Medal of the President of the Republic of MAM Prize (Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere) Supporter of Artistic Trades

Under the aegis of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities | Opificio delle Pietre Dure Ministry for Economic Development Italo-Russian Chamber of Commerce | GIM Unimpresa Italian Embassy in Moscow Region | Metropolitan City of | Municipality of Florence

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Friends of Florence| Life Beyond Tourism Academy of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg | Friends of the Hermitage Association ADSI Association Dimore Storiche Italiane | Cultural Association Città Nascosta Associazione Giardino Corsini

“ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE”

A TRIBUTE TO THE MULTICULTURAL IDENTITY OF THE CITY AND ITS HISTORICAL BOND WITH THE RUSSIAN COMMUNITY

ROME, 5 February 2019 This edition marks the milestone of twenty-five years of theARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition (Giardino Corsini, Florence, 16-19 May), developed from a project by Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani to promote, preserve and carry into the future the arts linked with the best Italian and foreign artisan traditions. But also, to create a network between those who practise their manual crafts with passion, giving them the opportunity to compare notes on skills, knowledge and resources.

“Our commitment in these years has been to place the focus of attention on two principles which we consider fundamental for the development of our country: preserving the age-old artistic trades, fruit of Italian ingenuity; giving space to dialogue in order to build a bridge between history and innovation”, underline Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani. “At the same time, our ambition is to bring young talented people into contact with Master craftspeople, to help them plan their future, through the preservation and promotion of artisan traditions”.

In a unique setting, in the seventeenth century Italian-style Giardino Corsini, designed by Gherardo Silvani, this year the Exhibition will present a new selection of over 100 artisans from Italy and abroad who will come to Florence, not only to display their products, but also to put themselves to the test, in live demonstrations of their skills. And they will interact with the visitors, revealing the secrets of their unique creative works.

The event continues with a “fund-raising campaign to promote the Florentine cultural heritage” addressed to private citizens and businesses. In 2018 it was dedicated to the reopening of the Richard Ginori of the Manifattura di Doccia.

“For the 25th year of the Exhibition we wish to pay a tribute to the multicultural and international identity of our city by setting ourselves a challenge, as patrons of the arts, where history and modernity meet”, explainGiorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani.

The campaign “ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” will be dedicated to the restoration and conservation of some extraordinary works of art, that testify to the cultural bond between Florence and the Russian community which, in the course of the 19th and early 20th century, embellished the city with residences, churches and important art collections.

Throughout the century, poets, artists, intellectuals, but also aristocrats and clerics, came to Florence, bringing their cultural and spiritual knowledge with them, bursting with ideas and artistic ferment, turning the city into an international melting pot of creativity.

FUND-RAISING Retracing the steps taken by the so-called “Russian colony”, the aim of the international fund-raising campaign “ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” is to renew the links between the Florentine community and Russia. But also, as always, to promote the great Florentine tradition of craftsmanship and its new talented exponents.

The target is to collect over !308,000 in order to be able to carry out urgent restoration and conservation works on the masterpieces of the Demidoff Collection housed in the Stibbert Museum; on theHemicycle of the Evangelical Cemetery “agli Allori”; and to complete the restoration works on the Church of the Nativity of Christ and Saint Nicholas the Thaumaturge (the icons of St Andrew and St John the Theologian, the large iron entrance door by the Officine Michelucci and the fresco of the Annunciation in the narthex).

By taking part in the campaign, the donors will become an active part of the history of ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO, but also of Florence itself, since their names will appear in these important lieux de mémoire, witnesses to the and its profound cultural exchanges with the Russian community.

The organisers of ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO, Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani, have decided to offer some of the young Florentine artist Riccardo Prosperi - aka "Simafra" - and the donations collected for these works will be channelled into the fund-raising project: ten unique numbered pieces, presented in a special Catalogue, with an introduction by Natalia Parenko, Director of the St. Petersburg Art Academy in Florence. Specifically, there will be sculptures of various diameters (roughly from 25 to 50 cm) that transform the idea of the folkloristic Russian Matryoshka dolls into concentric globes in which the “geological eras” are represented by materials that can be traced to the Siberian mines: gold, malachite, diamonds, hard coal, gas!

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO EXHIBITION MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE is open to everyone and all donations are appreciated.

Supporters will receive different rewards depending on the donations they make: invitation to the ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition preview cocktail, exclusive meetings, visits to historical private buildings in Florence, guided tours of the city’s and to places that are not usually open to the public, seats in the stalls for the next Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival, straw hats hand-crafted by the companies of the “Il Cappello” consortium of Florence, inspired by the greatest figures of Russian literature, sculptures by the artist Simafra and a host more besides. For details on donations/rewards, see: www.artigianatoepalazzo.it/raccolta-fondi/

Donations may be made until 31 May 2019 by:

Bank Transfer: ASSOCIAZIONE GIARDINO CORSINI c/c no. 16968/00 Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze - Agenzia 8 / via il Prato, Florence IBAN: IT 25 P 06160 02808 000016968C00 SWIFT CRF IIT 3F XXX Reason: “MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE”

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/ARTIGIANATOEPALAZZO

RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION The proceeds of the campaign will finance urgent restoration and conservation works on:

1. 1) THE HEMICYCLE OF THE EVANGELICAL CEMETERY “AGLI ALLORI” opened on 26 February 1878 as a burial ground for the mortal remains of the members of non-Catholic communities. Founded as a Protestant cemetery according to a design by the architect Giuseppe Boccini - who also designed the Russian Orthodox Church of Florence together with Michail Preobrazenski - this is the cemetery for six Florentine Evangelical Churches, although ever since its foundation it has welcomed the dead of all religions, including many leading figures of the Russian community. This monumental cemetery has given a resting place to artists, painters and sculptors, writers and art collectors from all over the world: Frederick Stibbert, Henry Percy Horne, Charles Loeser, Olga Basilewskij, Arnold Böcklin, Lysine de Pilar Pilhau Rucellai, Roberto Longhi, sir John Pope-Hennessy, sir Harold Acton, father Vladimir Levickij, Nina Harkevi", Maria Olsufieva Michahelles, Thayaht, Anna Banti, Oriana Fallaci, Adriana Pincherle. (Florence, via Senese 184). Quote for total restoration and preservation works: !274,000

2. THE MASTERPIECES OF THE DEMIDOFF COLLECTION EXHIBITED AT THE STIBBERT MUSEUM Extraordinary objects such as the large malachite table decorated with gilt bronze statues,the hard-stone fireplaces and chandeliers purchased by Frederick Stibbert from the Demidoffs, the exceedingly rich Russian princes, owners of malachite mines, who lived for many years in Florence, where they purchased - among other properties - the Pratolino estate from the Savoy family in 1872. (Florence, via Federico Stibbert, 26) Quote for total restoration and preservation works: !4,300

3. COMPLETION OF THE RESTORATION WORKS ON THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST AND SAINT NICHOLAS THE THAUMATURGE built between 1899 and 1903 at the behest of the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. The works particularly concern the icons of St. Andrew and St. John the Theologian, the fresco of the Annunciation in the narthex and the large iron entrance door, work of the Officine Michelucci foundry. A unique monument in , the Church of the Nativity is a rare and precious example of artistic collaboration between some of the best Russian and Italian artists and craftsmen. While the murals and icons adorning the inside of the Church are by Russian artists, some of the masonry structures, carvings and majolica decorations were created by the Italian workforce. The exquisite two-leaved door leading to the upper church is finely carved in walnut, depicting stories from the Old Testament, by one of the most famous woodcarvers of the mid-19th century, Rinaldo Barbetti. With regard to the Church’s exterior, the multi-coloured majolica tiles of the Manifattura Cantagalli factory, with their characteristic “fish scale” shape, adorn its domes and the high stringcourses of its main façade. The iron crosses and the elaborate railings enclosing the grounds of the building, adorned with imperial eagles and the Florentine lily enshrining the Italo-Russian artistic partnership, is the work of the Fonderie Michelucci of Pistoia. The Russian Orthodox Church is one of the greatest manifestations of the Russian presence in the Tuscan regional capital and it is a historical monument under the protection of the Special Superintendency for the Historical and Artistic Heritage of the city of Florence which is responsible for the High Level Surveillance and Artistic Direction of the conservative restoration works of the architectural complex. (Florence, via Leone X, 8) Quote for total restoration and preservation works: !30,000

THE RUSSIANS IN FLORENCE Right from the outset of the nineteenth century, the art, society and mild climate of Florence and Tuscany exerted a great attraction on the Russian community, who chose this city and this area not only as a popular destination for leisure trips, but also for long regular stays, or even as a permanent place of residence.

