Event Details
Fri, October 18, 2019
11:00 – 13:00
CHURCH OF SANTA CROCE
(Meeting: on the left side of the church of Santa Croce, under the statue of Dante)
Piazza Santa Croce
50122 Firenze, Italia
This guided visit to the Basilica of Santa Croce is designed to highlight connections with and reflections on the relationship between this “Florentine Pantheon” and the international travelers who over the centuries have visited this location. We will be focusing on the “spirit of the place” (Genius Loci) and the message the monuments and memorials transmit to the contemporary traveler visiting today.
In 1819 when the first US diplomatic presence was established in Florence, Santa Croce became a must see on every visitor’s list. The basilica was a mandatory stop on the Grand Tour and many travelers have reflected in different ways upon its cultural and artistic patrimony and the message of freedom and tolerance it projects in both its spiritual and humanistic attributes.
A part of our visit will center on the current exhibition of “Sisters in Liberty” highlighting Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor and the possible inspiration that the statue by Pio Fedi entitled Liberty of Poetry, created for the tomb of Giovan Battista Niccolini, poet of the Risorgimento era may have provided Bartholdi.
The tour will be conducted by Donata Grossoni, Art Historian of Santa Croce’s Educational Department and Francesca Baldry, Collection Manager for the Acton Collection at Villa La Pietra.
Appointment: at 11:00 am Piazza Santa Croce, under the Statue of Dante. Tour ends at 1:00 pm.
(Event opened to NYU Community-only.)
Museum Meetings consists of a series of conversations dedicated to various aspects of art and museums, including art history, photography, anthropology, collecting, curation, techniques and media, conservation, and the role of museums and archives in society today. It originates in the Acton Collection at Villa La Pietra and expands to other art spaces in Florence and Tuscany. It is designed to attract a multidisciplinary group of students, not just those studying art or art history. All the meetings are conceived as discussions and envisage an active participation.