Pietro Annigoni, in 2007. The museum, inaugurated in November 2008, houses more than 6000 pieces and is thus the world’s largest collection of Annigoni’s work.To begin with, the foundation intends to show an ample selection of the collection’s contents, including the best-known of the early self-portraits and various portraits of family members. Later, there will be other works or a permanent exhibition accompanied by a series of events and initiatives related to Annigoni and his world. costa San Giorgio, 2 open: from 1 October to 31 March, Wednesday to Friday 10-16, Saturday and Sunday 10-18; from 1 April to 30 September, Wednesday to Sunday 10-18 closed: Monday and Tuesday, 1 January, 25 December

www.bardinipeyron.it/annigoni

The Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi was established at Villa “Il Tasso” in 1971 following Longhi’s wish that his library, his photo archive, and his art collection “benefit the younger generation”. Longhi lived here until his death with his wife Lucia Lopresti (the author Anna Banti), who in turn left to the Foundation the villa with all its furniture and furnishings. Today, the Fondazione Longhi’s books (about 36,000 volumes), photos (70,000 items), and art collection (paintings, drawings, engravings, miniatures, and sculptures), plus vast archives, are at the disposal of scholars and students. The primary objective of the institution is to encourage and further the study of art history while keeping alive Roberto Longhi’s cultural legacy and the methods he devised. via Benedetto Fortini, 30 open: Library Monday to Friday 9.30-13, 14-17.30 by appointment

www.fondazionelonghi.it

Accademia della Crusca

The Accademia della Crusca was founded in Florence in 1582-1583 by five Florentines: Giovan Battista Deti, Anton Francesco Grazzini, Bernardo Canigiani, Bernardo Zanchini, Bastiano de’ Rossi. They were joined almost immediately by Lionardo Salviati, who drew up a cultural programme and a system for codification of the Italian language. Spirited meetings, jokingly called ‘cruscate’ (from ‘crusca’, coarse bran as opposed to fine flour), gave the Accademia its name, and it took as its motto a line from Petrarch, “il più bel fior ne coglie”, and adopted a rich symbology relating to grain and bread. From the very beginning, the Accademia welcomed Italian and foreign scholars and exponents of various fields of knowledge: besides grammarians and philologists, there were writers and poets, scientists, historians, philosophers, jurists and statesmen. The Accademia’s principal work, the Vocabolario (1612; enlarged and republished in numerous editions until 1923), while disparaged by critics for the limits it set on the use of “living language,” made a decisive contribution to the identification and diffusion of the Italian language and provided an example for the great foreign dictionaries. Villa medicea di Castello via di Castello 46

www.accademiadellacrusca.it

Accademia dei Georgofili

The Accademia was founded in 1753 with the purpose of contributing to scientific progress in agriculture and to the development of the rural world. Housed in the Torre de’ Pulci since 1932, it has an extraordinary library with over 70,000 volumes ranging from monographs to journals. Permanent and temporary exhibitions bear witness to the wealth of its holdings, unique in the history of agriculture. Logge degli Uffizi Corti open: reading rooms Monday to Friday 15-18

www.georgofili.it

Gabinetto Scientifico Letterario Vieusseux

On 25 January 1820 the businessman from Geneva Giovan Pietro Vieusseux opened his Gabinetto Scientifico Letterario in Palazzo Buondelmonti. A lending Library was added to the Gabinetto reading room in 1822. Many foreign and Florentine intellectuals became regular visitors to the Library and attended the evening salons. Among the finest, perhaps, were those in honour of Leopardi and Manzoni, who met here in 1827. The Gabinetto, later moved to Palazzo Strozzi and under the city’s financial management, has counted among its ranks figures like Tecchi, Montale, and Bonsanti, who founded the ‘Antologia Vieusseux’. The Gabinetto Vieusseux is still a vital institution in Florence, an active organiser of conferences and events and custodian of a rich Library and the Contemporary Archives established in 1975 by Bonsanti. Palazzo Strozzi, piazza Strozzi open: Library Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9-13.30, Tuesday and Thursday 9-18 Historical Archive Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9-14, Tuesday and Thursday 9-14, 15-18 Archivio Contemporaneo “Alessandro Bonsanti” (Palazzo Corsini Suarez, via Maggio, 42) Monday, Tuesday and Friday 9-13, Wednesday and Thursday 9-17.30

www.vieusseux.fi.it

Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere “La Colombaria” “La Colombaria” developed spontaneously from the meetings of a group of Florentine scholars who established the Academy in 1735. Today it houses an archive consisting of manuscripts, incunabula, 16thcentury books and letters, and a collection of drawings and prints. The Academy also publishes a journal entitled ‘Studi’ and the ‘Atti e Memorie’ appear annually. The library consists of some 10,000 volumes and includes the Devoto, Ravà, Procissi and Rodolico archives. via Sant’Egidio, 23 open: Monday to Friday 9.30-13.30

www.colombaria.it

academies and foundations

Fondazione Longhi

Accademia delle Arti del Disegno

The Accademia (initially the Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno) was founded in 1563 by Cosimo I de’ Medici under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. Among the first Accademicians were Michelangelo Buonarroti, Vasari, Bartolomeo Ammannati, Agnolo Bronzino and Francesco da Sangallo. Since its foundation the Accademia has excelled both as an Art School and as the preserver of the country’s artistic traditions. In 1784 it was reformed by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo who named it the Accademia di Belle Arti. In 1873 it was separated into two distinct branches, the Board of Academicians (Collegio degli Accademici) also known as Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, and the Teaching Institute (Accademia di Belle Arti). The Accademia, still active as a school, owns collections which include a variety of works of art ranging from sculptures to paintings, and furniture to tapestries, housed at the School’s main site and in other Florentine institutions. The Accademia’s Library, with approximately 6000 volumes, presents an important survey of Tuscan artistic culture from the 19th century to the present day. via Orsanmichele, 4 open: Monday to Friday 9.30-12.30

www.aadfi.it

The Accademia, in association with other institutions, offers lectures, book presentations, concerts, in addition to a series of exhibitions in the Exhibition Hall of piazza San Marco, with a particular emphasis on contemporary initiatives.

exhibitions Architectural Drawings

Artists: Franco Purini, Carlo Cresti, Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, Alessandro Gioli, Francesco Gurrieri, Roberto Maestro, Gianni Pettena, Paolo Riani 6-30 September 2010

One-man exhibition Ernesto Piccolo

curated by Giorgio Bonsanti 2-28 October 2010

Living with biodiversity November 2010

Per una classicità moderna/morfologia costruttiva

Artists: Nadia Benelli, Mauro Bini, Franco Bulletti, Emilio Carvelli, Desireau, Antonio Di Tommaso, Paolo Favi, Piero Gensini, Fabrizio Gori, Marcello Guasti, Gabriele Perugini, Franco Rosselli December 2010

One-man exhibition Sergio Papucci February 2011

natural history and anthropology museums

his prestigious institution, originally known as the Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, was founded in 1775 by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Hapsburg Lorraine to collect together natural artefacts and scientific instruments, previously kept in the Uffizi Gallery. It is commonly called “La Specola”, recalling the Astronomical Observatory which ceased to function in 1789. The institute now consists of six sections, or museums, located in palazzi throughout the centre of Florence, where items of quite exceptional naturalistic and scientific value are preserved. These include 16th-century herbals, rare 18thcentury waxworks, fossilised skeletons of elephants and collections of brightly coloured butterflies, giant crystals of tourmaline, Aztec artefacts, majestic wooden sculptures and even the largest flower in the world. The museums represent an impressive universe of nature, history, science and art.

Administrative offices: via Giorgio La Pira, 4 www.msn.unifi.it

Botany

This is the most important Italian scientific institution for the collection and preservation of plants. The museum houses some exceptional herbals, and artistic and didactic collections which include the still life paintings of Bartolomeo Bimbi and wax models of plants, fruits and mushrooms made in the 18th and 19th centuries. via Giorgio La Pira, 4 open: only by appointment telephone 055 2346760

Geology and Palaeontology

This museum exhibits the fossils of vertebrates that have been found in Tuscany over two centuries, illustrating the palaeontological history of the region, its palaeogeography and the progressive stages in the evolution of marine and terrestrial fauna. Among the items displayed is the skeleton of the oldest primate found in Tuscany. via Giorgio La Pira, 4 open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday 9-13, Saturday 9-17 closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

Mineralogy and Lithology

Anthropology and Ethnology

The oldest items come from the Medici collections and the 18th-century collection of James Cook, while others were collected by researchers and scientists in the 19th and 20th centuries. The American Indians, Lapland, Siberia and Indonesia are all represented in separate sections. The collection of musical instruments is significant. via del Proconsolo, 12 open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday 9-13, Saturday 9-17 closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

Collections of minerals, rocks and gems. Not to be missed is the large topaz crystal and an aquamarine weighing almost 1 kilo. Videos and innovative educational multi-media graphics describe and illustrate the museum’s collections. via Giorgio La Pira, 4 open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday 9-13, Saturday 9-17 closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011 Cristalli la più bella mostra di minerali al mondo “La Specola” extended until June 2011 Extended once again, this exhibition introduces the fascinating and little-known subject of crystals. For centuries these formations have been sought, collected, studied, and traded and have played an important role in economic and scientific history, in the evolution of culture, art and even medicine. open: Tuesday to Saturday 9.30-16.30, Sunday 9.30-18 closed: Easter, 1 May

www.mostracristallifirenze.it

Paolo Mantegazza (1831-1910) Paolo Mantegazza, a man of some importance in late 19thcentury culture, died on 28 August 1910. A doctor, anthropologist, psychologist, writer, political man and holder of the first chair of anthropology in Italy, he was the founder of the National Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology, today a department of the Natural History Museum in Florence. Testimony to his intense scientific activity and the dissemination of his ideas are the hundreds of published articles, monographs and novels and by the creation of other institutions that to this day operate in parallel with the museum: the Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology and its journal ‘Archivio per l’Antropologia e la Etnologia’, the Psychological Museum and the Anthropometric Laboratory.

“La Specola” On the ground floor is the Skeleton Hall where the skulls and complete skeletons of ancient and extinct animals are housed. On the first floor is Galileo’s Tribune, created in 1841. The second floor houses the zoological museum, providing an almost complete panorama of existing animals as well as a large number now extinct or in danger of extinction. The collection of anatomical waxes includes items of great scientific, and also artistic, interest; these continue to be consulted in the study of anatomy. In the Torrino of the Specola, the new arrangement exhibits important historic and scientific items including many from the Medici collections. via Romana, 17 open: Tuesday to Saturday 9.30-16.30, Sunday 9.30-18 closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

Botanical gardens (Medicinal Herb Garden)

The Botanical Gardens originated in 1545 as a garden of medicinal plants. Today the grounds cover an area of 3 hectares, with a series of thematic flower-beds, large hot-houses and smaller greenhouses. Itineraries are available for the blind, based on touch and smell. The gardens are also home to some monumental trees, several of which are over 300 years old. via Pier Antonio Micheli, 3 open: from 16 October to 31 March, Saturday, Sunday, Monday 10-17; from 1 April to 15 October, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10-19 closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

Obiettivo uomo

The photographic anthropology of Paolo Mantegazza Exhibition at the Anthropology and Ethnology Department of the Natural History Museum curated by Paolo Chiozzi, Maria Gloria Roselli and Monica Zavattaro 10 October 2010-31 January 2011 The Natural History Museum, the Anthropology and Ethnology Society and the Science Library of Florence University present a photographic exhibition, alongside the permanent exhibition, dedicated to Paolo Mantegazza. The decision to commemorate the illustrious anthropologist with photography was prompted by the fact that his theories can be illustrated through the thousands of images collected in the archive of the museum. Mantegazza made photography a method of observation and investigation into human reality and used it to document what he considered the fundamental aspects of the study of man: the morphology of the human body, the differences between populations, the functions of organs and psychic faculties. The exhibition consists of a selection of about 120 photographs taken by Mantegazza himself and his collaborators (particularly Stephen Sommier), or taken by others and collected by the anthropologist during his travels in Lapland and India. The exhibition is completed by an interesting assortment of 19th-century books put together by Maria Emanuela Frati, including the main titles that made Mantegazza famous both in Italy and in Europe.

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structure of the exhibition The anthropometric photos At the end of the 19th century anthropologists concentrated on the morphology and the proportions of the human body in order to examine man from a naturalistic point of view and in his relationship with the environment, identifying new methods of study of the variability between populations. Information was gathered on the physical characteristics of men and women of different ethnic groups, characteristics like stature, chest circumference, shape of the nose, cephalic index, skin colour, colour of eyes and hair. With the aid of photography it was then possible to obtain the actual image of subjects belonging to peoples that were difficult to reach. This was the birth of scientific photography, of which Mantegazza was a pioneer with the photos of Lapland (1879) and India (1881): the former, taken by his assistant Sommier, portray subjects frontally and in profile for an accurate assessment of their morphological characteristics, while others were taken by Mantegazza among the Toda, in the region of the Nilghiri Mountains, and in Sikkim, near the border with Tibet.

