ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO is one of the exhibitions-events that will represent Italy in Japan next year. “Italy in Japan 2001” will be the most organic intervention to promote Italy abroad that our country has ever undertaken so far.
For its duration: about a year.
But above all for the intensity of the synergy between the public and private sectors: which has led, among other things, to the creation of the Italy-Japan Foundation, in agreement between the Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and private subjects.
The image of Italy in the world is, fortunately for us, still linked to the concept of beauty: art, culture, design, fashion, tourism. At the same time, our foreign partners recognise Italy not only for the legacy of a great past, but also for being a modern country: one that knows how to keep pace with change.
The ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO exhibition encapsulates these two aspects of Italy: the pursuit of beauty and the quality of life that is characteristic of quality craftsmanship. As well as the ability of our best ‘artisans’ – in the literal sense of the word – to use technology and at the same time express extremely sophisticated expertise and manual skills. This is why I will be present in Japan, where a particularly discerning public needs to be able to appreciate directly and ‘de visu’ the production methods of modern Italian craftsmanship.

I therefore express my warmest wishes to the participants and organisers of this Florentine edition of ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO, which takes place in the symbolic year 2000 and precedes the Japanese edition by a few months.
Not only for the success of the exhibition: that I consider certain. But above all, the wish I want to make is that this experience sets a school, that it spreads.
Italy has an artistic craftsmanship that often reaches levels of excellence and that represents the different souls and traditions of our regions in an exemplary manner. But it is also a craftsmanship that runs great risks: of not finding continuity and renewal in the younger generations. Our foreign friends do not know this. But we must be fully aware of it. And put a stop to it, while it is still possible.
It is a need that must be strongly emphasised to local and regional institutions, schools and the world of education, which are undergoing a profound transformation and can therefore offer collaboration that was unthinkable until yesterday.
And it is a message that I think is particularly appropriate to send out on the occasion of this important initiative being held in Florence.
Because it is precisely in the land of Tuscany that I believe a significant, new and concerted effort is being made: for a ‘2000s’ relaunch of quality craftsmanship.

Umberto Agnelli
President
Italy in Japan Foundation 2001

For the 6th edition of ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO

This year, the 6th edition of the ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO exhibition takes on a special aspect of which we are very proud: the recognition by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the importance of our craftsmanship as a true ambassador of a culture, tradition and refined taste that only exists in Italy. This is why our Exhibition was given the opportunity to present a targeted selection of its craftsmen and their workshops in Japan in 2001.

All conservators of ancient objects and monuments know how precious the intervention of a true craftsman is in the maintenance and restoration of works of art: it is unthinkable to do without the atavistic taste, patience and passion that are the most important traits of a craftsman’s activity consolidated through generations or revolutionised – without dismay – by new technologies and the crossing of experiences.

This year, the ‘Prince Exhibition’, organised by Bulgari, is dedicated to the presentation of a magnificent new watch inspired by the taste and craftsmanship of the 1930s. We are grateful to Bulgari because it has grasped the spirit of our exhibition and wanted to remind us how such a prestigious signature of Italian taste and style has its roots in timeless and ever-living craftsmanship.

As we do every year, we are grateful to our collaborators, especially Caterina Romig Ciccarelli for the organisation, Maddalena Torricelli who looks after our Press Office, our gardener Paolo, and Arturo for his invaluable help.

We would also like to thank the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze for always and faithfully being at our side, year after year.

Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani

BVLGARI and ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO

Historically linked to the work of master craftsmen, Bvlgari’s activity is still characterised by an uncompromising search for quality, a special attention to detail and a never-ending passion – peculiarities inherited from the founder Sotirio Bulgari, a Greek silversmith, who came to Italy at the end of the last century, where he founded the first Bvlgari shop in Rome in 1905.

Therefore, every Bvlgari product, be it a piece of jewellery, a watch, a perfume, a silk scarf, a leather goods item or a pair of glasses, is an object that will be checked down to the smallest detail to be consistent with Bvlgari’s tradition of quality and perfectly in harmony with the sensibility and will of the person who created it.

Bvlgari jewellery takes shape through a drawing made in watercolour or tempera. It is at this point that the craftsman intervenes, using all his manual talent and experience to create an object of particular softness, roundness and perfection. From the very first drawing, the idea is creatively analysed and developed, so that the most suitable materials and colours can be assessed, as well as wearability and consistency with Bvlgari tradition and style.
As far as watches are concerned, Bvlgari has also managed to combine refined design with sophisticated mechanisms, produced and controlled according to the strict and rigorous Swiss certification criteria, a guarantee of high quality. All Bvlgari watches are made in the Bvlgari Time ateliers in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Emblematic of this approach is the new Rettangolo watch, the first made by Bvlgari with a rectangular shape, dedicated to men and women who like to stand out with a strong personality. This timepiece stands out for its original design inspired by an era – the 1930s – that had like few others the cult of bold shapes.
A unique creation, destined to design the new geometry of time, which Bvlgari presents as a preview to the Italian public during the “Artigianato e Palazzo” event, in the splendid setting of Palazzo Corsini in Florence.

The Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze Prize

Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus lends its image and name to the Prize that the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze awards to the ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO exhibitor most appreciated by the public.

