Museo Stefano Bardini, Firenze

-Stefano Bardini

(Pieve Santo Stefano 1836 - Florence 1922) Born in Pieve Santo Stefano in the province of Arezzo on May 13, 1836, Stefano Bardini moved to Florence at the age of eighteen, to follow the courses of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. The artistic studies introduced him into the Florentine cultural environment. and in the circle of the Macchiaioli. The episode that marked the end of his short career as a painter occurred in June 1864. A fire broke out at the Politeama Fiorentino, with the stage burned the canvas painted by Bardini. Disappointed and motivated by sincere patriotism, in 1866, Stefano enlisted in the Garibaldi's regiment. In the following years Bardini discovered his talent for antiquarian trade. It was inspired by the main Florentine exponents of the sector, such as Giovanni Freppa and Angiolo Tricca and the activity of the Castellani brothers, the greatest Roman antiquarians of the time. The ease of finding objects of ancient and renaissance art encouraged Bardini. In fact, many works came from the buildings dismantled during the redevelopment of the Old Center of Florence. At the favorable historical conjuncture, "Il Principe degli antiquari" was able to combine an innovative and unprejudiced management, which must be associated with an exceptional talent in recognizing valuable pieces and anticipating collectible fads. During his long activity, Bardini organized auctions in London, Paris, New York and selected his clients the main museums and the most wealthy European and American collectors. A fundamental meeting was with Whilelm Bode, then Director of the Sculpture Department of the Berlin Museum, with whom he started a collaboration that will last over 50 years. In the '70s and' 80s, the business grew exponentially and Bardini became an absolute protagonist in Florence and throughout the Italian scene. With the new century, without abandoning the antique business, Stefano Bardini decided to return to art by dedicating himself to very personal exhibitions of some of his palaces, in particular the Villa di Marignolle and the Torre del Gallo. Just in these years the project of transforming the historic show-room of Piazza de 'Mozzi - the current Stefano Bardini Museum - into a permanent collection was born, which will donate to the Municipality of Florence to the death, on September 12, 1922, at the age of 86 years.

• Bardini Museum

Bardini acquired the palace at the auction of the Mozzi family in the first months of 1. The building that once stood on the ancient 13th century convent of San Gregorio alla Pace became its show-room: a continuously evolving gallery to which a few selected clients could access to choose the pieces to buy. The arrangement of the works followed Bardini's taste, attentive to the exposure and lighting of the individual works, as well as to the effects of the environment. The walls were deep blue. The various shades were designed to accentuate the whiteness of the marbles or the brilliance of the gilding. Even the fake ashlar on the ground floor is due to Bardini. The year 1922, the year of the acquisition of the legacy by the Municipality, marked the beginning of radical changes that for almost 80 years have broken the integrity of the collection and transformed the building into an exhibition space for works owned by the city. The Museum was inaugurated on May 3, 1925, in the guise designed by the architect Alfredo Lensi and, only thanks to the proposals of the antique dealers, the name of Stefano Bardini was compared to that of the Civic Museum, on the external sign. Lensi followed a chronological and aesthetic criterion for re-establishment. This impersonal and didactic disposition, unrelated to the spirit of the antique dealer, nevertheless obtained a broad consensus among the intellectuals of the time, against what was called an "antiquarian antique tastes". On the walls a uniform layer of ocher was laid as a neutral background for the works. The shades of the famous "Blue Bardini" were thus covered, today re-proposed, imitated by the major collectors of the time, such as the Jacquemart-André of Paris or Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston. Today, by visiting the Stefano Bardini Museum, we can rediscover the rooms as the antique dealer had thought of them at the end of his life. From 1999 to today, the analysis of the sources, the comparison of the inventory with the rich photographic documentation have guided the choices. The consideration of the damage caused by the flood of 1966, the security requirements, the modern exhibition and conservation standards have made some adjustments necessary.

BARDINI MUSEUM:

The museum was donated to the city of Florence by Stefano Bardini (1836-1922), internationally renowned merchant and art connoisseur, who established his prestigious antiques gallery in the Piazza de 'Mozzi complex. . Altars, stairs, portals, columns and ceilings from churches and palaces, which can be perceived as one of the most interesting features of this museum.

The collection contains masterpieces of painting and sculpture as the Charity by Tino of Camaino, the Virgin of the Cordai by Donatello, the Archangel Michael by Antonio del Pollaiolo and many fine examples of the minor arts: ceramics, medals, bronzes, oriental rugs, musical instruments and a small but impressive collection of arms.