The Michelangelo Experience Inc. unveiled 11 of the Michelangelo Experience Tour sculptures at Casa Buonarroti (the Michelangelo Buonarroti Family Museum) in Florence, Italy on November 9th 2010. The exhibition will run until January 10th, 2011.
Casa Buonarroti | Museum and Monument
A place to remember and celebrate the greatness of Michelangelo. Casa Buonarroti is one of the most extraordinary Florentine museums. It offers in the first place the possibility of admiring the two famous marble relief pieces, sculptured by Michelangelo in his early years: the Madonna della Scala, which clearly shows the passion of this artist for Donatello and the Battle of the Centaurs that echoes the admiration of the artist for classic art.
It is equally suggestive to enter this 17th century palace and connect the works by Michelangelo to the centuries of history of the Buonarroti family, who greatly contributed to enlarge the building and embellish it with the aim of preserving precious objects from different cultures (that include the recent collection of the autograph drawings by Michelangelo consisting of 205 precious sketches and the equally important Archive and Library). The building exhibits rare art collections comprising paintings, sculptures, majolicas and archaeological findings that are now arranged on the two floors of the Museum. A specially equipped room displays on rotation a small number of the drawings of Michelangelo.
The importance of Casa Buonarroti goes far beyond the celebration of an extraordinary personality like Michelangelo, although it displays many of his works and documents that have increased also thanks to the donations and pieces transferred here from other Florentine museums. The works exhibited in these rooms comprise: The Crucifix of Santo Spirito, which critics tend to attribute to Michelangelo, the two 16th century Noli me tangere based on the lost cartoon, the Wooden model for the façade of San Lorenzo and the River Divinity, which was used to prepare one of the sculptures made for the New Sacristy.
The idea of creating a sumptuous building to celebrate the glory of the family was an initiative of Michelangelo Buonarroti the younger, an extraordinary man of letters and promoter of cultural activities, who employed for the works of the building, of the “Gallery” and of the three subsequent rooms, the most renown artists of Florence such as Empoli, Passignano, Artemisia Gentileschi, Pietro da Cortona, Giovanni da San Giovanni, Francesco Furini and the young Jacopo Vignali. These sumptuous rooms were chosen by Michelangelo the younger to exhibit the most precious objects of his collection, including the small cartoon of Michelangelo showing a Madonna with Child and the wooden panel representing some episodes of the Life of St. Nicholas masterpiece by Giovanni di Francesco, a disciple of Domenico Veneziano.
It is also useful to remember that the museum organizes every year exhibitions on several aspects of the life and art of Michelangelo and on the cultural and artistic heritage of Casa Buonarroti.
ORGANIZER
Pina Ragionieri
Ragionieri has organized many important Florentine cultural events, including the Brunelleschi Centenary in 1977 and the Medici Exhibitions in 1980. In 1997, she was recipient of a gold medal from the President of the Italian Republic for her work in art and culture and in 2006 was recognized with the Nelli Award of the Florence Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Some of her most recent publications include “Michelangelo’s Sketch Models at the Casa Buonarroti” (2000), “Michelangelo Between Florence and Rome” (2003) and “Michelangelo: The Art, The Affections” (2006).
For additional information about Casa Buonarroti, tickets or reservations please visit: www.casabuonarroti.it
To see images of the opening gala please visit our blog here: https://www.michelangeloexperience.com/renaissance-art/casa-buonarroti-opening-gala/
Directions: Via Ghibellina, 70-red, 50122 Firenze, Italy +39 055 241752