Florence, here's what the 32nd International Antiques Biennale will look like

At Palazzo Corsini, from Sept. 24 to Oct. 2, 2022, the BIAF - Florence Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato, now in its 32nd edition, returns. The rooms and halls of the splendid seventeenth-century residence overlooking the Arno River will welcome some eighty galleries with a new layout by interior designer, set designer and director Matteo Corvino. The BIAF in acronym, the oldest market exhibition in the world and the one of reference for great Italian art, at the helm of which we find as President Mayor Dario Nardella and Secretary General Fabrizio Moretti assisted by a Steering Committee, is the only fair to be held in a historic building of great value, where the traditional gala dinner will also be held. Set up throughout the Palazzo, it will be curated by Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura, the Michelin-starred restaurant led by co-executive chefs Karime López and Takahiko Kondo and located inside the Gucci Garden in Piazza della Signoria.

Treasures from the Florentine Renaissance to the great Italian and international 20th century will be on display. But also Roman, Etruscan, and medieval sculptures and artifacts alongside examples of Italian and international design that have shaped the taste of the most recent century. During the days of the Biennale it will be possible to engage with antiquarians admired around the world. Great returns and important reconfirmations of international dealers will bring the best of paintings from every era, drawings, sculptures, furniture, ceramics, and jewelry. After two days reserved for the Vetting Committee, BIAF will open its doors to the press on the morning of Sept. 22, while in the evening, with the Night of Fires inspired by Florentine Renaissance festivals, the official opening of the Biennale will be celebrated.

Among the initiatives that will animate the days of the exhibition is the preview screening of Eternal Memories, the world’s first docu-game that aims to tell the younger generations about ancient art through a playful moment to bring them closer to this universe. Playable in Italian and English, Eternal Memories can be downloaded for free on all smartphones and iPads through the main APP platforms and intends to reach millions of players worldwide among the audience of more than 2 billion regular players. The game is produced for BIAF by Golem Multimedia, with the collaboration of TuoMuseo and the support of Consultinvest.

Projected into the future thanks to EY, Innovation Partner of this 32nd BIAF edition. An EY corner, dedicated to innovation in which to experience the link between new technologies and art, and a museum space inside the Metaverse with works of art awarded in previous editions of BIAF will be available for attendees to enjoy, even remotely, an immersive experience. The exhibition in the Metaverse will be enhanced by interactive digital activities. EY will also host a panel on the role of technologies in the art world.

BIAF and the tradition of patronage.

With the donation of the splendid altarpiece by Durante Alberti, depicting the Trinity and Saints Andrew, Mary Magdalene and Christina (oil on canvas, 373 x 192.5 cm) by Fabrizio Moretti and Eleonora and Bruno Botticelli, to commemorate the memory of their respective parents, to the Cathedral of Sansepolcro, compensating the church for a serious loss suffered in the past(more on this here). The work best represents the pictorial qualities of Durante Alberti, a native of Sansepolcro who belonged to a true dynasty of artists. His father was the carver Romano, known as Nero, author of wooden statues and ornaments. In the church the work will be reunited, after more than a century and a half, with another fine painting executed by Durante Alberti for the Borgo cathedral and still in the church, the altarpiece depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds made for the Pichi chapel.

While, thanks to the financial support of the Biennale dell’Antiquariato, the Fondazione Archivio Museo Richard Ginori della Manifattura di Doccia began a major campaign to restore a significant nucleus of precious wax models, which had been severely damaged by moisture in the years following the closure and abandonment of the Museo Ginori. The eight models being restored tell a little-known but extremely interesting story of the collection: from the earliest years of his factory’s activity, founder Carlo Ginori purchased numerous forms directly from the workshops of Florence’s most important late Baroque artists in order to reproduce their works in porcelain. From those casts, wax, plaster or terracotta models were made, which, displayed in the model room of the museum’s first core, were shown and proposed to patrons. Among the models being restored are the group depicting Apollo and Marsyas (now in a fragmentary state), taken from a work by Florentine sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini and made from a cast made in 1748 by his son Vincenzo; and the groups with Venus Plucking Love and Leda with the Swan, whose bronze archetypes are due to the invention of the late Baroque sculptor Massimiliano Soldani Benzi. Also noteworthy are the Venus Callipyx ( taken from an ancient marble preserved in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples) and the reliefs with Laocoon with his sons and Scene of Sacrifice, which document the manufacture’s acquisition of models of the most famous ancient statues, to be translated into porcelain to meet the demands of Grand Tour travelers.