The Demidoff family, splendid hosts of Florentine society, first in the sumptuous villa of San Donato in Polverosa, then in the Medici villa of Pratolino, and in the spacious rooms of Palazzo Serristori, spent huge sums of money funding large projects for prestigious Florentine monuments, such as the façade of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and that of the Basilica di Santa Croce. Florence rewarded their efforts by naming after them the square overlooking the River Arno, where the splendid monument of the Neoclassical sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850) stands. This was commissioned by the Demidoff children in commemoration of their father Prince Nikolai Demidoff, Tsar Alexander I’s ambassador to Florence.

Leading figures of the arts such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Leo Tolstoy, - who, after having visited the city at an earlier date, appears to have returned to Florence in 1891 to take part in a conference on the possibility of melding the various Christian churches - stayed there during their travels in Europe. The same applies to a host of illustrious immigrées: writers Boris Zaytsev, Vasily Rozanov, Aleksey Tolstoy, Mikhail Osorgin, painters Karl Bryullov and Ivan Aivazovsky, the architect Vasily Stasov, the symbolist poet Aleksandr Blok and the art historian, Pavel Muratov. While in more recent times, the poet Joseph Brodsky and the film director Andrei Tarkovsky have paid tribute to the city through their works. A large community of anarchists such as Mikhail Bakunin – cousin of Sofia Besobrasoff, wife of Angelo de Gubernatis – and intellectuals in exile from all eras - such as the winner of the Nobel Peace Price Andrei Sakharov who was made an “Honorary Citizen” in 1989 - found in Florence a safe haven and a place to stay. In the field of poetry, Pyotr Vyazemsk of Pushkin's pleiade composed a lyric poem entitled Florencija the incipit of which is the introduction of Goethe’s Mignon's Song: [Do you know the land. There the Arno flows] The poem calls Florence the “fabulous city of Flora”.

Some people, like the Buturlin counts and the Demidoff princes, stayed there for the rest of their lives; many married into the most important families of the aristocracy: Borghese, Corsini, Pandolfini, Pucci, Rucellai!

CATALOGUE The catalogue of the 25th ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition on this theme will be enriched by the original contributions of:

Lucia Tonini, University of Pisa Mikhail Talalay, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow Grazia Gobbi Sica, President of the Association “Amici degli Allori” Enrico Colle, Director of the Stibbert Museum Anne Worontzoff, Lay Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church of Florence Natalia Parenko, Director of the St. Petersburg Art Academy in Florence

“ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” is sponsored by Fondazione CR Firenze, Giusto Manetti Battiloro, The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Savio Firmino, Richard Ginori, Fondazione Ferragamo, Banca CR Firenze, Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte in cooperation with Starhotels, Desinare, Riccardo Barthel, Life Beyond Tourism, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Destination Florence Convention & Visitors Bureau, Alitalia, Amanda Tours and Source Self-Made Design.

25th ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO May 16, 17, 18 and 19, 2019 Open 10 am - 8 pm Giardino Corsini Via della Scala, 115 | Florence www.artigianatoepalazzo.it

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO - Presentation of the 25th edition 2019

International Promotion Committee Stefano Aluffi Pentini, Barbara Berlingieri, Jean Blanchaert, Fausto Calderai, Matteo Corvino, Michel de Grèce, Maria de’ Peverelli, Elisabetta Fabri, Bona Frescobaldi, Anna Gastel, Mario Augusto Lolli Ghetti, Fabrizia Lanza, Ginevra Marchi, Raffaello Napoleone, Carlo Orsi, Alvar Gonzales Palacios, Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, Natalie Rucellai, Luigi Settembrini, Simone Todorow and Christian Witt-Dörring.

For additional information https://www.artigianatoepalazzo.it/en/ Tel. +39 055 2654588/89 [email protected]

Facebook and Instagram: artigianatoepalazzo Twitter: @MostraAeP YouTube: artigianatoepalazzo #artigianatoepalazzo #blogsandcrafts #ricettedifamiglia

Press Office Studio Maddalena Torricelli Tel. +39 02 76280433 M 331 6215048 [email protected]

Press release and photos from the link: https://www.artigianatoepalazzo.it/press-photo/.

Medal of the President of the Republic of Italy MAM Prize (Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere) Supporter of Artistic Trades

Under the aegis of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities | Opificio delle Pietre Dure Ministry for Economic Development Italo-Russian Chamber of Commerce | GIM Unimpresa Italian Embassy in Moscow Tuscany Region | Metropolitan City of Florence | Municipality of Florence

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Friends of Florence| Life Beyond Tourism Academy of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg | Friends of the Hermitage Association ADSI Association Dimore Storiche Italiane | Cultural Association Città Nascosta Associazione Giardino Corsini

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO EXHIBITION A 25-YEAR LONG CHALLENGE FOR TRADITIONAL ARTISTIC TRADES

The exhibition-market ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO was developed in Florence 25 years ago from a project by Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani to promote, preserve and carry into the future, the age-old crafts and trades linked with Italian and foreign cultural traditions.

“We wanted to convey the value of hand-made objects, by offering first-hand knowledge of the work of master artisans, in order to raise awareness that craftsmanship is one of Italy’s strengths and should be preserved, even in changing cultural and economic situations”.

Promoted and organised by the non-profit cultural association Associazione Giardino Corsini, ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO brings together a new selection of around 100 master artisans – from Italy and abroad – who work and recreate a scaled-down version of their workshops in the seventeenth century gardens of Palazzo Corsini designed by Gherardo Silvani, open to the public for four days from 16 to 19 May 2019. In this way, amidst the Limonaie (orangeries) and avenues with their geometrical shapes typical of the Italian-style garden, the artisans perform their arts live revealing the secrets of their hand-made arts, sometimes modernised by contemporary technologies and design. But that’s not all! They also demonstrate the importance of choosing unique, original raw materials and of the attention to detail that makes each hand-crafted object an unrepeatable work of art.

This Florentine event also offers a full programme of activities such as:

FUND-RAISING: a campaign to promote the Florentine cultural heritage open to the public and the sponsoring businesses. In 2018, funds were raised to enable the reopening of the Manifattura Richard Ginori Porcelain Museum in Doccia. For the 25th edition, the campaign will be dedicated to the urgent restoration and preservation of some of the works of art dear to the Russian community which, throughout the 19th century and early 20 century embellished Florence with residences, churches and artistic collections (Duration from 1 February to 31 May 2019).