Obiettivo uomo

L’antropologia fotografica di Paolo Mantegazza

10 October 2010-31 January 2011

section 2 The travel photographs According to Mantegazza, a staunch advocate of an integrated approach to the study of man, the analysis of physical characteristics should be flanked by a careful examination of cultural aspects, fundamental for a correct evaluation of the differences between populations. During his travels, in addition to “anthropometric” images, he also collected images that portrayed the ways and customs of the peoples he visited: their methods of dressing, hairstyles, types of dwelling, means of transport, domestic utensils and working tools. The travel photographs therefore became ethnological photos, documents of cultural diversities. Evocative images taken in Lapland and India represent human subjects that are no longer stereotyped in anthropometric poses, but contextualised in their natural environments or reconstructed in the studio against painted backgrounds, dressed in traditional clothing and surrounded by objects of everyday use.

section 3 The study images of physiognomy and mimicry The interest and attention that Paolo Mantegazza showed for everything regarding man is also revealed in a series of photographs dedicated to the study of somatic traits and mime, which he considered the expression of inner nature, sentiments and emotions. Influenced by Charles Darwin’s book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872, Mantegazza used photography to fix facial traits, interpreting them in “psychological” terms, and to study the emotions through facial gestures, considered to be the consequence of the reaction of the nervous system to external stimuli. In his Atlas of the expression of pain he compiled a series of photographs taken of himself and others subjected to various types of artificially induced physical pain, documenting the mimetic responses to tactile, olfactory, auditory, gustatory and visual stimuli. Monica Zavattaro and Maria Gloria Roselli

natural history and anthropology museums

section 1

focus / exhibition

fashion museums and archives

Museo del Tessuto di Prato

via Santa Chiara 24, Prato open: Monday to Friday 10-18, Saturday 10-14, Sunday 16-19 closed: Tuesday and holidays

The Museo del Tessuto (Textiles Museum) of Prato was created in 1975 within the Istituto Tecnico Industriale Tessile Tullio Buzzi, as a cultural institution aimed at conserving the memory of local industrial production and acting as material support in the study of industrial textile design. Since 2003 the museum has been set up in the restored premises of the Ex Cimatoria Campolmi, a factory that was the symbol of textile production in the area and is perhaps the most important example of industrial archaeology in the province of Prato. exhibition route

The museum is organised into large thematic areas

The visit starts in the familiarisation corridor, a section designed to provide the visitor with the basic elements necessary for a technical understanding of all the other sections. The exhibition proceeds in the oldest room of the entire complex, dedicated to the historical collections. The sober and secluded atmosphere of the room favours an evocative and catalyzing approach to the subject matter. The display is completed by the presence of multimedia installations that illustrate the links

www.museodeltessuto.it

between the textiles exhibited and their corresponding historico-cultural contexts. The first floor introduces us to the ‘Prato, textile city’ section, dedicated to the most important stages of the local textile industry, from the Middle Ages to 1990. The development of Prato’s textile production is presented through archive documents, materials and machinery which illustrate the products, instruments and organisational models of the industry. The visit continues with the ‘Contemporanea’ section, which exhibits textiles whose technical, technological or decorative characteristics represent absolute

Museo Roberto Capucci

Housed in villa Bardini, the Capucci Museum opened in 2007 with a temporary exhibition entitled Ritorno alle origini (Return to Origins), which focused on a series of 12 sculpted dresses. This prompted the Fondazione Roberto Capucci to make Capucci’s work better known through thematic exhibitions. The rotating exhibitions use the rich archive of the Fondazione which, founded in 1951, includes 400 creations, 300 illustrations, 22,000 sketches, 20 notebooks, 150 audiovisual sources, 50,000 photographs and 50,000 press articles.

innovation at an international level. Here we can admire, before their commercial distribution, about 50 textiles produced by local companies and displayed without any indication of the single producer, as a collective instrument highlighting local production for cultural purposes.

activities The diffusion and promotion of the knowledge of local and international textile culture among an increasingly wide and diversified public is one of the main goals of the activities carried out by the museum.

costa San Giorgio, 2 open: from October to March, Wednesday to Friday 10-16, Saturday and Sunday 10-18; from April to September, Wednesday to Sunday 10-16

www.fondazionerobertocapucci.com

i n d ep t h

Florence is a city known all over the world for its art treasures, its museums, its culture and its craft workshops still capable of producing unique and extraordinary objects. And among the many attractions that it offers to visitors there are also special and unusual ones, like company museums and archives, fascinating places where, in memory of the past and as a stimulus for the future, the history of businesses and of products that have made Italy famous are preserved. Richard Ginori has his own museum, Emilio Pucci has a rich and extensive archive, and the Alinari museum recounts the history of early and modern photography. Among these special museums – worth dwelling on because they are an expanding phenomenon, and not just in Italy – is that of Salvatore Ferragamo. This was opened in 1995 in Palazzo Spini Feroni, since 1938 the historic seat of the Salvatore Ferragamo company, an enterprise known throughout the world for its shoes, accessories and clothes for men and women. The museum concentrates on the figure of the founder, Salvatore Ferragamo, and his incredible creations, women’s shoes, genuine works of art made from the end of the 1920s – when Ferragamo returned to Italy from the United States charged with success, and decided to settle in Florence – until 1960, the year of his death. If the story of this clever and courageous businessman, who was born in Bonito, a small village in southern Italy, emigrated to the United States and become famous in Hollywood making shoes for the stars of the cinema, isn’t already enough of a reason to visit the museum, then the shoes certainly are, handmade exclusively for actresses, queens, princesses, noblewomen, opinion leaders and prominent members of international high society of the time. They were, of course, no ordinary shoes, as one can imagine, but objects of superlative workmanship, where Ferragamo, like an avant-garde artist, experimented with materials, constructions and details, and came to represent, even before the birth of Italian fashion, the earliest example of Italian style in the world of international fashion. Over 400 patents document the creative fervour of a designer who was ahead of his times and who even today is considered by all, even his competitors, a fundamental reference point for women’s shoes.These curious and at the same time intriguing shoes are the point of departure for a journey exploring the many fields of fashion history, from the society in which it developed, to the clientele that gave it expression. In the museum, therefore, the permanent collection is not visible, but instead many exhibitions that draw their inspiration from the creations of Ferragamo to confront both old and new themes associated with fashion and shoes. It is no surprise that the theme of the moment is the elegance of Greta Garbo, one of the great stars of the 20th century, and her private wardrobe, rediscovered in America. Because innovation even in the choice of the argument or in the way of confronting it is fundamental for the museum of a business enterprise in the world of fashion. Stefania Ricci Director of the Museo Ferragamo

exhibition Greta Garbo. Il mistero dello stile until 18 October 2010 In 1927 Greta Garbo, “the divine Garbo”, and Salvatore Ferragamo, the “shoemaker of dreams”, met for the first time in Hollywood, with enough time to make a pair of made-tomeasure shoes. The diva returned to the shop for as long as it belonged to Ferragamo. The pair met again, in Florence, in August 1949: Garbo walked into the shop wearing a pair of cord sandals, “I have no shoes”, she said, “and I want to walk”. Two years ago, Garbo’s grandnephew, Craig Reisfield discovered a rich archive in the Ferragamo Museum and from there grew the idea of an exhibition analysing the Garbo myth and demonstrating the contemporary, minimalist, essential nature of her style, showing her personal wardrobe to the public for the first time.

fashion museums and archives

Museo Salvatore Ferragamo: quando l’impresa diventa storia

Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

The collection of footwear on exhibition at this museum, inaugurated in 1995, documents the entire working life of Salvatore Ferragamo, from his return to Italy in 1927 until his death in 1960. The museum highlights both the great technical prowess and the artistic flair of a master whose contribution to the brand “Made in Italy” was fundamental, and his relations with the artists of his time. The collection is enhanced by post-1960 production: every year, several contemporary models are given places in the Archivio Salvatore Ferragamo, from which the museum selects the materials for exhibit.

piazza Santa Trinita, 5 red open: Wednesday to Monday 10-18; in August, Monday to Saturday 10-13, 14-18 closed: 1 January, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

www.museoferragamo.it

Ready-to-wear collection, 1962.

Photo taken from the database of the Archivio Storico Foto Locchi. The Archivio Fotografico Foto Locchi contains the historic memory of the city of Florence with a collection of over five million images.

November

A new exhibition on the relationship between the city and Ferragamo.

stibbert museum

ow a Foundation, the Stibbert Museum came into being in 1908 on the death of Frederick Stibbert (1838-1906). According to the terms of his will, Stibbert left his art collections and the building where they were housed, located at Montughi, to the city of Florence. The bequest is now a rare example of a 19th-century house and museum which is still well preserved. In recent years, many of the original arrangements and exhibits, altered during the 20th century, have been reinstated. The creation of the Japanese armoury was one of Stibbert’s passions and he went on collecting up until the last months of his life, hundreds of objects that document the styles of armour and the splendid quality of edged weapons from the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. Today the collection is considered one of the most important in the western world.

exhibition Marriage chests until 1 November 2010 The small display of marriage chests in the Stibbert collection, organised on the occasion of the exhibition The Virtues of Love, continues.

Analysis for the restoration of the Japanese collection For some years the Stibbert Museum has collaborated with the principal restoration institutes of the Ministero dei Beni Culturali (the Istituto Centrale del Restauro in Rome and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence) to carry out research (in workshops or as individual theses) on the methodology best suited to the restoration of Japanese works, whether metal or a combination of materials. To this can be added recent research, with the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, in advanced metal analysis of Japanese edged weapons and sword guards, producing considerable surprises in our understanding of these objects and dating them more accurately.

works on loan • in: Principato di Monaco, Grimaldi Forum for the exhibition: Kyoto-Tokyo- Des Samourais aux Mangas until September 2010 A well-defined selection of arms and armour from the Stibbert collection is part of the exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum • in: Firenze, Palazzo Strozzi for the exhibition: Bronzino. Pittore e poeta alla corte dei Medici 24 September 2010-23 January 2011 Alessandro Allori’s Repentant Magdalen returns to Palazzo Strozzi for the exhibition on Bronzino and Florentine Mannerism • in: Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza for the exhibition: Domenico Ghirlandaio. Il Ritratto di Giovanna Tornabuoni September-October 2010 Two collections of Florentine coats of arms from the Stibbert Museum contribute to the Florentine ambience of the exhibition developed around Ghirlandaio’s painting

illustration Silvia Cheli

via Frederick Stibbert, 26 open: Monday to Wednesday 10-14, Friday to Sunday 10-18 closed: Thursday, 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

horne museum

www.museostibbert.it

n 1911, the English architect and art historian Herbert Percy Horne purchased Palazzo Corsi in Via de’ Benci to house his collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and furnishings in such a way as to recreate the atmosphere of a Renaissance home. Horne died in 1916, his collection (which in the meantime had grown to include more than 6,000 works)was left to the Italian State, creating a foundation “for the benefit of study.” Today, visitors see the Horne Museum as the English collector would have wanted them to: an elegant treasure chest of masterpieces of painting and sculpture (from Giotto to Simone Martini, Masaccio, Filippino Lippi, Domenico Beccafumi, and Giambologna), but above all as a home, decorated with precious items dating from the 1200s to the 1600s. In the heart of Florence, this symbol of the culture and art of the Renaissance is a space in which to relive the past and discover the customs, costumes, and art as they were in the Florentine Quattrocento and Cinquecento. In 2004, research, teaching, and temporary exhibitions were moved to specially equipped spaces on the basement level of the palazzo.

via dei Benci, 6 open: Monday to Saturday 9-13

www.museohorne.it

• in: Mannheim, Reiss-Engelhorn Museen for the exhibition: Gli Svevi e l’Italia September 2010-February 2011 An in-depth analysis of Swabian rule between the 12th and 13th centuries, in Germany, Sicily and Lombardy, to which the Stibbert Museum contributes some extremely rare 13th-century objects, spurs and sword pommels

casa buonarroti

uilt by Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger to celebrate his family’s fame, this fine 17thcentury palazzo, is now a house museum with a dual function: to bear witness to the efforts of the Buonarroti through the centuries to expand and embellish their home, to protect the precious cultural legacies it contains (including the valuable Archives and the Library), and to preserve rare art collections; and at the same time, to celebrate the genius of Michelangelo, by exhibiting many of his works, such as the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs, and alongside them the extensive collection of drawings. The museum holds annual exhibitions addressing themes that relate to the Casa’s cultural and artistic heritage and its legacy, as well as to Michelangelo and his times.

project

Nel nome di Michelangelo (In the name of Michelangelo) The project offers itineraries linking the Museo della Casa Buonarroti and the Santa Croce Monumental Complex. The two places have an important link in Michelangelo: from the masterpieces of the artist’s youth on exhibition in the Casa Buonarotti, to his place of burial in the church of Santa Croce. This initiative, begun in April 2010, also gives value to the history of the Santa Croce quarter with cultural and promotional activities. Among the lectures: 25 November Alessandro Cecchi, La tomba di Michelangelo in Santa Croce

via Ghibellina, 70 open: Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 9.30-16 closed: 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

www.casabuonarroti.it

calendar of exhibitions september 2010-february 2011 Una gloria europea. Pietro da Cortona a Firenze (1637-1647) curated by Roberto Contini and Francesco Solinas until 11 October 2010 By virtue of the link with Michelangelo the Younger, his friend and generous host during his stay in Florence, Pietro da Cortona (1597-1669) left important examples of his work in the Casa Buonarroti, including the fresco in the Camera della Notte e del Dì (room of Night and Day) and exquisite wood inlay work. These pieces, the impetus for the exhibition, while remaining in the 17th-century rooms of the museum, are part of the exhibition. The exhibition is particularly significant both for its presentation of previously unseen or lesser known pieces and for its unusual and innovative layout, showing paintings and drawings carried out by the artist before and during his Florentine period. From Italian and foreign collections, the works testify to the new artistic language of the Baroque developed in the Rome of the Barberini family and destined to travel throughout Europe: in the final section a sampling of previously unseen paintings, sculptures and precious objects illustrate the period of the late 17th century and the legacy of Cortona’s artistic language.

