Foreword

Author(s): CRISTINA ACIDINI

Source: Studies in the History of Art , 2012, Vol. 76, Symposium Papers LIII:
Orsanmichele and the History and Preservation of the Civic Monument (2012), pp. ix-xi
Published by: National Gallery of Art

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42622566

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 Foreword

the Medici, which were merged and reorga-

to oversee the completion of the restora- nized in 1588 as the Galleria dei Lavori in
I tion to consider
tion of theoversee of the itstatuary
monumental the monumental
of Orsan- a privilege completion to statuary have of the been restora- of able Orsan- the Uffizi. It produced precious objects for
michele during my tenure as soprintendente the court - first that of the Medici, then the
of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori Lorraine, and finally the Savoy. In the second
di Restauro of Florence. When I took that half of the nineteenth century, when this
position in 2000, Annamaria Giusti, director work ceased, the Opificio's very existence
of the two divisions of the Opificio devoted was threatened, and as a consequence, it
respectively to the conservation of bronze turned to restoration. With the founding in
and arms and armor and of stone, had already 1975 of the Ministero per i Beni Culturali,
long been at work on the restoration and the Opificio became what it is today: a
copying of the fourteen statues from the national, specialized institute. Having consol-
exterior niches. My own memories, as well idated its experience in World War 11, in the
as the many publications by Annamaria, postwar years, and above all during the
serve as the basis for this introductory note. tragic flood of Florence in 1966, the Opificio
In accordance with the customary working now conducts scientific research and techno-
method of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, its logical applications through its in-house sci-
scientific laboratory collaborated on both the entific laboratory, educational activities
diagnostic campaigns and the restorations through the Scuola di Alta Formazione e di
and also coordinated a network of outside Studio, and hands-on restoration through its
experts from various research centers. Work- divisions (painting on canvas, panel painting,
ing closely with the Soprintendenza per i mural painting, wood sculpture, ceramic
Beni Ambientali e Architettonici (later the and plastic materials, precious metals, bronze
Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e and arms and armor, mosaic and stone inlay,
per il Paesaggio) under the direction of the tapestries, textiles, and paper and fiber). By
project coordinators, Paola Grifoni and law, the Opificio - which, like the Istituto
Francesca Nannelli, the program employed Centrale del Restauro in Rome, is a branch
not only the Opificio's own restorers but also of what is now the Ministero per i Beni e le
other professionals, and in particular the Attività Culturali - carries out restoration
graduates of the Opificio's own Scuola di and consulting throughout Italy whenever
Alta Formazione per Restauratori di Opere called upon by the various regional soprin-
d'Arte. tendenze and other institutions responsible
The Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence for the nation's artistic heritage. On an inter-
originated in the artistic workshops serving national level, the institution is also involved

