Can You Imagine Growing Up Inside Villa La Pietra?

“Until my brother and I were of an age to attend a day school our acquaintance was limited. So self-contained did we feel behind our massive gates that we had little incentive to go to town. We spent a lot of time in that garden, the resources of which were interminable. Acute as the sense are in childhood, one is less dependent on their evidence. One’s playmates are more immaterial than material” 
– Harold Acton

Using Harold’s Memoires of an Aesthete as the main source, Francesca Baldry, Collection Manager for the Acton Collection, conducts an unusual tour of the villa to see spaces and objects that preserve memories and connections to the children of the house. Books and digital copies of the archival photographic collection will be presented.

(Open to NYU students and faculty only, followed by a light lunch.)

Museum Meetings is a cycle of conversations in art spaces designed for all students. It is dedicated to various aspects of art and museums in Florence: art, collecting, display, iconography, techniques and media,  conservation, and the role of museums in society today. The program originates from the Acton Collection and expands to other art locations in the city. All the meetings are conceived as discussions and envisage an active participation.