Bronzi per Michelangelo 9 November 2010-10 January 2011 Eleven life-size bronze reproductions of works by Michelangelo, from the Battle of the Centaurs to Moses and the Rondanini Pietà, produced by the Fonderia Artistica Ferdinando Marinelli, are displayed in the courtyard and exhibition rooms of the Casa Buonarroti.

Disegni di Leonardo e leonardeschi February 2011 An exhibition of around 12 drawings by Leonardo and his followers from the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.

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FRILLI GALLERY

SCULPTURE ART STUDIO IN FLORENCE SINCE 1860

www.frilligallery.com via dei Fossi, 26r 50123 Florence

+39 055 210212

There are few private art galleries in the world that can still bring new emotions to the visitor. But after 150 years the Frilli Gallery in Florence still does. Michelangelo’s Bacchus, a panel of Ghiberti’s Door of Paradise and full size replicas of many other museum masterpieces can be touched and caressed freely by the visitors’ own hands. This is a truly moving experience for lovers of Greek, Roman and Renaissance art. Frilli Gallery has always remained true to its mission: to bring “authentic” replicas of pieces of classic and modern sculpture to contemporary residences, villas, gardens, communal spaces, museums, public parks, and other suitable locations. Nothing has changed: the same quality of marble chosen by Michelangelo for David is carved in the Frilli Studio and the same lost wax process that Cellini mastered in bronze casting is employed in their foundries. Thousands of pieces are shown in the Gallery itself and many more are available on special order from the Frilli catalogue and collection.

galileo museum

focus

Filippo Camerota Vice Director Museo Galileo

Under the sign of Galileo: the new Museo di Storia della Scienza

After two years of closure for the radical remodelling and redesigning of its exhibition areas, the Museo di Storia della Scienza reopens to the public under its new name, the Museo Galileo. The reason for calling the extraordinary collection of scientific instruments and experimental apparatus gathered by the Medici and Lorraine dynasties over the span of three centuries after the great scientist are strategic. First, for the practical reason of giving the museum a name that is easy to remember – in fact, for years many foreign visitors have referred to it by the simplified but highly appropriate name of the “Galileo Museum”. Second, the new name marks the beginning of a new cycle in our institution’s history, eighty years after its foundation in 1930. Its original name, moreover, has changed twice over the years, in keeping with the growth of the institution. The name Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, adopted in the 1950s and unchanged until today, in fact clearly expressed the perfect equilibrium between the activities of museum and those of a research institute. To underscore this dual function, the name remains as a subtitle to the new title: Museo Galileo – Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza. The new era begins with the completion of the work of redesigning the museum, begun nearly thirty years ago by the current Director, Paolo Galluzzi. Third, the new name presents the museum as the logical conclusion of the worldwide commemoration of Galileo’s first astronomical discoveries during the International Year of Astronomy proclaimed by UNESCO. The Museo Galileo is being inaugurated just four hundred years after the publication, in March 1610, of the Sidereus Nuncius – the treatise that revolutionised man’s conception of the universe, decisively contributing to the advent of modern science. Fourth, but not least, is the need to highlight the importance of the Galilean legacy in the museum’s historical collections and in our institution’s research activity, never forgetting that our museum is privileged to conserve Galileo’s only surviving instruments. The new museum layout, with the collections arranged historiographically rather than typologically, clearly puts across this message. The museum offers a voyage through the historical and cultural context in which the Medici and Lorraine collections were formed; the places that housed them; the ambitions of the collectors; and the work of the scientists. For two reasons, Galileo is the fulcrum point for these topics. First of all, the collections of the early grand dukes exemplify the scientific environment surrounding Galileo at the start of his career. Second, the experimental apparatus and instrumentation collected up to the late 18th century show Galileo’s powerful imprint on progress in the physical and mathematical sciences in the modern era. The Museo Galileo is a place of the history of science which traces, around the representative figure of the great scientist, the history of a city that was not only a cradle of the arts but also a great capital of science. For nearly three centuries, the Medici and Lorraine were the protectors and patrons of astronomers and scientists, and their courts were the theatres of some groundbreaking events in modern science. The museum’s displays, curated by a team of specialists in the various disciplines represented in the collection (Marco Beretta, Paola Bertucci, Paolo Brenni, Filippo Camerota, Paolo Galluzzi, Mara Miniati and Giorgio Strano), trace the numerous scientific interests of the Court. They range from the first grand dukes’ cosmographic monuments to the Galilean experience – both extraordinary and dramatic – to the experiments conducted by the Accademia del Cimento on the premises of Palazzo Pitti and the research carried out by the Museum of Physics and Natural History founded by the Lorraine. To put across information, the new museum layout makes ample use of innovative technologies, providing visitors with specially designed portable audio-visual systems. Using these compact devices equipped with earphones, visitors can “navigate” through the museum, accessing all the information available in the multimedia catalogue: hypertext cards, biographical information, animations, and much more besides. The traditional explanatory boards and a brief printed guide also furnish the necessary information, although synthesised, for visiting the museum without using the multimedia guide. The elegant new layout, provided by Guicciardini & Magni Architetti − featuring large showcases lined with different colours for each room − has been designed to emphasise the aesthetic qualities of the objects and to make the visit a visually gratifying as well as an educational experience.

permanent exhibition First floor: Medici collection rooms I-IV After an introduction to the Medici collectors, the tour begins with astronomy, exploited by the first Medici who associated their sovereign power with the control of planetary motion. Cosimo I, in particular, by identifying his name with the word kosmos, promoted cosmographic research, celebrating it not only in his own collection but also in his city’s great buildings.

room V Cosimo I and his son Ferdinando I promoted the science of navigation in Tuscany, necessary to the Grand Duchy’s expansionist and commercial ambitions, and reinforced and enlarged the Port of Livorno.

room VI Another crucially important field of application of the sciences was the new military technology that radically transformed the concept of warfare, no longer a chivalric art but a mathematical science. The young Galileo made a brilliant entrance into this field with his first highly acclaimed instrument, the geometric and military compass, presaging the honours bestowed on him by the Medicean Court.

rooms VII-IX With his invention of the telescope and first astronomical discoveries Galileo left an indelible mark that, in spite of the Church’s condemnation, was consolidated through Medici patronage and the work of his followers.

Second floor: Lorraine collection room X After the decline of the Medici dynasty, the Lorraine government added to and showcased the collection, assigning it a special display area in the Imperiale e Regio Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale (Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History), situated in the vicinity of Palazzo Pitti

rooms XI-XIII In the 18th century, a fashion for spectacular scientific demonstrations swept through the educated classes, favouring the production of new educational instruments illustrating scientific discoveries in the fields of acoustics, thermology, optics, and electricity.

room XIV In Italy, only Giovanni Battista Amici, director of the Florence Astronomical Observatory, was able to make original optical instruments that could compete with great European production.

rooms XV-XVI With the affirmation of the experimental method in the 17th century, new instruments were used to explore the phenomena of nature, to discover the laws that govern them and to disclose realities hitherto hidden to the perception of the senses.

room XVII Equally important themes are the Lorraine commitment to the sphere of pharmacological chemistry and the new theoretical and experimental approaches that animated the European-wide debate on chemistry.

room XVIII The interest of the upper classes in experimental science created a new market for instrument makers who, along with oneof-a-kind pieces made for collectors, introduced a standard series of instrumentation designed for cultural entertainment and self-education in the domestic sphere.

galileo museum

he Museo Galileo (Galileo Museum) is heir to a prestigious tradition of scientific collecting that boasts nearly five centuries of history and centres on the importance attributed, by the Tuscan grand dukes, to the protagonists and to the tools of science. It revolves around the figure of Galileo Galilei, authoritative and much protagonist of astronomy and modern science.

piazza dei Giudici, 1 open: Wednesday to Monday 9.30-18, Tuesday 9.30-13 closed: 1 January, 6 January, Easter, 1 May, 24 June, 15 August, 1 November, 8 December, 25-26 December

www.museogalileo.it

n ot e “I grandi restauri” Major restoration projects have returned to their original splendour such priceless objects as the armillary sphere of Antonio Santucci and the globes of Vincenzo Coronelli, some of the most spectacular pieces in the collection. Santucci’s sphere in particular, a model of the Ptolemaic cosmological system, has once again become a magnificent testimonial to the astounding skill of the cosmographers, artists and craftsmen who contributed to the growth of one of the world’s finest collections. The armillary sphere towers at the centre of a circular hall evoking the geometry of the Ptolemaic universe, diametrically opposed to the elliptical room housing Galileo’s instruments, which in turn reflects the new geometry of the skies.

palazzo medici riccardi

alazzo Medici Riccardi is one of the most important buildings in Florence, due to its central position, its grandeur and beauty, because of the artistic treasures it conserves – notably, the celebrated Procession of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli – and because of the recently enlarged museum it houses. Palazzo Medici Riccardi is also the seat of various offices of the Provincia di Firenze and offers Florentine citizens and tourists a rich and varied programme of cultural events in both the city and its surrounding area: “Il Genio nel Territorio”, a series of theatrical events, readings, concerts, shows and much more.

via Cavour, 3 open: every day 9-19 closed: Wednesday bookings: 055 2760340

www.palazzo-medici.it

event avvenimenti

Anniversary of the foundation of the Biblioteca Moreniana 14 September 2010

conference Dall’arte antica all’architettura contemporanea: omaggio a Giovanni Michelucci 14 and 15 October 2010 Twenty years after the death of one of the most important masters of the 20th century, the Assessorato alla Cultura della Provincia di Firenze pays tribute to the architect Giovanni Michelucci. Scholars, architects, town-planners and sociologists debate recent changes to our local area, on the controversial relationship between tradition and innovation, between architecture and urban planning, between cities and communities, taking up again that dialogue with the great architect from Pistoia that was interrupted twenty years ago, yet is still so surprisingly contemporary. The architects Paolo Portoghesi, Franco Purini, Fabrizio Rossi-Prodi, Corrado Marcetti and Paolo Zermani will be among those speaking at the conference.

exhibition 48

An exhibition of original drawings by Giovanni Michelucci at the Biblioteca Riccardiana and at Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi houses two institutions of unique prestige at the local, regional and national level, the Biblioteca Riccardiana and the Biblioteca Moreniana, two libraries frequented by scholars from all over the world who come to Florence to consult the prestigious works kept here. This year marks the 140th anniversary of the foundation of the Biblioteca Moreniana and a study conference has been organised to mark the occasion. This is followed by an exhibition, set up in association with the Biblioteca Riccardiana, which exhibits the most highly prized pieces of the documentary and cartographic.

exhibition D’Annunzio e Firenze. 1910: l’anno della fuga in Francia 25 November 2010-25 January 2011 The exhibition commemorates the Florentine period of Gabriele D’Annunzio, and aims to give an idea of the city and its society exactly one hundred years ago. The exhibition takes place at Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

www.provincia.fi.it

Lettura Insieme (Reading Together) Il Genio nel Territorio

Interesting reading programme from September, featuring celebrated exponents of contemporary culture and science in some of the most evocative venues in the Florence area. Margherita Hack, Giuliana Lojodice, Paola Calvetti, Marinella Guatterini and Milena Vukotic are among those who will read texts by both Italian and foreign classical and contemporary authors. for information and dates www.provincia.fi.it/cultura

Musica Insieme (Music Together)

Il Genio nel Territorio

A cycle of lessons/recitals commemorating in Florence the bicentenary of the birth of Frédéric Chopin. Thanks to the participation of more than thirty municipalities, and together with the pupils of the specialization courses of the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, the higher-level courses of the Conservatorio “Cherubini” and the Orchestra Regionale della Toscana, the Provincia offers to residents and tourists a series of itinerant recitals in some of the most attractive locations of the Florentine area. September

5 September, Reggello 10 September, Rufina 11 September, Firenzuola 12 September, Certaldo 17 September, Pelago 18 September, Palazzuolo sul Senio 19 September, San Godenzo 22 September, Barberino del Mugello

Entry is free to all concerts

October

2 October, Impruneta 7 October, Pontassieve 10 October, Gambassi Terme 12 October, Certaldo 16 October, Greve in Chianti 17 October, Calenzano 26 October, Lastra a Signa 27 October, Castelfiorentino

November

4 November, San Casciano 20 November, Marradi

December

11 December, Firenze, Conservatorio Cherubini

for all other dates: www.provincia.fi.it

Cresce la cultura (Culture on the rise)