MOSTRA PRINCIPE: this exhibition is dedicated to the creative journey of an important Italian brand that has made craftsmanship the key to its international success. In previous years the

exhibition has featured: Bulgari, Ente Tabacchi Italiano, Fabriano, Fondazione del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gucci, Il Bisonte, Laguna B, Loretta Caponi, Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di , Richard Ginori, Roberto Capucci and Vacheron Constantin. BLOGS & CRAFTS: a competition launched to promote the creativity of young people by combining “knowing how” with “knowing how to communicate”. The ten under-35 winning artisans, chosen from among the best talents for their capacity to innovate tradition with state-of-the-art techniques, will be guests at the event and will work and exhibit their creations in a Limonaia (orangerie) in the Giardino Corsini. At the same time, their works will be documented through live blogging by 10 of the best bloggers - experts on the themes of crafts, lifestyle, fashion, tourism – who will be offered accommodation during their stay in Florence by Starhotels.

FAMILY RECIPES: a daily event, sponsored by Richard Ginori, in cooperation with Desinare and Riccardo Barthel, which combines contemporary food culture with the traditional flavours and recipes of the past, amidst book presentations, live cooking and tastings. This year there will be international guests, famous chefs and cooks who will revamp some of the recipes linked to the Russian tradition.

The Exhibition will also assign the Premio Perseo award to the exhibitor that the public liked best; and the Premio del Comitato Promotore (Promotion Committee Prize) will be awarded for the most interesting stand, and its owner will win a free stand for the 2020 edition of the Exhibition.

In the past 24 editions ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO has brought together 709 master artisans representing 151 artistic trades (pottery, glass incision, silver embossing, wood carving, tapestry conservation, gilding of frames and sculptures, stringed instrument-making, scagliola techniques, lathing, wickerwork, weaving, inlaying of semi-precious stones, goldsmithery, etc); 75 institutional partnerships; over157,000 visitors.

To promote the high quality of Made in Italy craftsmanship, ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO has been invited to take part in important international exhibitions, among which Italy in in Tokyo and Osaka, Artisans Passion in Paris and for the Year of Italian Culture the exhibition “Hats on Film/Il Cappello nel Cinema” was especially produced and held at the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles.

“ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” is sponsored by Fondazione CR Firenze, Giusto Manetti Battiloro, The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Savio Firmino, Richard Ginori, Fondazione Ferragamo, Banca CR Firenze, Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte in cooperation with Starhotels, Desinare, Riccardo Barthel, Life Beyond Tourism, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Destination Florence Convention & Visitors Bureau, Alitalia, Amanda Tours and Source Self-Made Design.

Applications for artisans who want to participate in the Fair are open until the end of February: https://www.artigianatoepalazzo.it/en/subscriptions/.

25th ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO 16-17-18-19 May 2019 Open 10 am - 8 pm Giardino Corsini, Via della Scala, 115 | Florence

For additional information www.artigianatoepalazzo.it Tel. +39 055 2654588/89 [email protected] Facebook and Instagram: artigianatoepalazzo Twitter: @MostraAeP YouTube: artigianatoepalazzo #artigianatoepalazzo #blogsandcrafts #familyrecipes

Press Office Studio Maddalena Torricelli Tel. +39 02 76280433 Mob. +39 331 6215048 [email protected]

Press release and photos from the link: https://www.artigianatoepalazzo.it/press-photo/.

DECLARATIONS

Dario Nardella, Mayor of Florence "If last year ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO sponsored the re-opening of the Richard Ginori Museum of the Manifattura di Doccia, I am pleased and proud to note that this year it will be paying tribute to the multicultural identity of Florence, dedicating its fund-raising campaign, entitled MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE, to the rehabilitation, restoration and conservation of a number of works of art that testify to the bond between Florence and the Russian community in the course of the 19th and early 20th century. So I thank ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO also for its supportive spirit and forward-looking vision, and send my affectionate greetings to Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani who embark upon this adventure each year, always succeeding in touching the true authentic heart of Florence".

Enrico Colle, Director of the Stibbert Museum “I am delighted that the Museum has been chosen by Artigianato e Palazzo for the project “Memories of Russia in Florence” which will restore value such an extraordinary selection of pieces from the Demidoff collections, unique in Europe, displayed in a Venue especially designed for the purpose”.

Grazia Gobbi Sica, President of the Association “Amici degli Allori” “A garden of memory, one of the most crepuscular and alluring places of nineteenth century Florence, the “Agli Allori” cemetery, important, both in terms of its monumental value and as testimony to the illustrious figures who lived in Florence and are buried here. Today, part of the cemetery is inaccessible because of its precarious structural conditions, due, first and foremost, to lack of maintenance work. For these reasons the structure should be urgently restored and preserved with the greatest possible attention. We therefore consider commendable the decision of ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO to take action to restore this monument through a fund-raising campaign promoted for 2019”.

Anne Worontzoff, Lay Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church of Florence “The Church has undergone several restoration operations over recent years, and at the moment there are still some restoration works to be finished inside it, such as the fresco of the Annunciation, the large iron door of the narthex and two large icons portraying the Apostles Andrew and John the Theologian in the crypt, and we sincerely hope that this initiative promoted by ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO will be successful”.

Riccardo Prosperi- Simafra “With these 10 one-of-a-kinds - expressly conceived for the 25th ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition, for the "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” fund-raising campaign, I interpret and develop my theme of memory and Russia. “Matryoshkas are designed to convey a precise meaning: the word itself contains the Latin root mater,i.e. mother. And the symbolic fulcrum of these charming dolls is, indeed, the mother. The fact that each of them is contained inside a bigger Matryoshka renders the idea of the maternal womb cradling a smaller body inside it. So Matryoshkas can be taken as a generational model, with maternity and fertility as the primary and indispensable characteristics for their existence. The family could be another symbolic component and this is demonstrated by the fact that the largest doll is called the mother, while the smallest is called the seed”.

The “Il Cappello di Firenze” Consortium “We enthusiastically accept the invitation of ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO to take part in the project “MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” which responds to the mission of our Consortium the duty of which is to protect, today more than ever before, the historical value of traditional craftsmanship, by presenting itself to the public with a receptiveness that extends to its creative, artistic and management processes”.

Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani, Promoters and Organisers of Artigianato e Palazzo “Our commitment in these years has been to place the focus of attention on two principles which we consider fundamental: preserving the age-old artistic trades, fruit of Italian ingenuity; giving space to dialogue in order to build a bridge between history and innovation. And we have done it through an exhibition concept that allows the public to become acquainted with the work of the Master artisans through live demonstrations, useful for young talented people seeking to plan their future”.

“For the 25th year of the Exhibition we wish to pay a tribute to the multicultural and international identity of our city by launching a fund-raising campaign, entitled “MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE”, dedicated to the restoration and conservation of some extraordinary works of art, that testify to the bond between Florence and the Russian community which in the course of the 19th and early 20th century, embellished the city with residences, churches and art collections”.

!

