Where can a Renaissance sculpture such as the one pictured above be not only on display but for sale?
The answer is the current Florence Biennial International Antiques Show.
The event, which will continue through 8 pm Sunday, October 13 in Palazzo Corsini
showcases mainly 16th - 19th century Italian antiques exhibited by European and New York dealers.
This wooden and decorated Bust of a Young Woman is by no other than a master as Antonio del Pollaiolo, completed upon commission between 1465 and 1470.
She reminded of a serene painted Piero della Francesca figure come to life.
She reminded of a serene painted Piero della Francesca figure come to life.
Think about adding that to your shopping cart!
I first covered the Antiques Biennial event in 2001 with a article in the International Herald Tribune giving the sensational news that a small drawing by Michelangelo (from a private collection in England:
no, it was not the Queen's) was for sale.
It was surrounded by guards brandishing an impressive array of firearms.
Also exhibited at Palazzo Corsini are the 19th century Tuscan macchiaolo works--its exponents Giovanni Fattori and Telemaco Signorini were the predecessors of the French impressionism school.
Like their fellow French artists, the brushwork is loose, with few precise details and definite lines.
This style also influenced early 20th century Italian artists such as Giovanni Boldini.
The work above is exhibited at a collateral show,
Ritorni (Return), which the Florence Antiques Biennale show committee organized at
the Bardini museum. It consists of antiques come back to Italy thanks to acquisitions from private and foreign museum collections over the years.
This luminous watercolor of a young women seated on a park bench holding a poodle has traveled from California.
The show's organizers also arranged for the screening of Giuseppe Tornatore's latest film
The Best Offer -- a look at the world of antique dealing and auctions starring Geoffrey Rush.
Being Italians are fond of prizes on any occasion, the committee gave the director
the Lorenzo d'Oro (The Golden Lorenzo) award, in a ceremony covered by the local press
(above). I guess Florentine Renaissance humanist and ruler Lorenzo de'Medici is already well known by his unofficial title "Lorenzo the Magnificent," so there was no other choice than
to make Tornatore's tribute synonymous with gold.
(N.B. After completing this post, I looked at the presentation program and read that a small gold bust of Lorenzo the Magnificent--recognizable by his pug nose--the symbol of the presentation, was actually handed to Tornatore).
A Renaissance man from Sicily, Tornatore was delighted to accept the honor.
It was an honor for me to on hand at an event starring the director of Cinema Paradiso,
which I viewed at the home of my heart-sister. Mary Louise, in Montgomery, New York
(Hudson Valley).
Here in Italy, I was too shy to ask for an autograph.
Reporting live from Beautiful Florence
-- Rosanna
Like their fellow French artists, the brushwork is loose, with few precise details and definite lines.
This style also influenced early 20th century Italian artists such as Giovanni Boldini.
The work above is exhibited at a collateral show,
Ritorni (Return), which the Florence Antiques Biennale show committee organized at
the Bardini museum. It consists of antiques come back to Italy thanks to acquisitions from private and foreign museum collections over the years.
This luminous watercolor of a young women seated on a park bench holding a poodle has traveled from California.
The Best Offer -- a look at the world of antique dealing and auctions starring Geoffrey Rush.
Being Italians are fond of prizes on any occasion, the committee gave the director
the Lorenzo d'Oro (The Golden Lorenzo) award, in a ceremony covered by the local press
(above). I guess Florentine Renaissance humanist and ruler Lorenzo de'Medici is already well known by his unofficial title "Lorenzo the Magnificent," so there was no other choice than
to make Tornatore's tribute synonymous with gold.
(N.B. After completing this post, I looked at the presentation program and read that a small gold bust of Lorenzo the Magnificent--recognizable by his pug nose--the symbol of the presentation, was actually handed to Tornatore).
It was an honor for me to on hand at an event starring the director of Cinema Paradiso,
which I viewed at the home of my heart-sister. Mary Louise, in Montgomery, New York
(Hudson Valley).
Here in Italy, I was too shy to ask for an autograph.
Reporting live from Beautiful Florence
-- Rosanna