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in numerous restorations and in scientific and Florence. The Ministero per i Beni e le
and educational projects. However, as its Attività Culturali, which was responsible for
roots and location are in Florence, the Opifi- the difficult task of transporting the statues,
cio has always been involved in preserving understood the importance of the project
the immense artistic heritage of the city and and gave its full support.
the Tuscan region: hence the birth and devel- I cannot thank each of the many persons
opment of the Orsanmichele project. who expended their intellectual resources,
A unique combination of religious devo- energy, and enthusiasm, nor all the sponsors
tion, civic pride, and ostentatious display of whose generous economic support made this
wealth and artistic excellence in fifteenth- vision a reality. Nevertheless, I must thank
and sixteenth-century Florence brought individually those with whom, as head of the
about the creation of the statues that over Opificio delle Pietre Dure, I collaborated
time filled the marble exterior niches on the most closely and to whom I owe my grati-
ground floor of the majestic building of tude: Annamaria Giusti, Francesca Nanneiii,
Orsanmichele. From the fourteenth century Alessandra Griffo, and, at the National Gal-
onward, the niches were assigned to the dif- lery of Art, Earl A. Powell in, Dodge Thomp-
ferent trade guilds for images of their patron son, Nicholas Penny, Eleonora Luciano,
saints. Starting with Donatello, Nanni di Elizabeth Cropper, Therese O'Malley, and
Banco, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and then Andrea their many associates. Manfredi Piccolomini,
del Verrocchio and finally Giambologna, the on behalf of the Foundation for Italian Art
greatest sculptors created masterpieces in and Culture (of which Daniele Bodini is
marble and bronze, which became an director and Alain Elkann president of the
extraordinary "textbook" of Renaissance board), not only supported and facilitated
statuary. the project from the beginning but also
Restoration of the large statues, which underwrote the creation of the bronze copy
had been compromised by past treatments of the Saint Matthew ; with an additional
and pollution, began in the 1980s with contribution by Ferdinando Marinelli of the
Donatello's marble Saint Mark and contin- Fonderia Artistica Ferdinando Marinelli in
ued uninterrupted until the 2005 restoration Poggibonsi.
of Ghiberti's bronze Saint Matthew . That Perhaps only when Ghiberti's Saint Mat-
simple statement wraps up in a few words a thew ; Nanni di Banco's Four Crowned
long history, described in this volume by Martyr Saints, and Verrocchio's Christ and
other colleagues, restorers, and scholars who Saint Thomas were elegantly installed in the
were involved in the campaign. At the start National Gallery of Art did we finally under-
of the project, it was established that the stand the import of the event (or, really, the
statues were to be moved upstairs to the main group of cultural events) to which each per-
hall for reasons of security and faithful copies son had contributed. No one had ever before
placed in the niches. undertaken such an ambitious and well-
In 2004 and 2005, as the restoration pro- thought-out program, one that presented the
gram was in its final stages, the Opificio delle apex of Renaissance art, showed Florentine
Pietre Dure and the other Florentine soprin- and Italian restoration at its best, and dis-
tendenze undertook intense and constructive seminated knowledge on both sides of the
talks with the National Gallery of Art and Atlantic to the general public as well as to
then with the Center for Advanced Study in specialists. Almost overcome with awe, Dr.
the Visual Arts, the result of which was the Powell and I exchanged these thoughts on
decision to bring three of the statues to the evening of the beautiful opening.
Washington and to hold an international I write these introductory lines as soprin-
symposium on the history, architecture, art, tendente of the Polo Museale Fiorentino.
and restoration of Orsanmichele on two dif- My gratitude goes out to the late Umberto
ferent occasions, a year apart, in Washington Baldini and to Giorgio Bonsanti, both heads

X ORSANMICHELE AND THE HISTORY AND PRESERVATION OF THE CIVIC MONUMENT

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of the Opificio during the long course of
these restorations; to Paola Grifoni and to
Antonio Paolucci, who, while successively
in charge of Orsanmichele, made it into a
museum of the Polo Museale Fiorentino,
now restored and ready for the public; and
to Antonio Godoli, its current director.
Thanks to the publication of this volume,
Orsanmichele will be even better known and
loved. It is a place that has great cultural
potential and which - because of its location
between two great seats of religious and civic
power, the cathedral of Santa Maria del
Fiore and the Palazzo Vecchio - is the object
of much attention and deserves even more.
Its multiple functions as a monumental
building, church, and concert hall require
thoughtful input from various institutions.
Also waiting to be developed, with the addi-
tion of guided tours, is the upper floor, where
the niche statues are now housed. It is a
museum of its own. For all of us who collab-
orated to maintain Orsanmichele as it always
was, a crossroads of the highest religious
and civic interests, the Washington-Florence
program represented, and represents, a par-
ticularly stimulating moment of international
exchange, in line with that cultivated and
farsighted initiative that moved the consuls
of the powerful Florentine guilds to invest in
sublime and enduring beauty.

CRISTINA ACIDINI

Soprintendente per il Patrimonio Storico,

Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale
della Città di Firenze

xi Foreword

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