The Provincia di Firenze is promoting the development of culture with initiatives and events throughout the area. Thanks to the regional ‘Piano Integrato per la Cultura’, contemporary art, festivals, museums, painting and sculpture exhibitions are becoming even more accessible. A calendar packed with events and a commitment to supporting a resource capable of creating value: developing the Provincia and developing each one of us. Among the forthcoming events are a whole series of activities designed specially for youngsters in the local museum network. Among these are the museum network of the Mugello, Valdarno and Valdipesa. The Museo Manzi in Campi Bisenzio, the Polo Villa Caruso Bellosguardo, the Museo di Cultura Contadina Carmagnini in Sesto Fiorentino and the Museo della Paglia in Signa have organised activities associated with manual work and artistic techniques, like the working of straw and weaving. Museums, festivals and exhibitions of contemporary art: for example Musica dei Popoli (2-29 October, Florence). And again, for contemporary art: Beyond Media (25 November-10 December, Florence) and Tuscia Electa (until September, Greve in Chianti and San Casciano). for information www.provincia.fi.it/cultura

ʻMaestri Allievi Maestriʼ Il Genio nel Territorio

Provincia di Firenze

activities autumn-winter 2010

The “Maestri Allievi Maestri” initiative, conceived and promoted by the Provincia di Firenze, offers another opportunity to young artists by inviting a group of pupils selected from Fine Arts Academies all over Italy to attend a workshop with Maestro Arnaldo Pomodoro (November 2010, Premio Baccio da Montelupo). The first workshop of the “Maestri Allievi Maestri” cycle saw the participation of Maestro Enzo Cucchi, who was special guest at Vicchio for the Giotto prize.

richard ginori museum • museum of mathematics

Il giardino di Archimede. A mathematics museum

The Giardino di Archimede is a museum, the first of its kind, dedicated entirely to mathematics and its applications. The museum is organised into a number of interrelated sections, each of which functions as an independent exhibition. The first section houses the exhibition Oltre il compasso (Beyond the compass), the first created by the museum. With the aid of a series of working mechanisms and instruments, the visitor is introduced to the world of curves and the interactions of curves with science and technology, but also, in more practical terms, the presence of curves in the construction and functioning of everyday objects. Our exploration of curves begins with the simple line and the circumference and continues with conical sections, used in such sophisticated equipment as satellite antennae, telescopes and radio beacons. The last part of the section regards more complex curves and their applications. Some practical examples include the cycloid and its use in pendulum clocks, the spiral in the working of a sewing machine spool, the involute of the circle and the shape of teeth in gear mechanisms, and lastly fractals and their manifestations in the world of nature. For information on the other sections consult the website. via San Bartolo a Cintoia, 19/a open: Monday to Friday 9-13, Sunday 15-19 closed: holidays and the whole month of August

www.archimede.ms

exhibition Omaggio a Venere. Il culto della bellezza ideale nei modelli della Manifattura di Doccia curated by Rita Balleri and Oliva Rucellai until 14 November 2010 A homage to the Venere de’ Medici, the porcelain copy of the celebrated ancient sculpture, acclaimed from the time it appeared in the collection of Villa Medici in Rome (1576) and considered an exclusive model of classical beauty. Carlo Ginori, founder of the Doccia porcelain manufactory, also succumbed to the fascination of the Medicean Venus and around 1745 put into production a copy of it in white porcelain. The exhibition, through a group of sculptures in the Doccia collection accompanied by reproductions of engravings and selections from the writings of illustrious travellers, reviews other celebrated versions of Venus which, like the Medici Venus, found a place in the residences of the tourists of the Grand Tour: the Venus of the Shell, the Callipige Venus and the Venus of Rome, reproduced in plaster, wax and porcelain models.

Richard Ginori Museum

The historic collections of the ancient Doccia ceramics factory are on show in the Museo Richard-Ginori in a building that is one of the finest examples of early-1960s Tuscan architecture. The Richard-Ginori name identifies the two dynasties that guided the manufacturing enterprise: the Ginori in the 18th century and the Richard, from 1896 to about 1960. This hidden treasure at the gates of Florence, not to be missed by aficionados of the decorative arts and design, contains enormous sculptures in white porcelain, rare wax impressions of models by Foggini and Soldani Benzi, 18th-century fancy articles, majolica-ware garden seats, Liberty vases, ceramics signed by Gio Ponti, prototypes by well-known designers, and so very much more.

viale Pratese, 31, Sesto Fiorentino open: Wednesday to Saturday 10-13, 14-18; until 14 November 2010 Wednesday 10-13, 14-18, Thursday to Sunday 10-13, 15-19

www.museodidoccia.it

event First edition of the MANIfactory competition Organised by Legambiente and Richard Ginori 1735 as part of the Salvalarte campaign, and addressed to under-30 students of the Accademie Nazionali di Belle Arti, the competition which ended in July 2010 saw among the four winners two students from the Accademia di Firenze in addition to a special mention of honour. The competition invited participants to take on the design of objects in porcelain on the theme of “contamination” among the arts. The winning projects will move on to the mass-production phase at the Richard Ginori 1735 factory. lectures 16 October 2010 at 16.00 Fabrizio Paolucci, Il Mito di Venere dalla Grecia a Roma 6 November 2010 at 16.00 Mara Visonà, Il Grand Tour e la passione per l’antico

works on loan The Museo Richard-Ginori contributes 20 of Gio Ponti’s works to New York, Triennale

for the exhibition Expression of Gio Ponti 15 September 20109 January 2011

The museum exhibits early Etruscan, Roman and medieval artefacts which came to light during excavations in the area of Fiesole, as well as items donated by private collectors. As it began to grow in size, in 1914 the museum was transferred to a structure in the shape of an Ionic temple, designed by Ezio Cerpi and located inside the archaeological area. Reorganised in 1981, this also houses the Costantini Collection.

1795, the Museo Bandini was first housed in the church of Sant’Ansano. On his death the Canon left the museum to the Chapter of Fiesole. Not to be missed on the ground floor are some fine Della Robbia terracottas (including the Effigy of a Young Man, known as Sant’Ansano by Andrea Della Robbia) as well as some fragments of classical sculptures, inlaid furniture and marble bas-relief sculptures. Displayed in the two rooms on the first floor are paintings by wellknown artists (from Taddeo Gaddi to Nardo di Cione and Lorenzo Monaco) in addition to works dating from the 13th to the 17th centuries.

via Portigiani, 1, Fiesole open: March 10-18, from April to September 10-19, October 10-18; from November to February 10-14 closed: Tuesday from November to February

via Giovanni Dupré, 1, Fiesole open: March 10-18, from April to September 10-19, October 10-18; from November to February 10-14 closed: Tuesday from November to February

www.fiesolemusei.it

exhibitions until 3 October 2010

Stilling. Fiesole Area e Museo Civico Archeologico

Frank Lloyd Wright a Fiesole 100 anni dopo Sala Costantini, Museo Civico Archeologico

www.fiesolemusei.it

Primo Conti Foundation

The Primo Conti Foundation is housed in the 15th-century Villa “Le Coste” where the artist lived for many years. In 1980 the villa became the seat of the Foundation when a donation by the Conti family led to the establishment of a Documentation and Research Centre for the History of Avant Garde Movements. The Foundation has three sections: the Museum with the works of Primo Conti, the Archive and the Studio. The Museum (with 63 paintings and 163 drawings by the artist) and the Archive (housing many archives including those of Papini, Conti, Pavolini, Carocci, Pea, Samminiatelli) together represent a unique resource in Italy for the scholarly study and understanding of avant-garde movements.

fiesole museums

Civic Archaeological Museo Bandini Founded by Canon Angelo Maria Bandini in Museum

ev en t late November 2010 Premio Fiesole Narrativa Under 40 The Premio Fiesole, set up in 1990 on the initiative of a group of Fiesole intellectuals, has reached its nineteenth year. The jury will select the winner from among the books by under-40 authors published in the current year; year after year prizes have been awarded to many “great” young writers like Mario Calabresi, Sandro Veronesi, Paolo Giordano, Roberto Cotroneo, Silvia Ballestra, Ernesto Franco, Diego De Silva and Guido Conti. Over the years some very important names in the world of Italian culture have received the prestigious “Special Prizes”, among them Piergiorgio Odifreddi, Eugenio Borgna, Sergio Staino, Stefano Bartezzaghi, Luciano Ligabue, Domenico Procacci, Vincenzo Cerami and Raffaele Crovi. Other eminent figures, like Edoardo Boncinelli and Pier Luigi Vigna, to name but two, have been invited to the Premio Fiesole to meet the winners, transforming the evening into an interesting cultural event. To make the offer to the public more complete, the Premio Fiesole is enriched with a variety of supplementary initiatives such as book presentations and exhibitions of contemporary art and photography. www.comune.fiesole.fi.it

via Giovanni Dupré, 18, Fiesole open: Museo Primo Conti, Monday to Friday 9-13. Visits also on Saturday, Sunday and the afternoon, for groups by appointment Archivio della Fondazione, Monday to Friday 9-13, by prior appointment

www.fondazioneprimoconti.org

foreigners in florence

focus New York University in Florence at Villa La Pietra Villa La Pietra, the seat of New York University’s Florence programme was bequethed to NYU in 1994 by Harold Acton. The Villa houses the Acton collection with over 7,000 paintings, sculptures and other objects, and a library with about 12,000 volumes and 16,000 photographs. The Villa and its gardens are open to the public by appointment, tours take place in the third week of April and the third week of October. The university hosts the Remarque Institute seminars, the Graduate Studies seminars, the Acton Miscellany, the Season Events and the La Pietra Policy Dialogues. Places are by invitation only and spaces are limited. via Bolognese, 120

www.nyu.edu/global/lapietra

edited by Alyson Price

The La Pietra coalition to advance Women and the World and its second working session

The Coalition convenes at Villa La Pietra in October 2010. This is the second annual working session on the status of women that brings together a group of eminent individuals from a cross-section of professions and experience, including activists and leaders on the frontlines of progress for women’s equality. The Coalition, managed by Vital Voices Global Partnership with support from the Paul E. Singer Family Foundation in partnership with New York University’s La Pietra Policy Dialogues, convenes three working teams that analyze the status of women, political will and economic opportunities. The Vital Voices Democracy Initiative was created by the U.S. Government following the Beijing conference to promote the advancement of women as a U.S. foreign policy goal. It grew out of these efforts and has become the foremost non-governmental organization devoted to supporting and promoting women around the world. This year represents an exceptional opportunity for Vital Voices to evaluate how far women have come since Beijing, the progress that has been made and to identify challenges that remain. Particular attention is paid to the role that men, leaders in the private sector and religious leaders play in galvanizing political will and the importance of strengthening economic structures where women can thrive.

in depth Harold Acton and Florence In April 1986, a few months short of his eighty-second birthday, Harold Acton was awarded honorary citizenship of Florence at a ceremony in Palazzo Vecchio. The award was made by the new mayor Bogianckino, and although it was not uncontroversial (Villa La Pietra, it had recently been announced, was to be left to an American university) it very obviously gave immense pleasure to the recipient. As the trumpeters of the Comune, in their cute medieval outfits, raised their instruments to their lips and inflated their cheeks, a stage whisper was heard from the front row: ‘Ah, the band!’. This was Acton’s old friend and sometime publisher, Hamish Hamilton. What was especially gratifying about the award of cittandinanza onoraria was that it set a seal on what had been a lifetime’s love affair with Acton’s native city. As in any love affair, there had been periods of estrangement, some of them quite long: Acton spent the seven years immediately preceding the Second World War in Peking. It was on a brief visit to Florence during this extended Chinese sojourn, in December 1936, that he came to understand the depth of his feeling for the city of his birth. As described in his autobiographical Memoirs of an Aesthete, he was drinking Chianti with his friends Norman Douglas and Pino Orioli on the balcony of their house on the lungarno delle Grazie: ‘More glasses were filled to the brim while we watched the sunset from his window, Arcetri and San Miniato soaring ahead of us, a miniature from a mediaeval book of hours, and far on the left the hills beyond Pontassieve, pale purple grape colour, melting mildly away: a humanistic landscape if ever there was one. It had the divine innocent simplicity that is the essence of the greatest poetry and music, the same perfect harmony that was experienced by Dante and Monteverdi. The emotions of my childhood returned to me, as intense as any that I had experienced since. I realised that Florence had never lost its hold over me.’ Born at his parents’ villa of La Pietra in 1904, Harold attended the Florentine infant school run by Miss Penrose. During the holidays from prep school and Eton he returned with rapture to Florence, and when he was at Christ Church in the early 1920s he would sometimes bring his Oxford contemporaries to visit his parents: Evelyn Waugh’s friend Robert Byron, for instance, found the house the loveliest he had ever seen, ‘filled with priceless pictures, stuffs, bits of carving, statues, marvellous plate’. Harold took Robert to all his favourite Florentine haunts: Doney’s, the ‘tearoom where more whisky is consumed than tea’, and the nightclub Raiola’s. Poet, novelist, playwright, translator from the Chinese, biographer, memorialist – Harold Acton took a long time to find his true literary metier, which turned out to be that of historian. His most substantial achievement in narrative history was the two weighty volumes on the Bourbons of Naples, but he wrote at least two excellent books about Florence: The Last Medici, published when he was only twenty-seven, is an entertainingly scabrous account of the seedy and unprepossessing Grand Dukes Cosimo III and Giangastone; The Pazzi Conspiracy, written in his seventy-fourth year, relates the attempted assassination of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In addition, many of his short stories are set in Florence, based on the tittle-tattle of the famously poison-tongued Anglo-Florentines. In the Prologue to his collection The Soul’s Gymnasium and other stories (1982) he looked back with a certain affection on his Anglo-Florentine subject-matter: ‘During the first decade of this century, Florence had a large colony of international expatriates which two world wars, a xenophobic interlude, post-war restrictions and recessions have slowly but surely reduced to a fraction of its former strength’. Reduced as it may have been, the Anglo-American community in Florence certainly did still exist in the 1980s, and it regarded Harold Acton as its doyen. Occasionally he spoke publicly in its name, as for example in raising money to compensate the victims of the 1966 flood, or in his support for the environmental activists of Firenze Viva; more often he maintained a low profile, benevolently overseeing the affairs of the British Institute, putting up visiting members of the royal family, and allowing streams of visitors to traipse through his house and gardens. At the Teatro della Pergola’s afternoon concerts he was a familiar sight in the foyer, with his distinctive forward-leaning gait and singsong intonation, his face wreathed in Chinese smiles as he politely fended off the unwanted attentions of the importunate. Mark Roberts

European University Institute

The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate teaching and research institute established in 1972 by the six founding Member States of the European Community to promote cultural and scientific development in the social sciences, law and humanities in a European perspective. Lectures and seminars are organised with high profile figures on the international scene. Badia Fiesolana via dei Roccettini, 9 San Domenico di Fiesole

www.eui.eu

The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti is devoted to advanced study of the Italian Renaissance in all its aspects: the history of art; political, economic, and social history; the history of science, philosophy, and religion; and the history of literature and music. information from I Tatti The new Director, Lino Pertile, and the new Assistant Director for Programs, Jonathan Nelson, took up their positions in the summer of 2010

Founded in 1917 to promote cultural exchange between Italy and the Englishspeaking world, the British Institute today offers a comprehensive programme of courses in the Italian language, the English language and history of art, as well as a wide range of cultural events. The extensive library is open to the public by subscription.