Cellini’s masterpiece, restored thanks to the intervention of the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, is the symbol of that encounter between humanism and technical evolution that made the Florentine Renaissance one of the founding episodes of European culture and history. An encounter that had precisely in the ‘botteghe’ one of its essential places.

And it is to this great tradition of Florentine workshops that the award is intended to refer, offering recognition to those who know how to keep alive the interest in the artisan ‘workshop’, for a place, that is, where quality is at home and where the final product is the bearer of culture. An artisan culture that the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, thanks to its close ties with the territory, knows well and which, in its banking activities, it actively supports.

In the sign of Perseus, moreover, the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze has set up an important communication campaign aimed at affirming the enduring vitality of the encounter between technology and humanism in its own banking activity. In its planning efforts, as in its daily operations, the Cassa has in fact as its primary objective the global quality of service as a result of the correct fusion of technology and human capabilities.

Aureliano Benedetti
Chairman of Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze S.p.A.

The Corsini Palace and Garden at the Prato

The façade of one of the palaces along what used to be known as the Prato di Ognissanti hides one of the most fascinating gardens in Florence, whose simple and rigorous beauty still fills us with admiration and awe.

Purchased by Filippo Corsini in 1621 together with ‘a large house begun and unfinished’, the Corsini garden was described by Bocchi in 1677 as ‘delightful… and beyond the noble plants that adorn it… enriched with ancient and modern statues’. The author of this “delightful garden” is Gherardo Silvani, the architect who was commissioned by Filippo and Maddalena Corsini to complete the house begun by Buontalenti for the Acciaioli family, previous owners of the land. According to what the sources indicate, we can assume that Buontalenti had practically completed the construction of the ‘casamento grande’, a building characterised by a ground floor that was much higher than the level of the lawn and well open to the light and greenery of the garden. A large covered terrace formed the essential environment of the entire building. Today, by Buontalenti, we recognise the loggia and the large kneeling windows while Silvani’s architectural work can be seen in some details of the ground floor rooms, such as the heraldic decorations on some of the architraves. It is in the part of the Italian garden, however, with its lemon groves, geometrically designed flower beds, boxwood hedges, lemon basins and central avenue with statues, that the artist’s Baroque spirit, his propensity for scenography, is clearly manifested. To increase the impression of greater length and depth of the avenue, the architect used the artifice of placing the statues and their pedestals at gradually descending heights. Further confirming that the fundamental point of view was from the rear loggia of the casino towards Via della Scala and not vice versa, even the putto and the two lions, placed above the gate and side pillars, have their faces and snouts turned inwards and not, as one would logically expect, towards the street.

The first half of the 19th century was of decisive importance for the history of the casino and garden: in 1834, this residence became the home of Don Neri and his wife Eleonora Rinuccini, who commissioned a series of works of both an architectural and decorative nature. The roof was raised, a new well staircase was built, a large family coat of arms flanked by two hippogriffs was placed on the façade of the palazzo and some rooms were frescoed. The artists involved in this project include Ulisse Faldi, Gaetano Baccani, Luigi Giovannozzi and the painters Giuseppe Gherardi, Gasparo Martellini and Pasquale Salviotti. In the same years, the garden also underwent changes in a romantic key: groves, a mound and a pond were created, a transformation that can still be seen today in the two wooded masses that enclose the garden like two green wings.

The last work on the casino dates back to the early 20th century when Vincenzo Micheli was commissioned to build a new Renaissance-style building next to the old palace. The garden, as we see it today, with its spring blossoms of pink and red cistus, lavender, roses, peonies and flowering cherry trees, was landscaped by Oliva di Collobiano and features, in addition to the two geometric parterres, the lemon houses, with an earth floor, large wooden doors and wide walls to support the citrus basins, and a lawn with centuries-old lime trees.

Città Nascosta

The Hidden City is a cultural association created to promote knowledge of the artistic and historical heritage of Florence and Tuscany. The Hidden City of Florence, founded by Marcella Cangioli, Maria de Peverelli and Tiziana Frescobaldi, intends to propose cycles of guided tours that are popular and non-academic in nature, open to all those who wish to learn more about the works, artistic places and history of Florence, from an unusual perspective, attentive – as the name suggests – to details, hidden curiosities, to the ‘minor’, if not ‘secret’, but not for this reason of lesser interest, face of the city and the region. The success of the numerous cultural initiatives promoted in Florence and Italy in recent times demonstrates the growing public interest in art, museums and history. The Hidden City suggests to those interested an alternative and complementary type of route to the initiatives that already exist. Routes that move away from traditional tourist destinations and aim to explore aspects of the city’s history and culture starting from the particular. The ancient pharmacies, some of the artisan workshops in San Frediano, palaces and gardens usually closed to the public, the bridges along the Arno, the markets under the loggias, a recently restored chapel, are just some of the itineraries proposed.

The Association also offers to organise cultural events or ‘special’ visits, on itineraries to be agreed upon. Visits are conducted in English, French and Japanese.

For information contact Città Nascosta
via Benedetto Varchi, 34 – 50132 Florence – tel. 055/2638464 and fax 055/2261049