ANTIQUES // FLORENCE
Top: Thomas Patch (Exeter 1725 – Florence 1782), View of the Arno with the Ponte Santa Trinita, oil on canvas, 88x174cm, exhibitor: Robilant + Voena
Bottom: Thomas Patch (Exeter 1725 – Florence 1782), View of Piazza della Signoria, oil on canvas, 88x174cm, exhibitor: Robilant + Voena
An Antique Affair
Collectors flock to Florence, the consummate centre of art and culture, to find an antique masterpiece among some superb architectural gems. By Sophie Hull
P
www.artsandcollections.com
alazzo Corsini will be a hive of fine art and collectables this October as it hosts the 27th Florence International Antiques Fair. Opera and set director Pier Luigi Pizzi will once again be responsible for the design and layout of the fair, as a select group of 88 fine art and antique dealers—74 Italian and 14 foreign—offers
collectors a broad choice of objects across different disciplines, with over 3,000 pieces for sale. All the works exhibited at the Biennale are monitored by the Scientific Committee, which has the task of checking the authenticity of the works on display, their conservation and correct attribution. The Mostra Internazionale dell’Antiquariato was launched in 1959 in the prestigious premises of Palazzo
Strozzi. Mario and Giuseppe Bellini launched the first fair in 1959, which has gone on to become one the most important Italian art exhibitions in the world. The international triumph was triggered by the fact that it was held in the cultural haven of Florence and was also accompanied by a series of excellent cultural and society events. The fair is now held in the magnificent Palazzo Corsini, which is in itself worth a visit. Entering the room from
the grand staircase, the visitor sees an extraordinary room flooded with light reflected from the walls with their columns, bases and rippling cornice. The ceiling is decorated with a glorification of the Corsini family, and it supports two gigantic painted wooden chandeliers that were carved by Antonio Francesco Gonelli. The finest decorative element of the palace can be found in the ballroom. The Ballroom’s fresco was painted
by Alessandro Gherardini between 1695 and 1696, set in a plasterwork frame enhanced with flowers and two scrolls. In the middle of the composition is Aurora’s chariot drawn by Pegasus. The goddess of dawn is surrounded by three maidens, the Hours, one of whom is holding a floral crown, while a Putto holding a torch,
COLLECTIONS INTERNATIONAL 69
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