French Institute in Florence

The French Institute in Florence, the oldest in the world and established in 1907, is part of the French State and of the cultural network of the French Embassy in Italy. It is located in the 15th-century Palazzo Lenzi and for over a century it has constantly maintained an active cultural policy and developed its unique library and newspaper library.

Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz

Founded in 1897, is one of the oldest research institutions dedicated to the History of Art and Architecture in Italy. The Institute's resources include the library with over 300,000 volumes, 940 ongoing journal subscriptions, and one of the most wide-ranging photographic libraries on Italian art, at the disposal of researchers from all over the world. via Giuseppe Giusti, 44

www.khi.fi.it

piazza Ognissanti, 2

www.france-italia.it

lungarno Guicciardini, 9

www.britishinstitute.it

activities Cultural Programme A series of public lectures held each Wednesday at 18.00 The autumn season includes, on 20 October, James Bradburne talking about the Bronzino exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi.

Dutch Institute for the History of Art

Founded in 1958 the Dutch Institute for the History of Art has an extensive and specialised library with a prestigious collection of critical texts on the history of art and culture. The main areas of specialization are Italian art and the art of the Netherlands. Particular attention is devoted to artistic exchanges between northern and southern Europe. viale Torricelli, 5

www.iuoart.org

Villa Finaly/ Université de Paris Given to the University of Paris by the Landau-Finaly family in1953, the Villa hosts conferences and international meetings organised with Italian universities. Academic researchers are regular guests at the Villa. via Bolognese, 134r

www.villafinaly.sorbonne.fr

US Study Abroad Programmes in the city

The programmes listed are a selection of those belonging to AACUPI (Association of American College and University Programs in Italy). Associated Colleges of the Midwest www.acm.edu/ California State University International Program in Florence www.csufirenze.it/ Drake University Institute of Italian Studies Program in Florence (LDM) www.italyiis.com/ Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Florence Program (Polimoda) www3.fitnyc.edu/ Florida State University Florence Program www.international.fsu.edu/ Georgetown University at Villa Le Balze www11.georgetown.edu/

activities Festival della creatività 21-24 October 2010 The 5th edition of the Festival highlights France c/o French Institute and other spaces www.festivaldellacreativita.it Incontri in biblioteca Jean-Pierre Milovanoff, “L’angelo caduto” (ed. italiana Barbès 2010) 10 December 2010 at 18.00 Milovanoff, French author and winner of the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens in 1997, presents “Tout sauf un ange” (Grasset 2006) on the occasion of the first Italian edition, translated by Marco Lombardi c/o French Institute cinema Il tempo e la memoria: il cinema di Alain Resnais 8 October-5 November 2010 The 8th edition of the series, I grandi Maestri, organised by Jaures Baldeschi of the “Angelo Azzurro”, is dedicated to Alain Resnais c/o Ridotto del Teatro del Popolo, piazza Gramsci, Castelfiorentino (FI) 50 Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze The French Institute is participating in the following sections: France Odeon, 21-24 October 2010 www.franceodeon.com XXXII Festival Internazionale di Cinema e Donne di Firenze, 5-11 November 2010 www.laboratorioimmaginedonna.it 51 Festival dei popoli, 13-20 November 2010 www.festivaldeipopoli.org Jeudi Cinéma (French films in their original language) On Thursdays at 20.00, from 28 October to 27 January retrospectives on Juliette Binoche, Lucas Belvaux and Romain Duris, with CostaGavras’s Amen (2001) on 27 January (Giornata della Memoria)

Gonzaga University in Florence www.gonzaga.edu/ Harding University www.harding-firenze.org/ James Madison University Florence Programs at Palazzo Capponi www.jmu.edu/international/ Kent State University, Florence Program www.kent.edu/oia/StudyAbroad/Florence.cfm Middlebury College School in Italy www.middlebury.edu/ Pepperdine University http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/ Richmond, the American International University in London – Florence Program www.richmond.ac.uk/undergraduates/florence.asp Roger Williams University (Institute at Palazzo Rucellai) www.palazzorucellai.org/ Rutgers University Study Abroad Program in Florence http://studyabroad.rutgers.edu/

foreigners in florence

British Institute of Florence The Harold Acton Library

Istituto Internazionale Andrej Tarkovskij

The Istituto opened in Florence in 1992 with the aim of making Tarkovskij’s work better known in Italy and in Florence in particular, a city he loved and where he chose to live. Tarkovskij’s archive, including his photographs, is in the process of being catalogued. The Istituto organises conferences, initiatives, retrospectives and concerts inspired by the Russian director’s films and it will move shortly to its new space in the Murate. info@tarkovskij.com

Syracuse University in Florence

Syracuse University, one of the most well-established study abroad programmes in Florence, is housed in the Villa Rossa, built as a private residence in 1892 and bought by the university in 1963. piazza Savonarola, 15

www.syr.fi.it

16-25 September

event

ULTRA Festival della Letteratura 2010 The American writer George Saunders, guest of Syracuse, closes the ULTRA Festival della Letteratura 2010. The literary festival is directed by and geared towards poets, writers, artists and performers under the age of 40. http://novevolt.wordpress.com/ultra2010

Sarah Lawrence College Florence Program www.slc.edu/ Smith College www.smith.edu/studyabroad/florence.php Stanford University http://bosp.stanford.edu/florence/index.html University of Connecticut Florence Program (Institute at Palazzo Rucellai) http://studyabroad.uconn.edu/ University of Michigan – University of Wisconsin – Duke University www.unimwd.it/

Studio Art Centers International (SACI) Over 8000 US and international students have earned credits at SACI in Florence which is directly accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). On 18 November 2010, SACI inaugurates its new building at via Sant’Egidio 14, the SACI Jules Maidoff Palazzo for the Visual Arts, named after SACI’s founder and director emeritus. www.saci-florence.edu

children

Learning by doing

(L’arte dell’“imparar facendo”)

Children’s workshop

(La Bottega dei Ragazzi)

at the Museo e Istituto degli Innocenti age: from 3 to 11

Guided games in the nursery. Spaces are also made available for birthday parties.

A world of games and creative workshops where children, as in a Renaissance workshop, learn by doing. There are two programmes: Gioca e impara con l’arte (play and learn through art), with a museum visit and direct observation of work followed by practical activities in which children become artists; and Diritti in gioco (rights in play), concentrating on the rights of the child.. Among the workshops are: • Il putto in fasce (the swaddled putto) in search of places and works in the Institute that represent childhood, through a pictorial narrative of the lives of children in other times • Guarda che faccia! (look at that face!) presents Domenico Ghirlandaio and his history as a recorder of the Florence of the late 1400s, to stimulate children to develop their own selfportraits • Gli animali nella storia dell’arte (animals in the history of art) stories, anecdotes and symbols in art and the animal world to stimulate discovery of the symbolism of animals in art and the origins of fantastic creatures.

Monday to Friday 9-13 and 16-19, Saturday 10-13 and 16-19, Last Sunday of the month 10-13

booking: 055 2478386 bottega@istitutodeglinnocenti.it www.labottegadeiragazzi.it

The family in the museum (Famiglie al museo) Sezione Didattica del Polo Museale for families with children aged 8 to 13 Big and small children find out about the treasures of art and of history through thematic tours in Florentine museums. New this year: the participation of the Florence State Archive with an itinerary using medieval and Renaissance documents selected for families. Villa medicea della Petraia

Il giardino delle meraviglie 19 September at 10.15 21 November at 10 Galleria degli Uffizi

Hans Memling: un fiammingo agli Uffizi 25 September at 16

Galleria dell’Accademia

Virtù d’Amore. Pittura nuziale nel Quattrocento fiorentino 16 October at 9.45 and 11 Archivio di Stato

I riti del matrimonio nei documenti del Medioevo e del Rinascimento 23 October at 9 and 11.30

(open to those who have followed the event of 16 October)

Palazzo Davanzati

Il gioco e i bambini nel Rinascimento 23 October at 9.30 and 10.30 13 November at 10.30 Museo del Bargello

Piccoli oggetti preziosi che raccontano la storia 13 and 27 November at 10 Galleria degli Uffizi the illustrations on these pages are by Silvia Cheli illustrator and portrait painter. Her studio in Florence is open to the public by appointment 055 23090543 338 3324349 cheli.ritratti@libero.it

Il racconto del Natale nei dipinti della Galleria 4 December at 9.45 and 11 18 December at 15 and 16

Galleria Palatina

I personaggi del passato attraverso i loro ritratti 19 December at 10

Galleria degli Uffizi

Flowers in Art (in English) 22 January at 15 12 febbraio at 9.45

Villa medicea di Poggio a Caiano

Stranezze naturali nei dipinti del Museo della Natura Morta 22 January at 15.45 26 March at 15

Galleria d’Arte Moderna

“L’Italia s’è desta!”: il Risorgimento tra arte e storia 30 January at 10 12 February at 10

Museo degli Argenti

Gioie e gioielli alla corte dei Medici 30 January at 10.30 26 February at 15 Giardino di Boboli

Le Grotte dei Medici 20 March at 10 and 11 Museo di San Marco

Il racconto della Pasqua nei dipinti del Beato Angelico 10 April at 9.30 and 11 16 April at 9.30 and 15.30

booking necessary 055 284272 fax 055 2388680 Wednesday at 15-18 and Thursday at 9-12 www.polomuseale.firenze.it/didattica

8 October14 November 2010

Laboratorio Novecento To bring contemporary art and the most recent artistic techniques to a very young public (see page 6), organised in collaboration with the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe booking necessary 055 284272 fax 055 2388680 Wednesday 15-18 Thursday 9-12

(Il Museo dei Ragazzi) A collection of educational projects promoted by the municipality, offering a broad array of educational and cultural opportunities, with the participation of various museums. Over 40 activities, using drama, multimedia and hands-on interactive material.

activities in the Museo dei Ragazzi

in Palazzo Vecchio Quartieri Monumentali

•Scopri Palazzo Vecchio •Favole per i più piccoli •Teatro al museo •Atelier d’arte •Il cibo come cultura •Geografia al museo •Giochi di ruolo •Sala delle Carte Geografiche •Vita di corte •Tecniche artistiche •La storia del Palazzo

children

Children’s Museum

from October to May Activities last about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The Museo dei Ragazzi has different activities going on over the same day, it is therefore possible to choose more than one activity for children. Opening times: Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Sunday 9-17; Thursdays, 6 January, Easter Monday, 25 April, 2 and 24 June, 1 November, 8 and 26 December 9-14 information and booking: 055 2768224 fax 055 2768558 Monday to Sunday 9.30-17 www.palazzovecchio-museoragazzi.it

children

Workshops

at the Horne Museum The Education Service offers families workshops and visits to the collection

Ori e colori (Gold and colours) 25 September 2010 at 11 In collaboration with the Bottega dei Ragazzi del Mudi Discover the amazing collections of the tempera on gold paintings of the Horne Museum and try out the gilding technique using gold leaf

Gli dei in salotto (The gods in the drawing room)

Cerca il giardino nel museo (Look for the garden in the museum)

at Villa Corsini a Castello

2 and 23 October 2010 at 10-13 A game of discovery: looking for hidden nature in the pictures on show in the museum for the exhibition Virtù d’amore. Pittura nuziale nel Quattrocento fiorentino

ages 6 to 13 On the occasion of the exhibition Per Ville e per Giardini. Sorprese d’arte e archeologia alle porte di Firenze, fun visits to the collection, games for different abilities.

