Palazzo Strozzi will present The Springtime of the Renaissance. Sculpture and the Arts in Florence, 1400-1460, an exhibition which sets out to illustrate the origin of what is still known today as the “miracle” of the Renaissance in Florence predominantly through masterpieces of sculpture, the form of figurative art in which it was first embodied. Following its debut in Florence, where it will be on view from 23 March to 18 August 2013, the exhibition will be shown at the Musée du Louvre in Paris from 23 September 2013 to 6 January 2014.
The lengthy preparation that has gone into the staging of the exhibition, which is curated by Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, director of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, and Marc Bormand, curator-in-chief of the Département des Sculptures in the Louvre, has been accompanied by an extensive restoration campaign in both Italy and France with joint funding from the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the Louvre. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to admire many Renaissance masterpieces, including works by Ghiberti, Donatello, Dello Delli, Filippo Lippi, Nanni di Bartolo, Agostino di Duccio, Michelozzo, Francesco di Valdambrino and Mino da Fiesole, in their newly-conserved splendour.
One of the most significant projects undertaken for this exhibition is the conservation of Donatello’s imposing bronze statue depicting St Louis of Toulouse, 1425, from the Museo dell’Opera di Santa Croce where it has been throughout the restoration in a workshop especially set up in the museum and open to the public. The conservation was entrusted to Ludovica Nicolai, who was responsible for restoring Donatello’s David in the Bargello, with the assistance of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure’s scientific laboratory. The procedure was directed by Brunella Teodori, Soprintendenza Speciale PSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze.
The exhibition is promoted and organised by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, the Musée du Louvre, the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (in particular, the Museo Nazionale del Bargello –Soprintendenza PSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze), with the participation of the Comune di Firenze, the Provincia di Firenze, the Camera di Commercio di Firenze and the Associazione Partners Palazzo Strozzi.
Numerous leading museums in Europe and the United States have been immensely generous in terms of the magnitude and importance of the loans that they have granted (particularly the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Bode Museum in Berlin and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, in addition to the Louvre), as indeed have the institutions, churches and museums of Florence – not only the Museo Nazionale del Bargello but also the Opera e Museo di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Opera di Santa Croce and the Museo di Orsanmichele, in particular – which will also provide visitors to the exhibition with the opportunity to prolong their exploration of the history and art of the Early Renaissance in Florence.
The catalogue, edited by Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi and Marc Bormand and jointly published by Mandragora Editore Firenze and the Editions du Louvre in Italian, French and English, will contain contributions from many of the leading Italian and foreign experts in the field of Quattrocento art, with numerous theme-based essays and with scholarly entries for each of the exhibits.
This first joint venture between the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the Musée du Louvre confirms the international reputation for excellence successfully built up by Palazzo Strozzi and its exhibition programme.
