As the Horne Museum approaches its centenary, the institution and cultural association Firenze Donna joined forces for an evening to celebrate not just the museum’s 100th anniversary but also to discuss another important moment: the quincentennial of the Protestant Reformation.
The Florentine association presented the Horne Museum with a recently restored delicate and refined marble bust of a child. The work, which was purchased by Horne in 1906, was subject to a deep cleaning followed by a restoration that allowed experts to date the piece to the second half of the 15th century and to attribute it as likely coming from Donatello’s school.
After the presentation of the bust, attendees were invited to a conference titled “Effects of the Protestant Reformation on Western Societies,” exploring the main historical and sociological differences that came about in Europe in the wake of the religious schism.
Over the years Firenze Donna has restored and returned to display many Florentine artworks, including Verrocchio’s Lady with Primroses at the Bargello Museum; 12 14th-century chalices from the Salzburg Treasury, in the Treasury of the Grand Dukes at Palazzo Pitti; and the Maestro di San Miniato’s Madonna and Child with a Young St. John The Baptist, currently at the Bardini Museum.