David e Golia e altre storie (David and Goliath and other stories) 9 October 2010 at 11 Acted out pieces taken from some of the stories painted on the furniture on show in the museum for the exhibition Virtù d’amore. Pittura nuziale nel Quattrocento fiorentino

Conversazione con l’artista: Paolo Staccioli (Conversation with an artist: Paolo Staccioli) 15 January 2011 at 11 Workshop meeting with the artist on the occasion of his one-man show at the Horne Museum

Artigiani in famiglia (Artisans in the family)

a series of 3 meetings for families with children aged 8 to 12 In collaboration with OmA, Osservatorio dei Mestieri d’Arte

Le forme del legno (The forms of wood) 6, 13 and 20 November 2010 at 10-12 and 16-18 Learn how a chest, the most important piece of furniture in a Renaissance home, is made, and try out inlay work

I segni della terra (The signs of the earth) 4, 11 and 18 December 2010 at 10-12 and 16-18 Enter into the world of Paolo Staccioli and discover with him the magic of moulding clay with your hands

until 14 November Sunday at 16-17.30 reservation required 328 1322034 firenzesottosopra@gmail.com

Detective dell’Arte (Art Detectives)

at the Museo Casa Rodolfo Siviero 19 September, 24 October and 21 November at 10-13 On the occasion of Palazzi Aperti, normal visiting hours will be enriched by guided tours and activities for families

Domeniche matematiche (Mathematical Sundays) at the Museum of Mathematics

Guided tours and surprises! The calendar of events is posted on: www.archimede.ms first Sunday of every month from October to May the activities are repeated on following Sundays, depending upon demand reservation required 055 7879594

illustrations Silvia Cheli

children

Obladì. Il Sabato dei Bambini

(Children’s Saturdays)

at the Oblate Library

25 September, 2 and 9 October 2010 first course 20 and 27 November and 4 December 2010 second course

From Arcimboldo to the comic (Da Arcimboldo al fumetto) ages 9 to 12 The two courses concentrate on some of the fundamentals of visual culture through an analysis of the paintings of the Four Seasons by Arcimboldo and an introduction to the language of comics In collaboration with the Associazione culturale DOUbLE SHOT September-October 2010

Letture ad alta voce (Reading aloud) ages 3 to 7 Readings of classic fairy tales In collaboration with the Associazione culturale Scioglilibro November-December 2010

Workshops and meetings for children and families In December workshops to make Christmas decorations that children can take home 14 November, 16 and 30 December 2010

“Florence for family”

at the Museo di Storia Naturale and the Museo Galileo for children over 6 years old Through workshops, games and guide tours children take a journey in Nature and in the world of Science, among animals, skeletons and old scientific instruments

In biblioteca con le marionette! (In the library with puppets!) Shows, readings and animations Associazione culturale Teatrolà

Museo di Storia Naturale Sezione di Zoologia “La Specola”

www.bibliotecadelleoblate.it

• Giocamuseo

Birthdays

at the Museo e Istituto Fiorentino di Preistoria Celebrate a birthday in the Museum and get to know prehistory better. A guide takes the children around some of the cases and allows them to touch some of the objects. At the end of the visit children join in the chosen workshop among the many offered by the Museum. During the winter the Museum also organises treasure hunts designed for different age groups (ages 5 to 12). booking 055 295159 info@museofiorentinopreistoria.it

Museo Galileo • Gli strumenti di Galileo (Galileo’s instruments)

An entertaining Gioco dell’Oca with routes defined by numbered cards in the cases with one or two questions: watch out for the answer, who makes a mistake pays!

until 11 December Saturdays 16-17.30 (excluding the 3rd Saturday of the month)

• Magnifici denti (Magnificent teeth)

Galileo explains how a telescope is made and how it works and talks about his first observations of the sky. There follows an exploration of the camera obscura and the large format camera. unitl December Saturdays 10.30-12 (excluding the 3rd Saturday of the month)

• Leonardo artista e scienziato

In the Salone degli Scheletri (Skeleton Hall) the teeth of vertebrates help to explain their habits, their ways of life and the links between diet and environment.

in September and November Sundays 10.30-12 (excluding the 3rd Sunday of the month)

• Sulle tracce degli animali (On the track of animals) The Museum is transformed into a wood where animals have left signs of their presence. Finding these traces and discovering who left them is a job for young detectives of nature.

(Leonardo artist and scientist) A gripping journey in the science of drawing and painting: the secrets of the rebus of Leonardo are uncovered and games and optical experiments help to explain the techniques and understanding of Renaissance painters.

until December Sundays 16-17.30 (excluding the 3rd Sunday of the month; in October the workshop also takes place on the last Sunday of the month)

in October and December Sundays 10.30-12 (excluding the 3rd Sunday of the month)

weekends until December 2010 workshops last 1 hour and 30 minutes booking advised 055 294883 prenotazioni@operalaboratori.com

architecture walks

hese architecture walks offer fascinating insights into the city beyond, or immediately within, the ‘viali di circonvallazione’, the ring-road encircling the city centre. The walks explore un-monumentalized areas of the contemporary urban fabric, generally far from tourist traffic. This is the city of today, although there are also hints of what the city has been, will be, or could have been. The buildings en route have been chosen not on the basis of any stylistic criteria or critical judgement, but rather because they represent episodes in the history of architecture that have been important for their impact, both visual and otherwise, in the corresponding urban context.

In and around Gavinana-Sorgane

The bird’s-eye view of Luigi Zumkeller – made at the time of the revision of the town-planning scheme of 1924 (the second after that of Poggi for Florence as the capital city of Italy in 1865) – shows major urban transformations. Compiled in 1915 and made available for public use in 1924, the ‘Bellincioni’ scheme (from the name of the engineer then at the head of the Ufficio Strade del Comune) attempted to tackle the main problems of the post-war period: responding to the housing shortage (already by 1870 the city had registered an increase of 80,000 units, increasing by another 50,000 in 1915), and stemming the ‘spontaneous’ growth of districts adjacent to the ‘viali di circonvallazione’, or city ring-road. A state of emergency, exacerbated by the incipient economic crisis, which the new scheme responded to with an indiscriminate “filling” of the rural surroundings, as far as the foot of the hills, renouncing the instrument of expropriation and adopting the expansionist approach, described as “of a disconcerting superficiality”, of invading the residential fabric without the structural anticipation of preferential lines of development. Zumkeller’s view reveals the limitations of the plan: the city, traditionally associated with the architectural emergencies of the historical centre, bounded by the ring system of the walls/avenues, lost its cultural identity, spilling over in an undifferentiated urbanistic continuum. The effects of the Bellincioni scheme were seen also in the area of Gavinana. The entire southern sector of the city was the result of progressive acquisitions by Florence from the municipality of Bagno a Ripoli, which had begun during the time of work on Florence as the state capital. The city limits, previously coinciding with the circuit of the walls, in 1865 reached as far as Ricorboli, thus circumscribing the new district of Colonna; in 1971 they reached Bandino and Via Erbosa, incorporating the lands of Albereta (private property donated to the Comune in 1862, and intended for the new aqueduct); in 1929 finally reaching their present extent. The character of the residences is typical of the early 1900s: middle and lower middle-class ‘villini’, popular complexes for civil service workers and war invalids, including the socalled ‘trenini’, two-floored terraced houses which, however provincial their conception, are not without a certain dignity. Piazza Gavinana had become, by now, the epicentre of the district, and from here in the early 1930s departed Viale Giannotti, a new road lined with the neighbourhood’s first services and facilities.The Second World War resulted in a further enormous demand for housing. The new town-planning scheme of 1951 launched massive building campaigns, leaving green only Piazza Cardinale Elia della Costa, where in 1959, and emblematic of the increased size of the residential area, the Chiesa di San Piero in Palco (2) was consecrated, shortly after to be rivalled by the counter-attraction, at Nave a Rovezzano, of the Chiesa della Resurrezione (7). Compensating for the process of cementification was the allocation of the Parco dellʼAnconella (9) for public use in 1953. In the meantime, the cultural élite of Florence debated the residential question more openly with the proposal of a satellite town for 12,000 inhabitants at Sorgane (6), a project which on a reduced scale was executed in 1962 following the adoption of the town-planning scheme of Edoardo Detti. In 1964 the opening of the Firenze Sud motorway junction conferred greater importance to the whole area, making necessary the construction of the Ponte da Verrazzano (1) and, close to the main road of Villamagna, which had become an important access to the city, of a residential area for 5000 inhabitants (with works by Sica, Cambi, Montemagni, Gamberini and Macci) built in the aftermath of the flood of 1966 and where shortly after the new parish church of Corpus Domini (5) was built. At the same time the Ponte di Varlungo (8) relieved the plain of Ripoli of traffic entering and exiting the Autostrada del Sole, while new residential buildings combined with business premises lined the street fronts along Viale Europa. On the same street, in 2004, and serving as a ‘hinge’ with the historic Bandino area, the new Shopping Centre (3) designed by Natalini was built, together with the adjoining contemporary arts centre of Ex3 (4), the most recent buildings of a distinctly urban character in an area full of hardworking and efficient ‘local’ enterprises, like the Misericordia di Badia a Ripoli which in 1996 inaugurated the Cappella dell’Immacolata Concezione, built by Bruno Sacchi on designs by Michelucci.

1 Ponte da Verrazzano Lungarno Colombo-piazza Ravenna construction: from 1967 project: Leonardo Savioli, Carlo Damerini, Vittorio Scalesse

Built after the Florence flood, the bridge connects the district of Bellariva (right bank of the Arno) to the district of Gavinana (left bank). Its steel and reinforced concrete structure is 141 m long, with a single span of 113x26.80 m, and a maximum height of 12 m. The flanks widen into pedestrian terraces overlooking the river. It is dedicated to the Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first explorer to reach (1524) the shores of the Hudson, in the bay of New York, the site of the more famous Verrazzano Bridge. The allusion to the threefold connection Arno-Da Verrazzano-Hudson is celebrated in a bronze sculpture by Greg Wyatt, Two rivers, displayed in 2009 in front of the Sala d’Arme of Palazzo Vecchio and today in the Giardino della Primaziale of Pisa; there are plans to set up the sculpture permanently in the Parco dell’Anconella.

2 Chiesa di San Piero in Palco Piazza Cardinale Elia della Costa construction: 1957-59 project: Primo Saccardi

In keeping with the historicist style of Saccardi, the building has a central groundplan, with a cylindrical volume covered by a flattened ridged cupola in reinforced concrete, surmounted by a lantern. A crown of 16 artistic polychrome windows decorated with historical scenes allows light into the interior. The front portico, with its angular cusped profile which echoes the outline of the three doors, is reminiscent of medieval triptychs, and is flanked by side chapels with square groundplans: rising above the right-hand chapel is the belltower with four orders of openings, surmounted by the belfry. The outer surface of the edifice is in even courses of ‘pietra forte’, alternating with structural elements in bare concrete. In the early 1970s the original rectangular apse was converted into a chapel by the architect Don Marcello Peruzzi, and separated from the main hall by a polychrome glass division by Don Alberto Farina.

by Emilia Daniele

5 Chiesa del Corpus Domini Junction of via Reims and via Gran Bretagna construction: 1969-75 project: Alessandro Guerrera, Roberto Nardi

The new parish church, entrusted to the care of the Servi della Carità, was consecrated in 1975, in the centre of a then populous residential district. The building has a quality that bears strong similarities with the work of Giovanni Michelucci. In particular we see a return to the tent-like roof of the church of the Autostrada del Sole (1960-64), the interior surfaces left in bare concrete, the large profiled pilasters at once structural and distributive. The bare and essential exteriors are balanced by a refined study of the interior volumes and natural lighting, a fundamental component of sacred architecture. The tabernacle, the ambon and the organ (ca. 1985) were designed by the architect Lando Bartoli. Outside, the portico-overhanging roof joins the church to adjoining parish structures and the Teatro Reims.

7 Chiesa della Resurrezione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo Via Villamagna (Nave a Rovezzano) construction: 1965 project: Lorenzo Papi

The unusual design of the church was inspired by the spirit of the place. Through the roof – the compositional element that produces the effect of interior space – characterized by surfaces that form a continuum with the outer walls, the building resembles a ship, calling to mind the ferry which up until 1979 “forded” people and things between the two shores of the Arno. Its location in an outlying area of the city, despite the recourse to prefabricated components, is matched by the use of traditional materials like wood, glass, copper and iron. An excursion into the surrounding area, from Via delle Lame to Viale Europa, along the ‘paths’ so dearly loved by Ottone Rosai, conjures up a vision of the plain of Ripoli in the middle of the 19th century: “the plain, or rather the garden, the most delightful, flourishing and populated with villas, buildings and churches, of all those surrounding the beautiful city of Florence” (Repetti 1834).

