Medici tapestries to come home

Medici tapestries to come home

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Mon 26 Sep 2016 12:53 PM

After more than 100 years, 20 Medici tapestries are set to return to Florence.

 

The works, which depict the parables of Joseph, have been divided between Rome and Florence for the last century. Last year, they were reunited for the exhibition “The Prince of Dreams” in the Palazzo Vecchio. Now, it has been announced that all 100 tapestries will return to Florence and be exhibited in rotation in the renovated Hall of the 200.

 

Joseph tapestries / ph. Andrea Paoletti for The Florentine

Joseph tapestries / ph. Andrea Paoletti for The Florentine

 

The announcement came from Florence mayor Dario Nardella during the presentation of the newly refurbished room.

 

“This is an event of historic magnitude for Florence and for Italy… Thanks to the crucial contribution of the Quirinale and the personal support of President Sergio Mattarella, we can announce the decision to host the 20 tapestries of the parables of Joseph here in Florence in order to allow a permanent rotating exhibition where Cosimo de’ Medici had wanted these tapestries to be displayed.”

 

The tapestries were commissioned between 1545 and 1553 and were woven by Flemish artists Jan Rost and Nicolas Karcher based on drawings by Agnolo Bronzino, Jacopo Pontormo and Francesco Salviati. They were displayed for more than a century in the Hall of the 200 at the Palazzo Vecchio before being moved into storage. Ten of the tapestries later made their way to Rome according to the wishes of the Savoy family to adorn the rooms of the presidential palace.

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