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” RUSSIA AS SEEN BY THE FLORENTINES

“Some English people have arrived but II don’t know if they're German or Russian!”. The attitude of the Florentines towards the numerous foreign citizens who came and went in their city tended to be welcoming, if somewhat restrained and wary. The Russians, generally identified as “something else” due to their linguistic difficulties, remote provenance and the unfamiliarity of their customs, had become nonetheless - once “adopted” by the city - part of its everyday life, its history, its topography and its family trees. Already in 1439, with curiosity and wonder, Florence has watched the procession of the envoys of the Ecumenical Council. In the 1500s, Cosimo I followed by the entire genealogy of the Medici family up to Ferdinand II and then Gian Gastone had, with shrewd business acumen, traded for the ermine, sable, lynx and otter furs that they loved to don for their portraits, coloured mosaics of semi-precious stones, silk and gold fabrics, items much sought-after at the court of the Tsar. In the 17th century, the diplomatic missions that came from afar, such as those of !emadanov e Licha"ëv, who lodged at the and the , still maintained, in the eyes of the Florentines, a certain exoticism and, like the age-old religious procession, aroused the curiosity of the population: “Dressing in the manner of their country, that is, in a semi-barbaric and rather strange way, they were always followed by a multitude of people who observed them, but to whom they paid no heed”. A new frontier of artists and architects but also a large group of craftsmen, decorators, scenographers, engravers, goldsmiths, not to mention minstrels and music, also from Tuscany, the court of Peter the Great opened its doors to Europe through that ‘window’ described in 1739 by Count Francesco Algarotti of Pisa, while the Florentine Accademia del Disegno welcomed the first young artists sent here for training in 1718-19. Less than a century later, the self-portraits of some of them, such as Orest Kiprensky or Karl Bryullov, were to make their entrance into the of the , to join the Olympus of European art. During the period in which Italy had become a favourite destination of the Grand Tour, in Florence the doors of palaces, collections and workshops opened to the more emancipated representatives of the Petrine aristocracy as they travelled; the most important thing was to have a letter of introduction addressed to the Grand Duke, good letters of presentation and possibly substantial capital to invest in commissions to artists and craftsmen. From travelling to settling - this is how it happened for the most Florentine of all the Russians: the Demidov family, who marked the transition towards a new relationship in the 19th century. Nikolai had yet again aroused amazement with his collections, lifestyle and endless commissions but he narrowed the distance by gathering the Florentine citizens around him with his lavish benevolence. Then along the same lines, Anatoly, despite the watchful eye of the Grand Duke’s police, dazzled the Florentines with his ostentatious taste for extravagance. Precious objects, the magnificent colour of malachite combined with the gleam of gold, parties, horse races, the choice foods and sophisticated wines: the prince continued to fuel the show of luxury that possibly corresponded to the image that the Florentines had of the Russians. At the same time, in the course of the 19th century, Florence witnessed the growth of another phenomenon that took root and settled in the city, in a more everyday dimension, under the control of the diplomatic corps of the Tsar.

!

This is described in its infinite domestic and social intrigues by Mikhail Buturlin, son of that Dmitry who, at the start of the 19th century had found fertile ground in Florence to reconstruct his library - destroyed in the fire of Moscow in 1812 - in a quiet salon. On the Florentine side, in the first quarter of the 19th century, a new drive in Europe to discover more about Russian culture, after the victory on , prompted the journeys from Tuscany of Luigi Serristori, Giuseppe Pucci, Giovan Pietro Vieusseux, in search of new trade outlets. An attention that was extended and analysed in the pages of Vieusseux’s “Anthology” and in the famous Gabinetto Library. This is where the Russians, including Dostoevsky himself, would go to read books and newspapers with a freedom that they had never had in their own country. Then the Florentines began to go there too, in the second half of the century, to read the extraordinary Russian novels that told of a world that was not so far away after all. It was also Russia that had brought the ‘love novel’, in the real sense of the term, to Florentine life: It might have been Paolina Nencini, falling in love with Zachar Chitrovo, who started the Russian-Florentine dynasty of the Pandolfini. The ladies of the Buturlin family followed suit, followed by Lydia Bobrinsky, the sisters Zinaida and Varvara Nary!kin, married Pucci and Ridofi, Drutskoy-Sokolinsky family with Zucchelli, Maria Ku!eleva became the Marchioness Incontri, Sofia Bezobrazova the faithful muse of De Gubernatis, Lysina Rucellai who had become, in the eyes of the Florentines, an icon of the mysterious and fascinating Russian dame, and many more, at all social levels, giving rise to surprising love stories now for the most part enshrined in the memory of the cemetry “agli Allori”, at the gates of Florence. The domes of the Russian church, the first in Italy, greeted in 1903 in the pages of the Florentine newspaper “Nazione” with the words “warmest wishes for the prosperity of the Russian colony in Florence”, had created a unified image of that world in the eyes of the Florentines, identifying it with tradition, before the wave of the revolution brought here those who were fleeing and who found refuge in the lee of the church and in the inexhaustible generosity of Maria Demidov Abamelek-Lazarev. A world was ending, leaving behind a fairy-tale image of itself, symbolised by the sumptuous koko!nik (headdress) worn by Assia Olsuf’ev at her wedding in the Basilica di Santo Spirito in 1928. From the same lineage, Florence was then to gain new knowledge of just how much more Russian-Soviet literature had to offer, through the translations of Maria Olsuf’eva. In the meantime in the 1930s, the city was becoming acquainted with Russian music, scenography and ballet, with the founding of the “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino” festival, and it was totally enchanted. The conductor of the Stabile Orchestrale Fiorentina in 1932 was Stravinsky, while the baton and pen of Vittorio Gui revealed the L’anima slava nella musica moderna (the Slav soul of modern music) to the Florentines and to Italy as a whole. In consideration of this long relationship between Russia and Florence, in the period following the Second World War, its Mayor felt a pressing need to reopen a direct and courteous dialogue with the Kremlin, narrowing the gap that had been created in the difficult intervening years. This is the tradition celebrated by the ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition, in defence of its memory and in the hope of building new future occasions for cultural exchanges.

Lucia Tonini University of Pisa

!

"#$%&!'()%)%"!#!$%&'()*&+,!-)#.$#+(!&%!/$**&#%!0#%-$#-(!#%.!0&+()#+$)("!&*!*1(2�&*(.!&%!34+5!2(%+$),!#%.!(#)0,!67+5! 2(%+$),! /$**&#%! 2$0+$)(! #%.! #)+"! 8&+5! #! *1(2�! 9:2$*! :%! +)#'(0! 0&+()#+$)(! #%.! #)+! 2:00(2+&%-! &%! +5(! 2:%+(;+! :9! +5(! )(0#+&:%*!<(+8((%!/$**&#!#%.!=+#0,>!?5(!5#*!+#$-5+!/$**&#%!#)+!#%.!0&+()#+$)(!#+!+5(!@0AB)&(%+#0(C!D%&'()*&+,!:9!E#10(*! #%.!&*!2$))(%+0,!8:)F&%-!#+!+5(!D%&'()*&+,!:9!G&*#>!?5(!5#*!2::1()#+(.!(;+(%*&'(0,!8&+5!H#<&%(++:!H>G>!I&($**($;!#%.!&*! &%':0'(.!&%!)(*(#)25!1):-)#JJ(*!#%.!1$<0&2#+&:%*!&%!/$**&#!#%.!=+#0,>!

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” FLORENCE SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF THE RUSSIANS

Pavel Muratov, author of the most beautiful Russian writings on Florence, suggested to his fellow Russians to visit Florence in the month of May. His book Images of Italy, published a century ago, taught the Russians to love this city, so far away, in the long Soviet years during which it was impossible to visit. But finally, the regime collapsed and 30 years ago the author of these words found himself on the banks of the River Arno, in May. After a long, dark winter in St. Petersburg (at that time Leningrad, but it makes no difference), which is the penalty we have to pay for the ‘white nights’, seeing the “light-filled air” (Muratov) of Florence was an immense joy to behold. In Florence, a Russian experiences many things for the first time. The first Russian journey we have knowledge of was, indeed, to this city, for the Council of Florence of 1438-1439. And what a journey it was! Ecclesiastics in Eastern vestments, with an entourage of two hundred (!) people. The reunification of the Churches proved to be ephemeral, but the signatures of the Russian high prelates are visible on the final bull kept in the . It was in the regional capital of Tuscany that the Russians came for the first time to actually live, and not just visit the city; in short, «all of Europe is only for looking, whereas Italy is for living» (Gogol’). The first ‘Russian Florentines’ in 1818 were the counts Buturlin, who left their coat of arms for us to remember them by, in via dei Servi. They were followed by the Demidovs, who at that time were probably the richest family in Russia, after the Romanovs. Soon the most exclusive Russian colony in Italy began to take shape. In no other Italian city were Russian fiancées so fashionable among the local aristocracy! As a result, many Florentine families married into Russian ones. Thanks to the Russian colony and its refined tastes, the first Russian church in Italy was built; in other cities there were chapels, but the first real church was built here. Florence became a popular destination for painters, writers, musicians and people practising all kinds of artistic professions. For this reason, Florence has more commemorative plaques bearing Russian names than any other city: Tchaikovsky (his opera The Queen of Spades is considered a “Florentine” work), Dostoevsky, Tarkovsky. The banks of the River Arno set the scene for the fortunate encounter between two great cultures and this is why the founders of the Russian Church forged the image of the eternal union between the lily and the double-headed eagle on its great doors.