3 Centro Commerciale

8 Ponte di Varlungo

Coop Gavinana

Via di Varlungo-via di Villamagna construction: 1971-76 project: Adriano Montemagni, Luciano Scali

Piazza Bartali construction: 1999-2004 project: Adolfo Natalini/ Natalini Architetti with Alessandro Chimenti, Massimo Vivoli

Formerly the industrial site of Longinotti Officine Meccaniche, in 1986 it was sold to the Società Il Bandino spa to be used as business premises. Following bureaucratic difficulties the area was occupied, from 1989, by the Centro Popolare Autogestito Firenze Sud, which used its buildings and warehouses until 2001. The new buyers, UniCoop Firenze, commissioned the project to Adolfo Natalini, who thus gave the neighbourhood this imposing shopping arcade complex incorporating a supermarket covering an area of over 3,000 sq.m, various shops, a post office, a bar, a pharmacy, a bank and over 1,100 underground parking spaces. The whole complex is enhanced by the newly created Piazza Bartali, underlining the importance of the ‘open space’ understood as an area for interrelation and connection with the neighbourhood, and by the dimensional and architectural quality of the building, which is faced in artificial stone the colour of cocciopesto and travertine.

This is the furthest upstream of Florence’s bridges. It connects the districts of Varlungo and Rovezzano (right bank) with those of Villamagna and Sorgane (left bank). The viaduct has a steel and reinforced concrete structure, with a single span of 127 m, is 375 m long and has a maximum height of 18 m. The project derived from reflections on a degree thesis, and has three functions: as a connecting road with the motorway junction of Firenze Sud, as a fast link between the city and the comune of Bagno a Ripoli, and as a simple crossing of the river Arno. It has two separate upper decks for vehicular traffic (technically known as a ‘two-way viaduct’, one deck for each direction), which are connected to and support a lower central road used for local traffic, with separate walkways for pedestrian transit.

4 Ex3 Centro per l’Arte

9 Parco dell’ Anconella

Contemporanea

Left bank of the Arno, between the Verrazzano and Varlungo bridges

Viale Giannotti 81/83/85 construction: 1999-2004 project: Adolfo Natalini/ Natalini Architetti with Alessandro Chimenti, Massimo Vivoli

Of the 27,000 sq.m redesigned by Natalini in the former Longinotti area, about half were given to the Comune. In this space there was a single parallelepiped volume with a ridged roof resting on slender metal trusses: a spacious, ascetic container (with a main hall of 600 sq.m and a number of minor rooms adjacent to it), easily usable and renewable, which immediately (2004) brought to mind European Kunsthalle buildings, dynamic exhibition centres ideal for temporary art installations, performances, meetings and workshops. EX3 (an abbreviation of exhibition and city district 3) fills an important gap in what Florence can offer in the way of cultural venues, being the city’s foremost Centre of Contemporary Art and making Gavinana a vital centre for international cultural exchange.

After the Cascine this park is the second largest public area in Florence (65,000 mq). Its origins date back to the groves of poplar trees from which the comune derived economic profit and from which the park gets its name. The green strip bordering the river flanks the shaded Viale dell’Albereta, which follows the sinuous line of the river bank from Piazza Ravenna to the Nave. Once called ‘Piccole Cascine’, in the course of the 20th century it has seen its green area gradually replaced by structural additions: sports and games facilities, refreshment and picnic areas and an outdoor amphitheatre. In 1989 a 1:5 scale model of Brunelleschi’s Cupola was set up here. On 5 June 2010, next to the municipal water purification plant, the city authorities opened the first public drinking fountain of sparkling water (H2O Gas), which it is now possible to draw off in glass containers.

Piazza Istria, vie Isonzo, Benedetto Croce, Livenza, Tagliamento

construction: from 1962 project: Leonardo Ricci, Leonardo Savioli and team (Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, Vittorio Giorgini, Ferrero Gori, Danilo Santi, Antonio Canali, Luigi Cencetti, Fabrizio Milanese, Gianfranco Petrelli)

The original project of 1957, coordinated by Giovanni Michelucci at the head of 8 groups of 37 architects, anticipated the building of a ‘satellite town’ for 12,000 inhabitants: a distinctly unitary and articulated urban system, spread out both in the plane and on the hill site, where a ‘second’ piazzale Michelangelo was supposed to have been built, connected to the first by means of a panoramic avenue. Following the withdrawal of Michelucci, and after a great deal of controversy and debate, the plan was drastically reduced (4,500 inhabitants) and approved in 1962, with the exclusion of any work on the hill. Coordinated by Ricci, Savioli and Ferdinando Poggi, at the head of 3 groups of architects, the new buildings were erected around the new Piazza Istria and the central “spine” of Via Benedetto Croce, at right-angles to Via di Ripoli. Drawing on the experiences of the most modern contemporary architects, from Le Corbusier to the Japanese Mayekawa and Tange, Ricci and Savioli aimed to go beyond the traditional concept of the closed apartment ‘block’. In this regard great importance was given to the network of pedestrian walkways, both at street level and above it, thanks to the design of buildings with communicating galleries and practicable terraces for communal use. The vitality of the buildings of Savioli was balanced by a greater rigidity in those designed by Ricci: the complexes of the former (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) are characterized by the use of the ‘in line’ or ‘gallery’ typology; volumes unified by the expressive use of bare concrete yet given character by the modelled treatment of the façades with overhanging balconies, profile-breaking jutting terraceroofs, protruding drip mouldings and windows framed in concrete relief: 9 prefabricated elementary components from whose combination derives the variety of solutions achieved. Ricci (responsible for the buildings known as La Nave and La Torre, the latter the only vertical building of the complex) instead favoured continuous masonry surfaces and compact volumes playing on the predominance of vertical (stair well towers) or horizontal elements (protruding balconies). The entire work is considered to be one of the most important achievements in 20th-century urban development in Florence.

8 7

5 4

Luigi Zumkeller, Panoramic view of Florence, 1934-36 (from: G. Fanelli, Firenze architettura e città, 1973, fig. 193).

architecture walks

6 Council flats of Sorgane

music in the city

An introduction to the music scene in Florence

Music has always enjoyed an intense relationship with the city of Florence, a special bond that continues today with an extraordinary calendar of musical events that makes it possible every day to enjoy recitals of an exceptionally high level or rediscover evidence of the city’s great musical tradition in numerous locations throughout the city. Suffice is to say that in the years around 1600 Florence witnessed the birth of melodrama, and that a century later the city declared itself the musical capital of Europe, thanks to the empassioned patronage of Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici, who promoted the construction of the forte piano and summoned to his court composers of the calibre of George Frederick Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti. A visit to what remains of the extraordinary collection of musical instruments belonging to the Medicean dynasty − the collection of the “Luigi Cherubini” Conservatory, at the Department of Musical Instruments of the Galleria dell’Accademia − may give an idea of Florence’s importance in the history of music. And a simple description of Florence’s present musical life also provides striking evidence of its richness, bearing in mind the size of the city – much smaller than large metroplises boasting a similar, if not actually more limited musical activity – and the progressive political and cultural barbarization that over the last forty years has excluded “cultivated” music from school curricula and from Italian culture in general. Excellence distinguishes various instrumental and choral groups based in Florence: the Orchestra and

Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the ORT-Orchestra della Toscana, the OGIOrchestra Giovanile Italiana, the Baroque orchestra Modo Antiquo and the L’Homme armé ensemble. As regards musical education Florence is well-served and second to none, having one of the best directed and most productive conservatories in Italy, the “Cherubini”, as well as the miraculous phenomenon of the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, together with a host of other academies and schools of lesser prestige: all institutions that regularly put on concerts by the teachers and most gifted pupils in their respective centres, museums or places of art. The various music festivals which the city offers provide a complete range of listening experiences: from opera to symphony music (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, ORT –

Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, Florence Symphonietta, Estate Fiesolana, and the nascent Festival delle Orchestre Giovanili); chamber music, to be heard not only at the Teatro della Pergola which hosts the regular events of the prestigious programme of the Amici della Musica, but also at other splendid venues traditionally used for recitals (Accademia

Bartolomeo Cristofori – Amici del fortepiano, Lyceum Club Internazionale di Firenze, Musicus Concentus); sacred music, from Gregorian chant to contemporary repertoires, which in addition to liturgical executions and sporadic productions can also be heard in periodic recitals (O flos colende, Sacrae Harmoniae, Accademia San Felice); Renaissance music, associated with the occasional foray into contemporary (AntiCOntemporaneo, concerts at the Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto) and Baroque (organised, among others, by the Department of Ancient Music of the Conservatorio Cherubini and by the Amici della Musica di Firenze); contemporary and electronic music (FLAME, Tempo Reale, Villa Romana); and lastly jazz and “cultivated” music of a non-European tradition. These highprofile initiatives are flanked by a multitude of other musical activities that it would be impossible to list in the space available and that represent, together with those mentioned above, an extremely rich and varied offer, further graced by the presence of illustrious musicians who live permanently in Florence. If this article has succeeded in stimulating the musical interest of our readers, causing perhaps the discovery of some unexpected and exciting aspect of the city’s musical patrimony, then it will have served its purpose.

Eleonora Negri* 60

illustration Silvia Cheli

*Eleonora Negri pursues an active career in the field of music and musicology. She is a researcher and teacher of music history courses, the author of published articles, a radio presenter and organiser of conferences and concerts events. Since 2003 she has worked at the University of Florence, teaching the Epistemology of Music, collaborating on the Degree Course in Philosophy and coordinating music laboratory activities.

L'antiquarium di Villa Corsini a Castello. Guida alla visita del museo e alla scoperta del territorio, a cura di Fabrizio Paolucci e Antonella Romualdi, Firenze 2010. Atlante archeologico di Firenze. Indagine storico-archeologica dalla preistoria all'alto medioevo, a cura di Mario Pagni, Firenze 2010. Il Catalogo de' bronzi e degli altri metalli antichi di Luigi Lanzi. Dal collezionismo mediceo al museo pubblico lorenese, a cura di Cristiana Zaccagnino, Napoli 2010. Studi e restauri. I marmi antichi della Galleria degli Uffizi, volume III, a cura di Antonella Romualdi, Firenze 2010.

Architecture, Villas and Gardens

Beato Angelico a Pontassieve. Dipinti e sculture del Rinascimento fiorentino, catalogo della mostra (Pontassieve, Palazzo Municipale 2010), a cura di Ada Labriola, Firenze 2010. Un capolavoro del Rinascimento. Pontormo, ritratto di gentiluomo, di Philippe Costamagna, Milano 2010. Caravaggio e caravaggeschi a Firenze, catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Palazzo Pitti e Galleria degli Uffizi, 2010), a cura di Gianni Papi, Firenze-Livorno 2010. Caravaggio e la modernità. I dipinti della Fondazione Roberto Longhi, catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Villa Bardini, 2010), a cura di Mina Gregori, Firenze 2010. Committenza e collezionismo nel Cinquecento. La famiglia Corsi a Firenze tra musica e scultura, di Donatella Pegazzano, Firenze 2010. Delio Granchi, scultore (1910-1997), catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Accademia di Belle Arti, 2010), a cura di Francesca Petrucci, Firenze 2010.

Architetture d'Oltrarno. Da piazza Giuseppe Poggi a piazza Santa Maria Soprarno, di Claudio Paolini, Firenze 2010.

La farmacia storica fiorentina. I “fornimenti” in maiolica di Montelupo (secc. XV-XVI), di Fausto Berti, Firenze 2010.

Frank Lloyd Wright a Fiesole cento anni dopo (1910-2010). Dalle colline di Firenze al “colle splendente”, catalogo della mostra (Fiesole, Sala Antiquarium Costantini, 2010), a cura di Roberta Bencini e Paolo Bulletti, Firenze 2010.

Firenze nascosta – 1. Beni storiciartistici, di Marco Ferri, Firenze 2010.

Le trasformazioni del paesaggio periurbano di Firenze, di Mauro Agnoletti, Ospedaletto 2010. Ridefinizioni urbane. Progetti per l’Area di Via Assisi a Firenze di Fabio Fabbrizzi, Firenze 2010. Ville e giardini nei dintorni di Firenze. Da Fiesole ad Artimino, a cura di Stefano Casciu e Mariachiara Pozzana, Firenze 2010.

Painting, Sculpture, Applied Arts

Francesco Furini e i furiniani, di Giuseppe Cantelli, Firenze 2010. Galleria Bellini. Museo Bellini dal 1750, di Luigi Bellini, Firenze 2010.

History La cultura francese in Italia all'inizio del XX secolo. L'Istituto Francese di Firenze, atti del Convegno per il Centenario (19072007), a cura di Maurizio Bossi, Marco Lombardi e Raphaël Muller, Firenze 2010. Cosmologie in lotta. Le origini del processo di Galileo, di Luigi Guerrini, Firenze 2010.

Giorgio Vasari, di Claudia Conforti, Milano 2010.

Firenze, crocevia di culture, presentazione di Claudio Martini, Firenze 2010.

Giuseppe negli arazzi di Pontormo e Bronzino, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Palazzo del Quirinale, 2010), a cura di Louis Godart, Roma 2010.

by Anne Markham Schulz

David Madden and Nicholas Spike; Introductory essay: John T. Spike

Il melodramma e la città. Opera lirica a Firenze dall'unità d'Italia alla prima guerra mondiale, di Marcello De Angelis, Firenze 2010. Oltre le mura di Firenze. Da contado a città metropolitana. Territorio, storia e viaggi, di Leonardo Rombai e Renato Stopani, Firenze 2010.

Parigi val bene una messa! L'omaggio dei Medici a Enrico IV re di Francia e di Navarra, catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Cappelle Medicee, 2010), a cura di Monica Bietti, Francesca Fiorelli Malesci e Paul Mironneau, Livorno 2010. Le pioggie a Firenze (1812-2007), di Emilio Borchi e Renzo Macii, Firenze 2010. Quelli dell'Amicizia. Il Circolo Svizzero di Firenze (1860-2010), di Alberto Breschi, Firenze 2010.