In Florence at Palazzo Corsini and the rest of the city, the second edition of Florence Art Week: The Maison of Via Tornabuoni, the Galleries of Via Maggio, Via de Fossi, Borgognissanti and the boutiques of Ponte Vecchio will offer activities and events reserved for VIP card holders. With the F.A.W. The Exhibition is placed under the Patronage of the Region of Tuscany, City of Florence, Metropolitan City, Chamber of Commerce.

Exhibitors

800/900 Artstudio - Livorno and Lucca; Al Fine Art Antonacci Lapiccirella - Rome; Altomani & Sons - Milan and Pesaro; Antichità Giglio - Milan ; Paolo Antonacci - Rome; Giovanni Asioli Martini Antiquario - Imola (Bologna); Bacarelli Antichità - Florence ; Giorgio Baratti Antiquario - Milan; Jean-Luc Baroni - London; Bottegantica - Milan and Bologna; Botticelli Antichità - Florence; Maurizio Brandi Antiquario - Naples; Brun Fine Art - London and Milan; Butterfly - Lugano; Callisto Fine Arts - London; Roberto Campobasso - Naples; Cantore Galleria Antiquaria - Modena; Caretto & Occhinegro - Turin; Mirco Cattai Fine Art & Antique Rugs - Milan; Cecchetto Prior Antiquariato - San Vito di Altivole (Treviso); Alessandro Cesati - Milan; Luciano Coen Arazzi e Tappeti Antichi - Rome; Copetti Antiquari - Premiaracco (Udine); Nicolas Cortes Gallery - Madrid; Cortona Fine Art - Milan; De Jonckheere - Geneva; Alberto Di Castro - Rome; Alessandra Di Castro - Rome; Miriam Di Penta Fine Arts - Rome; Enrico Gallerie D’Arte - Milan and Genoa; Fondantico di Tiziana Sassoli - Bologna; Enrico Frascione - Florence; Frascione Arte - Florence; Galerie Canesso - Paris, Lugano, Milan; Galleria Berardi - Rome; Galleria Continua - San Gimignano, Beijing and ; Habana; Galleria D’Arte Frediano Farsetti - Milan; Galleria Gomiero - Montegrotto Terme (Padua); Galleria Marletta - Florence; Galleria Poggiali - Florence, Milan and Pietrasanta (Lucca); Galleria Russo - Rome; Galleria Carlo Virgilio & C. - Rome and London; Gallo Fine Art - Milan and Solesino (Padua); Michele Gargiulo “Antiquario” - Naples; Dario Ghio - Monte Carlo; Giacometti Old Master Paintings - Naples; Iotti Antichità - Reggio Emilia; Matteo Lampertico Arte Antica e Moderna - Milan; Cesare Lampronti Old Masters Paintings - London and Rome; Laocoon Gallery - London and Rome; Leone - Naples; Longari Arte Milano - Milan; Sandro Morelli - Florence; Moretti - London, Monte Carlo and Florence; Maurizio Nobile - Bologna, Paris and Milan; Carlo Orsi - Milan; Orsini Arte e Libri - Milan; Walter Padovani - Milan; A. Pallesi Art Gallery - Monte Carlo; Parronchi Dipinti ’800-’900 S.R.L. - Florence; Piva & C. - Milan; Porcini - Naples; Reve Art - Bologna; Robertaebasta - Milan and London; Robilant+Voena - London, Milan and St. Moritz; Romano Fine Art - Florence; Romigioli Antichità - Legnano (Milan); Salamon & C. - Milan; Santa Tecla - Padua; Giovanni Sarti - Paris; Scultura Italiana di Dario Mottola - Milan; Secol-Art Antichità di Masoero Davide & C. - Turin; Società di Belle Arti - Viareggio (Lucca) and Milan; Sperone Westwater - New York; Tettamanti Antichità - Florence; Tornabuoni Arte - Florence, Milan and Forte dei Marmi (Lucca).

Open to the public with continuous hours 10.30 a.m. - 8 p.m. September 24 to October 2, 2022.

Info at: www.biaf.com

Pictured: the Salone del Trono at Palazzo Corsini.

Florence, here's what the 32nd International Antiques Biennale will look like

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.