Mikhail Talalay, Russian Academy of Science

(Translation from Russian by Marina Moretti)

Mikhail TALALAY was born in Leningrad, USSR, now St. Petersburg, Russia in 1956. Since the 1990s, after his first trips to Italy, his interests have been focused on the theme of Italo-Russian cultural relations, and he has done literary translations and historical research in this area. Since 1997 he has been a researcher at the Russian Academy of Science (doctoral thesis: The history of the Russian Orthodox communities in Italy) and he presented his final dissertation in May 2002. He is the author of 25 books and numerous articles in Russian and Italian. Since June 2003 he has been a scientific collaborator at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Science (Moscow). He is also the Institute’s representative in Italy. ! !

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” EVANGELICAL CEMETERY "AGLI ALLORI"

A garden of memory, one of the most crepuscular and alluring places of nineteenth century Florence, the “Agli Allori” cemetry was opened in 1878. It was designed by the architect Giuseppe Boccini, author, together with Michail Preobragenski, of the design for the Russian Orthodox Church. For the steadily increasing non-Catholic community of Florence, the cemetery was the continuation of the old so-called “English” cemetery in piazza Donatello, closed in 1877 when it could not be expanded due to the growth of the city. The continuation of the old cemetery was proof of the consolidated integration of the large international community that had settled in Florence. Taking advantage of the natural slope of the site, Giuseppe Boccini arranged the space of the cemetery in a tiered amphitheatre culminating, at the top, in a loggia with a strong visual impact, thanks to its two-tone brickwork, with pillars and arches made of sandstone blocks, against the backdrop of the surrounding cypress trees. Its seventeen arches appear as little chapels, framing the wall tombs housed by each of the arch spans. This architectural walkway displays some of the most impressive tombs of the cemetery: among which, at the centre, the Meyer di Montagliari chapel designed by Giacomo Roster and dedicated by Giovanni Meyer to his wife Anna Fitzgerald, who died young in 1884 and in whose memory the paediatric hospital was built in 1888.

Also of note are the works of the sculptor Edoardo Betti, creatively active in this cemetery - where he was ultimately buried - on the impressive altars of the Usenbenz and Bellondi, Denoth and Günderrode monuments. In the tomb of the Rivioire family, executed by the Frilli workshop, the statue of an angel turns towards the closed marble door, symbolising the divide between earthly life and the afterlife. Nearby, in the monument of the De Filla family, the angel with its outspread wings, by Giuseppe Moretti, also refers to the theme of the threshold. A moving embossed figurative by Raffaello Romanelli in 1916 marks the burial place of various members of the Giarré family, of various origins and nationalities, embodying the cosmopolitanism of Florence. Alongside it is the plain and simple cross of the monument to a Russian princess, Olga Bachmeteva Basilevskaja, in memory of whom her son donated to the city of Florence the opulent villa where she had enjoyed the luxuries of a privileged existence, so that it could be used to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and the sick. In the Matthiesen tomb, designed by Fortunato Galli in 1908, a sorrowful statue with a veiled head stands in front of a walled aedicule with a pointed arch, its hand resting on an urn, draped with a pall. Underneath a large marble arch, a sarcophagus in the form of an altar, the front of which is decorated with small columns, houses the remains of the Countess Adele Watteville de Loins Michiel and her children. A pointed marble arch made of six slabs with two iron gates at the sides which lead the way to the burial ground below--following the modernised model of the Meyer chapel-- is the burial place of the Jewish family of ! !

Molco Perugia and Luciana Marzia Corcos. Exquisitely simple the white marble sarcophagus with the wave decoration under the rounded arch within which the gravestones of the Spranger family are laid. This family, constructors of the industrial hub of Piombino, was of English origin. A sculptural group of intense pathos, executed by the Frilli workshop in 1922, portrays a young mother with three small children, dedicated to the young Nini Cobianchi Canobbio, who died at twenty-six years of age, after the birth of her third child. At the far end stand two simple altars, those of the Manzo and the Acton families. Sir Harold Acton, who died in 1994, the last of the Anglo-Florentines, donated his former home to New York University, along with the art collections gathered by the family from the beginning of the 20th century. Today this part of the cemetery in inaccessible due to its precarious structural conditions. The arched hemicycle with its stone pillars, cross vaulting and terracotta-covered wooden structure, requires maintenance work that needs to be very carefully evaluated. This state of disrepair is due, first and foremost, to the lack of timely and continuous maintenance work. The structural deterioration produced by the movement of the hilly ground causes critical problems in certain points, leading to serious instability. The exterior damage to the loggia corresponds to the unstable areas of the vaults. The covering also shows serious signs of disrepair, damaged by the weather and by the falling of some tall trees planted on the embankment above. The plaster facing of the facades is in a precarious state of repair, like many of the decorative stone elements on the frieze of the chapels. From this albeit brief description, the importance of the complex is evident, both in terms of its monumental value and as testimony to the illustrious figures who lived in Florence and are buried here.

For these reasons the structure should be urgently restored and preserved with the greatest possible attention. We therefore consider commendable the decision of ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO to take action to restore this monument through a fund-raising campaign promoted for 2019.

Grazia Gobbi Sica President, Association Amici degli Allori !

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: “MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” THE STIBBERT MUSEUM

Fruit of the passion of its founder, Federick Stibbert, for seeking out works of art, the Stibbert Museum, with its wide variety of objects, armour and , still houses today an important selection of furnishings originating from the Demidoff collections. The acquisition of works of art belonging to the famous collection of the princely Russian family came about during the auction, held in 1880, of the furnishings from the interior of the Villa of San Donato. On that occasion, Stibbert succeeded in obtaining the large malachite centre table decorated with gilt bronze statues, work of the celebrated Parisian bronze craftsman Charles Auguste, which, at the time of its transfer to Villa Stibbert, was restored by Luigi Corsini, the most renowned Florentine bronze craftsman of the time. Also at the same auction, Frederick Stibbert purchased the impressive fireplace, also covered in malachite and decorated with semi-precious inset stones and gilt bronze statues, which was then fitted, together with its bronze andirons, in what was to become the Malachite Room, as though to render homage to the fortunate role of collectors that the Demidoff family had before him. It is here, in fact, that the aforementioned table is still to be found today, together with a light fitting, a pair of candelabras with antique figures that support the candle-holding branches and a minute mosaic portraying an eagle with outspread wings made by the Roman mosaicist, Michelangelo Barberi. In the adjoining Louis XV parlour, a fireplace made of white Carrara marble with panels of semi-precious inset stones was installed. These panels were made in the workshop of the Grand Duke and then donated by the Grand Duke Leopold II to Anatolio Demidoff. No other museum in Europe possesses such an extraordinary selection of pieces from the Demidoff collections and this makes the Stibbert Museum a treasure chest of artistic marvels, the fruit of intelligent, refined Florentine nineteenth century collecting, a worthy heir to the magnificence of the Medici.

