Florence, Mino da Fiesole's tabernacle in the basilica of Santa Croce restored

The restoration of the tabernacle by Mino da Fiesole (Poppi, 1429 - Florence, 1484) located in the Castellani Chapel in the monumental complex of Santa Croce was presented in Florence. The work, which is characterized by its delicate and original Carrara marble scenographic complex, is composed of eight pieces depicting an array of angels and cherubs and a dove.The restorers, Paola Rosa and Emanuela Peiretti, intervened by cleaning the entire tabernacle.

The long and troubled history of the tabernacle, as conservator Eleonora Mazzocchi recalled during the presentation of the restoration, began in 1473, when Mino da Fiesole, one of the most distinguished Italian sculptors of the 15th century, made it for the Convent of the Murate. For more than three centuries, the tabernacle did not move from the convent: everything changed, however, in 1808, when, following the Napoleonic suppressions of the ecclesiastical orders, it was transferred to Santa Croce and walled up in the Medici Chapel. In 1945, to protect it from the risks of war, the ciborium was dismembered and stored in three cases kept in the Bardi Chapel in Vernio. It was not until 1972 that Superintendent Guido Morozzi, during the reorganization of the Castellani Chapel, decided to place it in the space where it is today.

The restoration was made possible by the collaboration between the Opera di Santa Croce and the Inner Wheel Firenze Medicea club: a partnership that began in 1998. President Francesca Maria Di Lollo highlighted that the club has contributed to the restoration of numerous polychrome glazed terracotta works attributed to Giovanni and Andrea Della Robbia and Benedetto Buglioni, preserved in the Museo dell’Opera di Santa Croce and the Castellani Chapel. President Di Lollo announced that Inner Wheel Firenze Medicea is now preparing for a new endeavor, also in the Castellani Chapel: the restoration of the funeral monument of Polish artist and aristocrat Michael Bogoria Skotnicki, by Stefano Ricci.

Pictured: a detail of the tabernacle by Mino da Fiesole.

Florence, Mino da Fiesole's tabernacle in the basilica of Santa Croce restored

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