IN FLORENCE: an excursion into the TRAVELLING MIDDLE AGES

In 1865 Florence becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The Savoy move from Turin to the banks of the Arno, a plethora of ministry officials comes to town, the urban structure becomes “modern” and a new museum is inaugurated: the Bargello, in the building that had been the palace of the Podestà, first, and then the home of all those sentenced to prison. A hundred and fifty years from the opening of what, without any overstatement, boasts about being the first National Museum of a unified Italy, a delightful exhibition now celebrates, at the Bargello, the MEDIOEVO IN VIAGGIO (TRAVELLING MIDDLE AGES). Benedetta Chiesi, Ilaria Ciseri and Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, the curators, have ordered in a functional layout by Giancarlo Lombradi, scientific instruments and crafts, art and of everyday use, paintings and sculptures, stained glass and plates, pilot books and manuscripts, seals and reliquaries. A hundred objects, or a little more, in five thematic sections: from the representation of the world to the pilgrimages, from the Crusades to business trips all the way to the nuptial parades and to the court’s relocations. The exhibition is due to the collaboration between four museums of medieval art, the Bargello, in fact, the Musée de Cluny, the Museu Episcopal of Vic and the Museum Schnütgen of Cologne. It will remain open until June 21st, 2015.

 MUSEO NAZIONALE DEL BARGELLO • VIA DEL PROCONSOLO 4 • FLORENCE