Enrico Colle Director of the Stibbert Museum

! !

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: “MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF FLORENCE

The Russian Orthodox Church of Florence, built between 1899 and 1903 and dedicated to the Nativity of Christ and to St Nicholas is an architectural monument that is unique in Italy and Western Europe.

It was, in fact, designed in the typically Russian style of Moscow’s 17th century Baroque churches, but incorporates various works of Tuscan artists and craftsmen, such as the glazed porcelain domes and friezes made by the Manifattura Cantagalli factory, the Crosses and railings by the Fonderie Michelucci foundry, the wooden two-leaved door of the upper church decorated by the master carver, Rinaldo Barbetti.

Although the author of the project, architect Michail Preobra!enskij and those of the murals and icons were Russian, the workforce that executed the project was Italian, supervised by the architect Giuseppe Boccini.

Well aware of the importance the Church could have in a city of art such as Florence, the promoters of the project - the parish priest, archpriest Vladimir Levitskiy, and the inspiring force behind the whole venture, Tsar Nicolas II himself, the Russian ambassador to Rome, Aleksej Nelidov, and a group of Russian aristocrats in Tuscany, among whom the Demidoff family - spared no expense in ensuring that the works were commissioned to the most highly qualified artists and craftsmen, and that the most precious materials were used.

The Church has undergone several restoration operations over recent years, funded both by the offerings of its congregation and by contributions from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and private benefactors.

At the moment there are still some restoration works to be finished inside the church, such as the fresco of the Annunciation, the large iron door of the narthex and two large icons portraying the Apostles Andrew and John the Theologian in the crypt, and we sincerely hope that this initiative promoted by ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO will be successful. While maintaining its Russian identity, the Community is pleased to welcome Orthodox Christians from Florence and all over Tuscany, of all nationalities: Ukrainian, Moldovan, Belarusian, Kazakh, Georgian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek, offering spiritual comfort and support in a spirit of friendship and peace.

Anne Worontzoff Lay Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church of Florence

under the aegis of the Academy of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg

presents

MOTHER/EARTH Ten one-of-a-kinds by Simafra

For the 25th ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition, the organisers, Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani, have decided to produce some sculptures of the young Florentine artist Riccardo Prosperi - aka "Simafra" - and the donations collected for these works will be given to the "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE" fund-raising campaign, promoted to help finance urgent restoration works on the artistic heritage linked to the existence, in 19th and early 20th century Florence, of numerous Russian communities.

Ten unique numbered pieces, presented in a special Catalogue, with an introduction by Natalia Parenko, Director of the St. Petersburg Art Academy in Florence.

Specifically, there will be sculptures of various diameters (roughly from 25 to 50 cm) that transform the idea of the folkloristic Russian Matryoshka dolls into concentric globes in which the “geological eras” are represented by materials that can be traced to the Siberian mines: gold, malachite, diamonds, hard coal, gas!

The spheres will be made of building materials and textures - externally the surface will be reminiscent of the Earth’s crust, with some linear, smooth areas - attributable to the malachite, ferrous black, gold, lava rock, and the exterior will be illuminated by the lustre of gold leaf. At a certain point - different every time - there will be a break, through which it will be possible to see the various cyclical transitions (Matryoshka effect) right through to a view of the inside of the smallest sphere: the core.

The idea aims to highlight the relationship between the Mother and the Earth. Mother Nature. So it is interesting to look more closely at this concept and the origins of the Matryoshka, described below:

“Matryoshkas are designed to convey a precise meaning: the word itself contains the Latin root mater, i.e. mother. And the symbolic fulcrum of these charming dolls is, indeed, the mother. The fact that each of them is contained inside a bigger Matryoshka renders the idea of the maternal womb cradling a smaller body inside it. So Matryoshkas can be taken as a generational model, with maternity and fertility as the primary and indispensable characteristics for their existence. The family could be another symbolic component and this is demonstrated by the fact that the largest doll is called the mother, while the smallest is called the seed.”

The theme chosen by Simafra aims, therefore, to touch the essence/innermost part of each living thing: the lymph of a tree, the heart of a human, the core of the Earth, the foetus of a mother-to-be.

With these 10 one-of-a-kinds - expressly conceived for the 25th ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition, for the "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” fund-raising campaign, the artist interprets the theme of memory and Russia, from his own personal slant.

- Design: Riccardo Prosperi aka "Simafra" - Text in catalogue: Natalia Parenko, Director of the St. Petersburg Art Academy in Florence - Technical sponsor: Giusto Manetti Battiloro

RICCARDO PROSPERI SIMAFRA

Riccardo Prosperi, known as Simafra, lives and works in Florence, the city where he was born. He started in 2000, working for a famous Florentine art restoration workshop, while studying with Prof. Ottavio Troiano.

As of 2004, he started taking part in competitions and group exhibitions in Tuscany, and in the space of a few years he began to exhibit in Italy and abroad. Between 2008 and 2010, he lived in Paris and then in Germany, working with numerous galleries: in 2009, with Ken’s Art in Florence, the following year with Galerie Golkar in Bonn and Infantellina Contemporary in Berlin.

In 2012 he took part in Art Arsenal, the international biennial in Kiev, and founded La Bottega Moderna in Florence, an independent cultural space which he also uses as his atelier.

In 2013, he had regular engagements in London: here he took part in the group exhibition Odds & Sods at the Art Moor House gallery, after which he exhibited at the Cadogan Contemporary gallery. In the two years that followed, he began working with the Virginie Barrou Planquart gallery in Paris, and it was here that he had his first solo exhibition in Paris in March 2015. With this gallery he also participated in numerous fairs in Europe. In May of the same year, at the Palazzo Panichi in Pietrasanta, he presented his project Le Quattro Stagioni (the four seasons), four canvases of monumental dimensions, which were subsequently exhibited also in Florence, in the prestigious setting of the Palazzo Gianfigliazzi-Bonaparte.

Since 2016 he has been working regularly with the Maddox Gallery of Mayfair in London and the Galleria Russo in Rome and Istanbul. In the same year, he also took part in the group exhibition Erranti Erotici Eretici, organised by the Fondazione Vacchi through the critic/curator Marco Tonelli, in the Castello di Grotti, Siena. Later he returned to Pietrasanta to exhibit at the Ex-Marmi gallery, which hosted his solo exhibition, Humus; still in 2016 he worked on his first site-specific installation, entitled Autostima and contributed to the group exhibition Ecosistemi at the Fondazione Biagiotti’s Progetto Arte in Florence.

In 2017, he opened with Eden, his first solo exhibition in London, hosted in January by the Maddox Gallery. In May 2017, the artist presented a new series of works inspired by the four elements in the Galleria Russo in Rome, at his solo exhibition entitled Aequilibrium.

In 2018, after a brief stay in Finland, the artist painted a series dedicated to Lapland, which is to become part of the prestigious “Alessandro Grassi” collection to be loaned to the Centro “Pecci“ of Prato. At the same time another two of his works are to be included in the group exhibition in the Kakslauttanen Art Gallery in Finland. In cooperation with the Galleria Russo in Rome, he will take part in “ArteFiera” in Bologna and “Art Verona”. He is to be contacted by the editorial offices of “Exibart” for selection for their book entitled “222 emerging artists worth investing in 2018”.

The year 2019 sees him starting a new venture in the United States: through London’s “Maddox” Gallery, he will start exhibiting in the new gallery of Los Angeles.

Over the course of his career, Simafra has gained the respect of many collectors and his works feature in prestigious national and international collections, such as those of: the Lebanese Minister of Finance, Diego della Valle at Palazzo Tod’s, the Vice-President of Volkswagen, the Prince of Qatar, as well as in the New York apartment of actress, Cameron Diaz, and the Ristorante Cipriani in Ibiza.

