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This book is dedicated to Mr. Giovanni Brauzzi, Ambassador of Italy to Amman from 2015 to 2018, whose commitment to building strong cultural relations between Italy and Jordan in the framework of the promotion of a truly Euro-Mediterranean culture has inspired this work. Thanks to Mr. Brauzzi, in preparation of the 14th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan, held in Florence in January 2019, I traveled to this astonishing city, establishing the contacts with University of Florence and Laboratori Archeologici San Gallo s.c. which fostered the realization of this tourist guide book, dedicated to Florence and Islamic culture. The historical relations between Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance and modern Western civilization, and Islamic culture, are indeed as crucial as little known of. This very fact has convinced me and the authors of the volume that a guide like this one was really needed; in my hopes it represents a small but significant step towards a dutiful recognition of both the uniqueness and unity of a common Mediterranean culture, not only for the past but, most significantly, for the present and for future generations. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh On the front cover: tile in the shape of an 8-pointed star with an inscription around the edge – Kashan (Iran), end of the 13th century-beginning of the 14th century, National Museum of the Bargello (inv. 1972 C). On the back cover : Muhammad al-Kurdī, Cylindrical box with cover – Italy or Near East, first half of the 16th century, Stibbert Museum (inv. 6121). ISBN 978-88-7814-909-0 e-ISBN 978-88-7814-910-6 © 2019 All’Insegna del Giglio s.a.s. - Firenze Edizioni All’Insegna del Giglio s.a.s. via del Termine, 36; 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI) phone +39 055 8450 216; fax +39 055 8453 188 [email protected] [email protected] web site www.insegnadelgiglio.it Printed in Firenze, June 2019 Tecnografica Rossi FLORENCE AND ISLAMIC CULTURE An essential guide FLORENCE AND ISLAMIC CULTURE AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE Edited by: Laboratori Archeologici San Gallo – www.archeosangallo.com Scientific editing: Giovanni Curatola, Guido Vannini Layout: All’Insegna del Giglio Texts: Giovanni Curatola (the National Museum of the Bargello, Stefano Bardini Municipal Museum, Stibbert Museum, the National Archaeological Museum of Florence – MAF); Marianna De Falco (Islam in Italy and in Florence. A Premise, The Materials and the Shapes. Finding Islam in Florence, A Stroll through Florence’s Islamic Orient); Chiara Marcotulli e Laura Torsellini (Uffizi Galleries and Palazzo Pitti, A Stroll through Florence’s Islamic Orient); Michele Nucciotti e Elisa Pruno (Florence and Arab Science: a World Cultural Heritage). Coordinating: Chiara Marcotulli Photographic credits: Laura Torsellini (fig.s 24-29); Chiara Marcotulli (fig. 30). By permission of: the Fondo Edifici di Culto of the Ministry of the Interior (fig.s 1, 4); Photo Franca Principe. Photographic Archives of the Galileo Museum, Florence, (fig. 23); Ministry of Culture, Lorenzo Mennonna (fig.s 9, 12); Ministry of Culture, National Central Library of Florence (fig. 7); Ministry of Culture, Finsiel, Alinari Archives (fig. 6); Ministry of Culture, Polo Museale of Tuscany, Florence (fig.s 21, 22); Stibbert Museum, Florence (fig.s 17-19); Ministry of Culture, Photographic Archives of the Uffizi Galleries (fig.s 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13-16, 20). Authorization granted for exclusive use and not transferable. All forms of reproduction are prohibited. Map: Lapo Somigli, cartographic base © OpenStreetMap contributors (www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) Laboratori Archeologici San Gallo is a cooperative society and an academic spin-off of the University of Florence. Associates: Riccardo Bargiacchi, Francesca Cheli, Marianna De Falco, Chiara Marcotulli, Chiara Molducci, Michele Nucciotti, Elisa Pruno, Lapo Somigli, Laura Torsellini, Guido Vannini University of Udine – Department of Humanistic Studies and Cultural Heritage: Giovanni Curatola University of Florence – Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Art and Performing Art: Michele Nucciotti, Guido Vannini Premise This guide book is based on an idea that had occurred to us during the planning of the international exhibition From Petra to Shawbak, Archaeology of a Frontier, which was held in the Limonaia of Palazzo Pitti in 2009. We decided to add the “Florentine citations” to the show, which were references to Islamic artifacts from the city collections, in some way related to the objects being displayed. We wanted to foster the discovery of the amazing number of instruments of military, economic and everyday life that had been manufactured by Islamic cultures in the Middle Ages and Renaissance and were now preserved in the museums of Florence. Those Florentine Oriental Tours, enriched by recent studies, contributions and experiences inspired this itinerary through art and history. Forward For the transliteration of the proper names of Arab and Persian individuals we have used the spelling found in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. For the objects, however, we have used the spelling found in the catalogues of the institutions where they are housed. The calendar that has been used to express the dates is exclusively the European one; in the main text the dates are usually in parenthesis and in the captions of the pictures they are the same as those indicated in the catalogue entries related to the objects being displayed. CONTENTS Map . 10 I. A FLORENTINE STORY: FOLLOWING THE PATH TO THE NEAR EAST . .13 II. ISLAM IN ITALY AND IN FLORENCE: A PREMISE . .15 III. MATERIALS AND SHAPES: FINDING ISLAM IN FLORENCE. .17 Oriental fabrics represented in Florentine art . .17 Oriental rugs. 19 Islamic metalwork . .21 Islamic manuscripts . 22 Ceramics from Islamic countries and their imitations . 24 Glass, crystal and ivory in the Islamic tradition . 26 Islamic arms and armour . 28 IV. COLLECTIONS AND COLLECTORS THE PASSION FOR THE ORIENT, FROM THE MEDICI TO THE 20TH CENTURY . 29 1. The National Museum of the Bargello . 29 2. Stefano Bardini Municipal Museum. 32 3. The Stibbert Museum . 34 4. Uffizi Galleries and Palazzo Pitti . 37 5. The National Archaeological Museum of Florence– MAF . 39 V. FLORENCE AND ARAB SCIENCE. A WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE . 41 6. The Galileo Museum – Institute and Museum of the History of Science . 41 VI. A STROLL IN FLORENCE THROUGH ISLAMIC ORIENT . 43 VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY . 49 Main Islamic collections in Florence 1 National Museum of the Bargello 2 Municipal Museum Stefano Bardini 3 Stibbert Museum 4 Uzi Galleries 5 National Archaeological Museum of Florence - MAF 6 Galileo Museum 7 Palazzo Pitti Places of interest A Basilica of Santa Maria Novella B Church of San Giorgio alla Costa C Basilica of Santa Croce D Basilica and sanctuary of the Santissima Annunziata E Convent of San Marco F Church of Ognissanti G Medicea Laurenziana Library H National Central Library of Firenze I Museum of the Medici Chapels J Palazzo Vecchio K Palazzo Medici Riccardi L Baptistery of San Giovanni Battista M Church of Santo Stefano al Ponte N Basilica of Santa Trinita O Church of Santa Maria Maggiore P Church of the Santi Apostoli Q Giotto’s bell-tower .