From the workshops of the Flemish masters to the ducal manufactory of the “Creati fiorentini” - In the Palace Pitti in Florence, in the rooms of the Palazzina della Meridiana,  an exhibition illustrating the birth of the Florentine Medici tapestry workshop. Curated by Caterina Chiarelli and Lucia Meoni, the exhibition illustrates the debut of the Florentine manufactory through a selection of tapestries, one or two for each of the chosen series, conserved in the repositories of the Pitti Palace and originally destined to Palazzo Vecchio and other Medici residences.
These are magnificent works, created for princely dwellings and intended to glorify the virtues and exploits of the rulers that inhabited them through the allegories and stories narrated in the tapestries.

From the time they were woven, the tapestries were always displayed for brief periods and then placed in storage, since this was an essential condition for their conservation. This is why many of them have recently been withdrawn from the various sites in which they had hung for decades, almost always in public premises used for diplomatic or reception purposes. In view of the considerable expenditure involved, the majority of these works have not yet been subject to restoration operations. In order to draw attention to this significant aspect of our Florentine historic and artistic heritage, we have decided to exploit the opportunity offered by the exhibition to display, alongside the restored or well-preserved works, others that are still in precarious conditions.
This exhibition, by casting light on the deplorable conditions of many of the tapestries of the Medici collection, is designed to elicit the assistance of possible sponsors.

Pitti Palace
Piazza Pitti , Oltrarno , Florence

Palazzina della Meridiana
opening date: 7-04-2008
closing date: 28-09-2008

Daily:
8.15 – 18.30 (April, May, September and October)
8.15 – 19.00 (June,  July,  August)
Closed on the 1st and the last Monday of each month, May 1

Ticket prices:
Full price: € 10,00
Reduced: € 5,00

Ticket valid also for the exbition, the Costume Gallery, the Museo degli Argenti, the Porcelain museum, the Boboli Gardens, the Bardini Gardens and for the exhibition A Different Beauty. Francesco Furini

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