!

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE” SIMAFRA AND "MOTHER-EARTH”

What are the points in common between classical and contemporary art? How are the traditional artistic techniques used today? Are there any points where they overlap?

Just to make an example, the works of Riccardo Prosperi - aka Simafra - an artist born among the workshops of Florentine craftsmen, illustrate a new relationship between the freedom of choice of the artistic material and the classical forms of image development.

The great Italian artists of the Renaissance also used contrasting colours in their works and gold backgrounds, and they studied nature in depth, focusing on the subject of their work. We can see that these methods are still being used now!

The project "ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO: MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE" is devoted to the presence of Russian culture in Tuscany, and particularly in Florence, through the centuries. Creating an image linked to Russia is not an easy task for a young Italian artist.

Riccardo Prosperi has chosen a number of “modern” materials for his project, such as cement, acrylic paints, polyurethane... It may be that a philosophical approach helped the artist to transform the image of the Russian mother - the matrioska - into a symbol of the source of all life, the planet Earth.

Prosperi develops the idea of the birth of humanity in a way that shows it inseparable from its roots, the earth on which a person lives and dies. The partly open spheres within which the observer sees the nucleus of the planet, reveal the multiform nature and the fragility of life. The artist depicts many models of the earth, in order to remind the viewer of the dangers that threaten our planet on account of our barbarous attitude. He reinforces the external image using the textures of malachite, a semi-precious gemstone mined in the Ural Mountains and very well-known in Russia. Gold is Simafra’s favourite material, however: when he applies it in sheets on the cement surface, it creates a unique sculptural relief, like incandescent lava vibrating on the surface of the Earth... As if, in the hands of the master, the entire planet could become a familiar, intimate story needing protective care and attention.

Without a doubt, Riccardo Prosperi has learned the techniques of Renaissance art, having grown up in an extraordinary, culture-imbued environment such as only Florence can offer. The classical traditions of the use of gold with paints, the perfect shape of the circle, the spherical momentum of a spiral and its proportions, all serve as basic building blocks for the artist to develop his ideas. His contemporary view of art is an immediate reflection of the most urgent problems of humanity: the fragility of our planet, the unpredictability of human life, the artistic approach to the expression of a subject, the subject of the work of art itself and its constant embellishment, whether it be classical or contemporary.

A Master who knows how to ply his art masterfully - who possesses the necessary skill to convey the meaning of a work of art to his spectator - does not contemplate any division between the academic and the contemporary approach to art.

Natalia Parenko Academy of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg

presents RUSSIAN HATS

For the 25th ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO Exhibition the organisers Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani have suggested to the Il Cappello di Firenze Consortium – composed of the top enterprises of the Signa area which have been weaving straw and other typical materials since time immemorial - to produce a special collection of hats, drawing their inspiration from famous real and fictional figures of the Russian world.

One hundred unique numbered pieces will be on exclusive display at the Giardino Corsini and the donations collected will be channelled into the "MEMORIES OF RUSSIA IN FLORENCE" fund-raising campaign, promoted to help finance urgent restoration works on the artistic heritage linked to the existence, in 19th and early 20th century Florence, of the numerous Russian community.

From the 19th and 20th centuries! Catherine II of Russia, known as “Catherine the Great”-George Balanchine (Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze) - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Marc Chagall - Nicholas II of Russia and his wife Aleksandra - Fëdorovna Romanova - Sergei Diaghilev - Fyodor Dostoevsky - Wassily Kandinsky - Vaslav Nijinsky - Alexander Pushkin – Rasputin - Igor Stravinsky - Leo Tolstoy

Contemporary Mikhail Baryshnikov - Yuri Gagarin - Milla Jovovich - Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich - Rudolf Nureyev - Maria Sharapova - Natalia Vodianova

Fictional “Lolita” by Nabokov - “Anna Karenina” by Tolstoy - “The Queen of Spades” by Pushkin - “A Young Doctor's Notebook” by Bulgakov - “Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina” by Mussorgsky - “The Queen of Spades” and “Eugene Onegin” and “Undina” by Tchaikovsky - Baba Yaga

The “Il Cappello di Firenze” Consortium was founded in 1986 under the umbrella of the Industrialists’ Association of the Province of Florence, in order to protect and safeguard Florence's age-old tradition of straw hat making, and promoting marketing and sale on international markets. It brings together the sector’s leading companies, heirs to a tradition that dates back to the 1700s and which is still going strong in the provinces of Florence, Prato and Pistoia. The members of the Consortium export to practically every country in the world, from the United States, to Europe, from Australia to Japan, and China. The companies belonging to the Consortium are, on average, over 100 years old and distribute their hat collections worldwide: Grevi, Marzi, Angiolo Frasconi, Inverni, Memar, Facopel, Soprattutto!Cappelli, Raffaello Bettini, Tesi, Santelli Caterina Bertini,Talli, Alex, Rossomenta, Raw materials for hats Fratelli Reali, Ambuchi & Bandinelli,Trendintex. The "Il Cappello di Firenze" consortium has around 300 direct collaborators and just as many in the sector's allied industries, generating a total turnover of approx. 120 million Euro.

GIORGIANA CORSINI

Born in Varese, educated and raised in Piedmont, she attended the university for parliamentary interpreters in Geneva. She moved to Florence after marrying Prince Filippo Corsini with whom she had four children: Duccio, Sabina, and the twins Nencia and Fiona. Cosmopolitan, a great animal lover with a passion for sports dating to her tender years, her special preference has always been for skiing, sailing and horse riding. “My metabolism loves the open air”, she says. Another passion close to her heart is her desire “to preserve everything that has been handed down to us: from the monuments, to the traditions and nature. The disfiguring of a monument, neglect in the conservation of a painting or a sculpture, a vineyard torn up to make way for an industrial shed, a wood that becomes a car park: these are all things that grieve me, prompting me to fight this indifference, which is often due to lack of culture. I follow my instinct in all that I do, and all that interests me: I take care of the garden of Palazzo Corsini sul Prato in Florence, of its upkeep, because I love being outdoors and because I want to preserve its history. I look after my family’s houses and properties. This is why I have always been in contact with artisans of all kinds. I became totally immersed in their world, with the multiple difficulties that they have to overcome just to survive. Industrialisation is their great rival and it has left very little space for manual crafts and the time required to realise them. So this is how, together with Neri Torrigiani, we decided to organise ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO, in order to help artisans preserve their artistic professions and make them known to the new generations.” In addition, for two years she has been hosting and promoting The New Generation Festival, an international festival of music, opera and theatre live and in live streaming, created by three English artists for young talents, which is held at the end of August each year, in the garden of Palazzo Corsini.

Activities and Hobbies Giardino Corsini The garden of Palazzo Corsini, a seventeenth century work of the Italian architect, Gherardo Silvani, is considered one of the most interesting examples of an Italian-style garden in Tuscany. Group tours can be arranged on appointment, during which the Princess tells the story and the secrets of this magical place, situated in the centre of Florence, an oasis in the midst of the traffic. For appointments, phone +39 055 282923. Organization of trips for groups of grandparents with grandchildren Each year, the Princess organises trips for grandparents and grandchildren only, and a good time is had by all! “I have various grandchildren, and friends who are grandparents too. I adore travelling and organising. I like the idea of sharing experiences with them from which parents are strictly banned”. Conferences She holds conferences on the preservation of the artistic cultural heritage, gardens and historical wineries. Cooking, watercolour painting and singing courses She organises cooking, watercolour painting and singing courses. For watercolour painting, each year she chooses a place in which to spend at least a week: a villa in the country, a house in Venice, a hotel in a European capital, and she invites artists who hold courses and friends who are keen to learn. This idea stemmed from the fact that she herself feels like an enthusiastic eternal pupil who loves listening to other people’s experiences and is always keen to learn, at any moment and anyhow. The cooking course adapts to the place it is held in. It is always based on the traditional cooking of the area it is arranged in, an investigation of its origin and history. Why, for example, is “Acqua cotta” soup eaten in Maremma? Why in certain places is butter used rather than oil? She is interested in the history

of the dishes of a given area and the ingredients that form part of that tradition.

