CR Florence Foundation collection reopens with free guided tours How was Florence?

Starting May 13, Fondazione CR Firenze’s art collection reopens to the public, with free guided tours of the In Collezione program, so that visitors can admire works by Giotto, Filippino Lippi, Vasari, Giovanni Fattori, Primo Conti and many other famous artists at the foundation’s headquarters on Via Bufalini.

“We are delighted to be able to reopen the doors of our headquarters to the community and to present this year’s new works,” says Gabriele Gori, Director General of Fondazione CR Firenze. “With In Collezione we want to give everyone the opportunity to get to know and admire the precious art collection preserved in Via Bufalini and offer a program of cultural activities. Thanks to this program, which has been active since 2016, we have been able to welcome as many as 13,000 visitors to the Foundation’s headquarters while 250 children have participated in our educational workshops. Over the past three years we have offered educational activities to about 2,000 families and donated to over 2,500 Florentine children colors, videos and digital educational content, as well as an illustrated book inspired by some of the most precious works. A small contribution born from the desire to pass on to future generations the precious values of culture and beauty.”

New this year is a series of thematic visits entitled How was Florence?: a guided tour of the city of yesterday and today, through the works in the collection. A journey through the city’s history, to imagine the time when people bathed in the Arno, washed their clothes and collected rena. Or when a rich market was held in the oldest heart of the city, with baskets of fruit and vegetables arriving from the countryside carried by mule. Large nineteenth-century canvases allow visitors to immerse themselves in what was then the modern city, briefly the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, animated by the constant comings and goings of horses and carriages in the avenues that sprang up in place of the ancient walls. Offering a real plunge into Florence’s past is the monumental collection of views painted by Fabio Borbottoni in the late 19th century, with contemporary images and historical reconstructions that allow visitors to learn about unpublished or lesser-known aspects and breathe in the atmosphere of the time.

Another opportunity of the new edition of In Collezione is provided by specific activities for special audiences: on the one hand guided tours dedicated to people with autism, specific learning disorders, attention deficit or cognitive disabilities together with their family members; on the other hand, workshop meetings aimed at people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. The activities are curated by the L’Immaginario Association and conducted by workers and mediators with expertise in neurodiversity and dementia.

The visits are scheduled until June 11; they will resume after the summer break on Sept. 8 with activities dedicated to children and families and new workshops. All proposed activities are free of charge and reservations are required.

Calendar of visits and activities

May 13, 14, 27 and 28; June 10 and 11

The traditional guided tours and the How was Florence? (max. 20 participants per group) will be held on Saturdays and Sundays when open at 11 a.m., 12 noon, 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Info and reservations: tel. + 39 3346664563, email: incollezione@fcrf.it

Activities for people with Alzheimer’s and neurodiverse diseases (max. 10 participants per group) will be held on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. Info and reservations: THE IMAGINARY, e-mail: immaginario.info@gmail.com; tel. +39 342 8328085

For more information visit fondazionecrfirenze.it/in-collection

Photo by Stefano Casati.

CR Florence Foundation collection reopens with free guided tours How was Florence?

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