Racconto di due capitali. Firenze e Roma dopo l'unità d'Italia, di Attilio Brilli, Torino 2010. Roberto Ridolfi. Bibliografia, di Giuseppe Cantele e Roberto Sbiroli, Firenze 2010.

Salvate Venere! La storia sconosciuta dei soldati alleati che salvarono le opere d'arte italiane nella seconda guerra mondiale, di Ilaria Dagnini Brey, Milano 2010. Siamo onesti! Bettino Ricasoli, il barone che volle l'unità d'Italia, di Michele Taddei, Firenze 2010.

Firenze nell'età romanica (10001211). L'espansione urbana, lo sviluppo istituzionale, il rapporto con il territorio, di Enrico Faini, Firenze 2010.

“Un altro Lorenzo”. Ippolito de' Medici tra Firenze e Roma (15111535), di Guido Rebecchini, Venezia 2010.

Firenze nelle vedute e nelle piante. Studio storico, topografico e cartografico, di Giuseppe Boffito e Attilio Mori, Roma 2010. Firenze Radio Swing, Musica, orchestre e radio dal 1944 al 1952, di Fosco D’Amelio e Rosaria Parretti, Firenze 2010.

Viaggio in Italia. Da Venezia a Firenze, di Theophile Gautier, Milano 2010. Vie romee. Gli itinerari dei pellegrini nel contado fiorentino, a cura di Renato Stopani, Firenze 2010.

new books Centro Di autumn 2010

Leonardiana. Saggi e studi su Leonardo da Vinci, di Pietro C. Marani, Milano 2010.

Richard Anuszkiewicz Paintings & Sculptures. Catalogue raisonné

Medicea. Rivista interdisciplinare di studi medicei, 5, 6, 7 (febbraio, giugno, ottobre 2010), Firenze 2010.

‘Repertory of Dutch and Flemish Paintings in Italian Public Collections’. Vol. III Piedmont (2 tomes) edited by B.W. Meijer, G. Sluiter and P. Squellati Brizio In English Series directed by Bert W. Meijer

Francesco Albertini. Memorie di molte statue et picture 1510 Critical edition by Waldemar H. de Boer

English edition

Medicea. Rivista interdisciplinare di studi medicei Journal founded by Marco Ferri and Clara Gambaro

Four-monthly publication n. 7, October 2010

La Galleria di Pietro Leopoldo. Gli Uffizi al tempo di Giuseppe Pelli Bencivenni by Ettore Spalletti

Series ‘Gli Uffizi. Studi e Ricerche’ n. 20, edited by Antonio Natali

Edited by Arte&Libri

La Galleria di Pietro Leopoldo. Gli Uffizi al tempo di Giuseppe Pelli Bencivenni (‘Gli Uffizi. Studi e Ricerche’ 20), di Ettore Spalletti, Firenze 2010.

Woodcarving and Woodcarvers in Venice 1350-1550

In English

La vita di Michelangelo. Carte, poesie, lettere e disegni autografi, catalogo della mostra (Napoli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, 2010), a cura di Lucia Bardelli Ciulich e Pina Ragionieri, Cinisello Balsamo 2010.

Famiglia e memoria a Firenze. I: secoli XIII-XVI, di Leonida Pandimiglio, Roma 2010.

info www.centrodi.it

In English

Virtù d'amore. Pittura nuziale nel Quattrocento fiorentino, catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Galleria dell'Accademia, 2010), a cura di Claudio Paolini, Daniela Parenti e Ludovica Sebregondi, Firenze 2010.

Francesco di Marco Datini. L'uomo, il mercante, a cura di Giampiero Nigro, Firenze 2010.

Via dei Fossi, 32r, Firenze www.artlibri.it

Annigoni segreto. Momenti d'arte e vita privata di Pietro Annigoni, a cura di Emanuele Barletti, Firenze 2010.

Tapestries in the Acton Collection at Villa La Pietra, edited by Francesca Baldry and Helen Spande, Firenze 2010.

Ghirlandaio y el Renacimiento en Florencia, catalogo della mostra (Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2010), a cura di Gert Jan van der Sman, Madrid 2010.

Invisible Women. Forgotten Artists of Florence, di Jane Fortune, Firenze 2010.

Alle origini dell'arte nostra. La mostra giottesca del 1937 a Firenze, di Alessio Monciatti, Milano 2010.

Una gloria europea. Pietro da Cortona a Firenze (1637-1647), catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Casa Buonarroti, 2010), a cura di Roberto Contini e Francesco Solinas, Cinisello Balsamo 2010.

Firenze vecchia. Storia, cronaca aneddotica, costumi, di Giuseppe Conti, Firenze 2010.

a selection of books on Florentine art and architecture, published in Italy and abroad in 2010.

Amata città. Un progetto per il centro storico di Firenze, di Alberto Breschi, Firenze 2010.

Pregio e bellezza. Cammei e intagli dei Medici, catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti, 2010), a cura di Riccardo Gennaioli, Livorno 2010.

books about town

Archaeology

I mobili di Palazzo Pitti. Il secondo periodo lorenese 1800-1846. Tome II. I Ducati di Lucca, Modena e Parma Series and volume edited by Enrico Colle

in tuscany

a selection of exhibitions, museums and more chosen by VisitArt

Lucca

Lucca e l’Europa. Un’idea di Medioevo (V-XI secolo) curated by Clara Baracchini, Carlo Bertelli, Antonino Caleca, Marco Collareta, Gigetta Dalli Regoli and Maria Teresa Filieri 25 September 2010-9 January 2011 The exhibition celebrates the centenary of the birth of Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti (1910-1987), and focuses on the Middle Ages, a constant presence in Ragghianti’s historical and critical thought. The exhibits on display explore the theme of the dialectical relationship between naturalism and abstraction. Complex formal exchanges are illustrated in a range of materials and in widely differing expressive mediums: monetary art, examples of ivory sculpture and the goldsmith’s art, consular diptychs, fibulae of barbarian provenance and stone sculptures. at the: Fondazione Centro Studi sull’Arte Licia e Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti Complesso monumentale di San Micheletto via San Micheletto 3 open: Exhibition, Tuesday to Sunday 10-18 Library and Archive, every day 15-18, Tuesday 913 and 15-18 closed: Mondays

www.fondazioneragghianti.it photo, Francesca Anichini

Livorno

Michel Comte. Not only Women curated by Alessandro Perna, Enrico Stefanelli and Maurizio Vanni, with Archivio Comte di Zurigo and Lucca Digital Photo Fest 20 November 2010-23 January 2011 Shown for the first time in Italy the works of the artist best loved by the world’s fashion models and actresses who has reinterpreted the history of photography through an absolute mastery of technique, and at the same time has modified the predictability of portraits by proposing photos in the making. Not special poses captured with a click, but exceptional moments rendered eternally dynamic. Exhibited in the sections Not Only Bodies and Not Only Faces are over 50 female portraits that the Comte has produced in the course of his professional career.

Dubuffet in Italia curated by Stefano Cecchetto and Maurizio Vanni in collaboration with the Fondation Dubuffet 5 February-15 May 2011 Irreverent, unconventional and totally free of any preconceptions, for Jean Dubuffet the cultural art of museums and galleries didn’t exist: beyond the superficiality of the ordinary, the true artist should destroy the mask of the social, civilized man to allow the pure wild savage within each of us to find expression. The exhibition, for the most part new to the public, presents an assortment of documents together with about 35 works still in Italy, and identifies the artist’s links with the country through his own presence, the critical success he enjoyed and Italian collectionism. at the: Lu.C.C.A. Lucca Center of Contemporary Art via della Fratta 36 open: Tuesday to Saturday 10-19, Sunday 11-20 closed: Mondays and major holidays

www.luccamuseum.com

Giuseppe Garibaldi e i Mille: dalla realtà al mito curated by Aurora Scotti 10 October-12 December 2010 Granai di Villa Mimbelli Livorno – the land of many followers of Garibaldi and his glorious campaign, where “garibaldinismo” became rooted during the Risorgimento and in Italy after unification – today celebrates the 150th anniversary of its hero and the Expedition of the Thousand. A variegated iconography, the work of both well-known and popular artists, revives the historical event and illustrates the figure of Garibaldi who became the symbol of a Romantic ideal that was an inspiration to all social classes, represented an ethical and aesthetic ideal, was adored by women, seduced the masses and fired the imagination of poets and artists. His likeness and his heroic deeds were reproduced in figurines, on matchboxes, in tobacco shops, on advertising images, on postage stamps and, in South America, on banknotes; poems, plays, melodramas, hymns and popular songs were dedicated to him; he inspired artists like the Induno brothers, Fattori, Lega and Borrani and was commemorated in innumerable monuments. His legend entered the Symbolist world of Nomellini, Baroni, Bistolfi and Martini, and later he became the icon of anti-Fascism, was portrayed by Guttuso, and figured as a Pop subject in the paintings of Caminati and Spadari. at the: Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori Villa Mimbelli via San Jacopo in Acquaviva, Livorno open: Tuesday to Sunday 10-13 and 16-19 closed: Mondays, 1 January, Easter, 1 May, 15 August, 25 December

Pisa

L’antico Egitto ad Arezzo. Il corredo di una nutrice alla corte del faraone

Segni con l’odore del mare. L’opera grafica di Giuseppe Viviani, protagonista del ‘900

in collaboration with the Museo Egizio of Florence

curated by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi until 31 October 2010 An almost complete selection of the graphic works of Giuseppe Viviani (1898-1965): drawings, woodcuts, etchings and lithographs, but also plates, objects and documents borrowed from private collectors document the production of the Pisan artist. Engravings that resemble “stories” in a narrative structure ranging from the everyday life of men, things and animals to profound existential meditations. The “odore del mare”, the scent of the sea, is a recurrent leitmotiv that lends extraordinary force and originality to Viviani’s poetical achievement.

from 26 September 2010 An exhibition held to mark the occasion of the Giornate Europee del Patrimonio, focusing on the tomb furnishings of the wet-nurse of the daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh Taharqa. The objects on display illustrate three aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization: artistic production during the period of the 25th dynasty, that of the so-called “black pharaohs”, funerary customs and the cult of beauty of the ancient Egyptians. at the: Museo Archeologico Gaio Cilnio Mecenate via Margaritone, 10 open: every day 8.30-19.30 closed: 1 January, 1 May, 25 December

Le arti del XX secolo. Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti e i segni della modernità curated by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi and Alessandro Tosi November 2010-March 2011 One hundred years after Ragghianti’s birth, Pisa pays homage to the art historian with an exhibition celebrating some of the central themes of his work as a critic and of his contribution to contemporary artistic culture. The exhibition, embracing graphic art, architecture and cinema, is divided into three sections: •I segni della modernità, with engravings by Soffici, Carrà, Campigli, Reggiani, Maccari, Fontana, Capogrossi, Radice, Levi, Cantatore, Viani, Zancanaro, Santomaso, Manzù, Corpora, Minguzzi, Basaldella, Cassinari, Guttuso, Sassu, Turcato and Greco •Ragghianti and Le Corbusier, dedicated to Le Corbusier’s Florentine exhibition •The critofilms on Michelangelo at the: Museo della Grafica Palazzo Lanfranchi, lungarno Galilei, 9 open: Tuesday to Friday 10-14; Saturday and Sunday 10.30-18.30 closed: Mondays, 1 January, Easter, 2 June, 9-23 August, 25-27 and 31 December

www.museodellagrafica.unipi.it

in tuscany

Arezzo

Vinci Museo Leonardiano The museum of Vinci, the village where Leonardo was born in 1452, houses one of the largest and most original collections of his machines and models. Work on the renovation of the museum ended in May 2010 with the reopening of the Castello dei Conti Guidi, which now features a more accesible and modern display of the exhibits. The museum, a true centre of excellence at Vinci, can today house prestigious exhibitions and collections thanks to modern installations and facilities in keeping with a large museum complex. Structural work on the building extended also to the medieval tower from which one can enjoy the spectacular views that were drawn by Leonardo in his manuscripts.

Exhibition complex: •Palazzina Uzielli On display in the museum are models of construction machinery, textile machines and mechanical clocks; the exhibits are accompanied by images taken from paintings and manuscripts and by digital reconstructions that show how the machines worked. •Castello dei Conti Guidi Over 60 models of Leonardo’s machines together with the artist’s drawings and annotations. On the ground floor architecture, civil and military engineering, and studies of flying machines: the models include the flying machine and the aerial screw, considered to be the prototype of the modern helicopter. On the first floor is the large wooden model of the crane designed by Brunelleschi for the construction of the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore, and other intriguing models like Leonardo’s bicycle and machines for movement on land, in water and in the air. The optical room documents Leonardo’s interest in physical optics and contains studies that were undertaken to solve problems associated with the pictorial representation of three-dimensional figures, while the water room documents Leonardo’s studies on movement in water with particular regard to river navigation. at the: Museo Leonardiano di Vinci Palazzina Uzielli and Castello dei Conti Guidi, Vinci (FI) open: from March to October every day 10-19; from November to February every day 10-18