Choirs and concerts She sings in the “Accademia del Diletto” choir, which meets once a week at Palazzo Corsini under the musical direction of Ennio Clari, and with which Princess Corsini organises numerous concerts and performances in important Florentine theatres, and donates the proceeds to charitable associations.

NERI TORRIGIANI

He was born in Florence in 1966, where he lives and works. From his initial classical studies, he progressed to the study of art, graduating with top marks in Industrial Design from the ISIA of Florence, after which he began working with studios of Architecture and Design. His working experience began in the mid-Eighties with the creation of the unisex clothing line “Che fine ha fatto Baby Jane?” (in English, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) designed and produced with Marco Querci. In addition to the catwalk shows in their own city, these extremely young designers were also invited to fashion dates in Milan, London, Barcelona and Vienna. In 1992 he set up on his own. He opened a Studio, concentrating mainly on Interior Design, Graphics and Packaging (from fashion to auction houses, to wine producers!), Communication (from Christmas decorations in Florence’s old- town to the opening of the most prestigious stores, from the production of artistic events to the creation of specialist guides for publishing houses and a host of websites!) and the Organisation of Events (from exhibitions of paintings and photos to those of craftsmanship and fashion!). He works with many contemporary enterprises in Florence: from the Associazione Fabbrica Europa of which he is a founding member and which organises the Festival of the same name, to Virgilio Sieni’s “CanGo - Cantieri Goldonetta”, to the literary event “Festival degli Scrittori / Premio letterario Gregor von Rezzori - Città di Firenze” of which he is a member of the Promotion Committee. In the past, he also worked with the projects “Quarter – Centro Produzione Arte” and “EX3 Toscana Contemporanea” of which he was a founding partner. He is also the Coordinator of the Organizing Committee of the charity project “Corri la Vita” founded by Bona Frescobaldi, and the creator and organiser of the “Artigianato e Palazzo” Exhibition the seeds of which were sown in his mind during his university years and which found in Giorgiana Corsini the perfect partner with whom to organise the first exhibition in 1995.

His clients include: Prada, Miu Miu, Fendi, Church’s, Gucci, Sergio Rossi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bruno Magli, Emilio Pucci, Missoni, Ermenegildo Zegna, Etro, Roy Roger’s, Cerruti 1881, Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Hugo Boss, H&M, Pineider, Bulgari, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Metastasio Stabile della Toscana, Fondazione Toscana Spettacolo, Museo Nazionale della Fotografia Fratelli Alinari, Giunti Editore, Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato di Firenze, Sotheby’s Pandolfini Casa d’Aste, Folonari, Ruffino, Conti Capponi, Ortigia, Ahae Press, Tuscany Region, Province of Florence, Municipality of Florence!

His website is: www.torrigiani.com

2'&&"3'#"0$'*$)*"0$'*"&$))+)!#+(+*0+)"&&4+(,+#' 5667)8)9:56

!"#$%$ !"#$%&'(&)'&&%*(+ !"#$%&'%()*+%)*,%'&&%-()*.-/('%()*+%*0(123% /$#+*0+ 6$1&'1*'2*:'1;;42%* 042+1<'42%*6$1&'1*'2*:'1;;42% ,'-.' &'()"*%+&+( '("-" #224*+%&&1*5-&$-(1*6$1&'121*2%7&'*8$1$'*92'$' !,'$&-*(-.%/0+ 6)$'$-$4*+'*5-&$-(1*6$1&'121

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

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO botteghe artigiane e loro committenze

“1995 - 2019”

Patrocini Presidente della Repubblica Italiana Rappresentanza in Italia della Comunità Europea Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali Opificio delle Pietre Dure Ministero delle Attività Produttive Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico Ministero Commercio Internazionale Camera di Commercio Italo-Russa Camera di Commercio di Firenze Ambasciata d’Italia a Mosca Regione Toscana Città Metropolitana di Firenze Comune di Firenze

EXPO Milano 2015 Friends of Florence Accademia di Belle Arti di San Pietroburgo Associazione Amici del Museo Ermitage ADSI - Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane Associazione Amici dei Musei Associazione Amici di Doccia Associazione Città Nascosta

Brand coinvolti nell’annuale “Mostra Principe” Bulgari Christie’s Fabriano Giusto Manetti Battiloro Gucci Il Bisonte Laguna B L’Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di S. M. Novella Loretta Caponi Richard Ginori Vacheron Constantin

Collaborazioni AACUPI Association of American College and University Programs in Italy Archivio di Stato di Firenze Associazione Amici degli Allori Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro Associazione OmA Osservatorio Mestieri d’Arte Ateliers des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Cantieri Goldonetta – Virgilio Sieni CNR – Ibimet Consorzio Il Cappello di Firenze Florence Convention & Visitors Bureau Fondazione del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Fondazione di Firenze per l’Artigianato Artistico Fondazione Fabbrica Europa Fondazione Fratelli Alinari Fondazione Roberto Capucci Fondazione Sistema Toscana Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti, Firenze Gipsoteca dell’Istituto d’Arte di Porta Romana Istituto di Cultura Italiana di Los Angeles Istituto Statale d’Arte di Firenze Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Mediateca Toscana / Film Commission Ministero degli Esteri “Anno della Cultura Italiana negli Stati Uniti” Museo della Ceramica di Montelupo Museo dell’Intreccio e della Paglia di Signa Museo Horne, Firenze Museo Richard Ginori della Manifattura di Doccia Museo Stibbert Museo zoologico della Specola, Firenze Opera del Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore Scuola Arti Orafe Firenze Scuola del Cuoio di Firenze Smith College in Florence Soprintendenza Archivistica per la Toscana Source Self Made Design Tempo Reale - Produzione e didattica musicale Università degli Studi di Firenze

Sostegno Fondazione CR Firenze Banca CR Firenze Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte Fondazione Ferragamo Fondazione Italia Giappone Nikkei Shinbun Richard Ginori Rothschild Foundation Starhotels The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation

Alcuni contributi al Catalogo Umberto Agnelli presidente Fondazione Italia in Giappone 2000 Pierluigi Bersani Ministro per Industria, Commercio, Artigianato 1998 Emma Bonino Ministro Commercio Internazionale 2007 Ilaria Borletti Buitoni Sottosegretario Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo 2014 Franco Cologni Presidente Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte 2018 Wanda Ferragamo Presidente Fondazione Ferragamo / Presidente d’Onore Salvatore Ferragamo 2015 Dario Franceschini Ministro dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo 2017 Enrico Letta Ministro per Industria, Commercio, Artigianato 2001 Giuseppe Morbidelli presidente Banca CR Firenze 2014 Dario Nardella Sindaco di Firenze 2015 Enrico Rossi Presidente Regione Toscana 2010 Francesco Rutelli Ministro per i Beni e le Attività Culturali Giorgio van Straten Sovrintendente del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Matteo Renzi Sindaco di Firenze 2013 Giuseppe Perrone Console generale di Italia a Los Angeles 2013 Michelangelo Pistoletto Artista 2014 Giuseppe Sala Commissario Unico Delegato del Governo per Expo Milano 2015 Umberto Tombari Presidente Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze 2015