Lisez & partagez
ITALIAN BEAUTY
2010-03-02
I have for a year now been member of the Heritage Tours Committee of Europa Nostra and as such, I occasionally undertake an exceptional and educational trip. I recently went with a group to Florence, where we enjoyed warm and hospitable welcomes at eleven private palaces, all of which were accompanied by Italian food and drink. We wondered around through the delightful halls which were filled with renaissance elegance and/or baroque luxury. The beauty of these palaces, which is so often fully preserved, took our breath away. The works of art, historical furniture, frescoes, painted ceilings and antique silk wall-tapestries greatly moved us. What one is able to see in Florence’s museums, such as in the Uffizi or the Palazzo Pitti as individual, separate works of art, we were able to see in their natural environment. What a treat!
We lunched and dined at beautifully decorated tables, which were decked with silver and crystal. In addition to this, we were given history of art talks of each palazzo by their owners. These owners have held possession of the palazzi for the last five hundred, or some cases more, years.
Such palazzi must of course be maintained or restored. We therefore visited two outstanding workshops: the Antico Setificio Fiorentino who since 1786 have been manufacturers and restorers for curtains, wall tapestries, furniture covers and other pieces of interior furniture and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, who since 1588 have been a restoration-workplace for woodwork and mosaics. In the Setificio, which is hidden away in the gardens nearby the Arno, we observed the traditional, labour-intensive working of silk. The products of these workshops are so exceedingly beautiful that recently even the Kremlin and the Quirinale of Rome have been refurbished with them.
The Opificio looks like a small, modest building with operating conditions that the Dutch law for the safety of employees would immediately disapprove of but it is one of the best of its kind. Each year, 400 restoration professionals apply and only 5 are hired. And what did we see? Among other things, we saw the real, original Porta Nord of the Battisteo di Firenze by Ghiberti from 1425 which was being restored with a new, laser technique.
Thus we discovered why Italy is big. For one thing, this country is taunted by ‘abusivismo’, the illicit manner of avoiding bureaucracy, varying from illegal employment and tax-evasion to fraud and corruption. “Io faccio come mi pare,” thinks the Italian. “I do what I want.” Abusivismo is commonly accepted; it is simpatico!
But on the other hand, this individualistic culture also breeds improvisation, inventiveness and creativity and therewith great success. Just think of the fashion, wine, cooking – it is through traditional skills that Italy has, for the last decade, been setting the tone for others to follow. After all, Italians thrive best in small businesses where the emphasis is placed on individual skill and creativity. We experienced that directly by the professionals of these two unique workshops. How a great country is made up of small parts.
Drs Reinildis van Ditzhuyzen, Member of the Europa Nostra Heritage Tours Committee and Europa Nostra Representative on the Europa Nostra Heritage Tour to Florence and Siena from 26 October to 1 November 2009.
Pays Bas