Florence: restoration of the Chiostrino dei Voti in the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata completed

The meticulous restoration of the Chiostrino dei Voti in the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence has finally been completed.
Lasting a full four years, the restoration work has contributed to an improvement in the site’s conservation conditions.The work on the frescoes and decorations was made possible thanks to a €467,000 donation from the nonprofit organization Friends of Florence.

Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda, president of the Friends of Florence Foundation, emphasized, “The restoration of the Chiostrino dei Voti was a very significant moment for our Foundation because it made it possible to safeguard an entire place in the Santissima Annunziata complex that is recognized as fundamental to the city and to the history of world art. In its frescoes is preserved the origin of that modern manner that has inspired artists and devotees for centuries. He has taught art historians and scholars, not only style, but also very profound religious concepts with his painted iconographies.”

Restorers Gioia Germani, Cristiana Conti and Alessandra Popple, owners of SAR snc, on the other hand, explained, “It was a particularly long and meticulous work that absorbed most of our intervention. The restoration of the Chiostrino dei Voti occupied almost continuously four years of our work activity. We believe it was one of the most challenging and at the same time rewarding interventions of our entire experience in the field of mural painting restoration.”

The Chiostrino is a place rich in history: designed by Michelozzo starting in 1447, it is considered the cradle of the Florentine manner. The pictorial cycle, consists of twelve frescoed lunettes created by some of the most important artists active in Florence between the 15th and 16th centuries: some of the greatest masters of the mature Renaissance and early Mannerism worked there. In particular, in addition to Alesso Baldovinetti and Cosimo Rosselli (the first to create the scenes in the frescoes, with theAdoration of the Shepherds from about 1460-1462 and the Vocation of Saint Philip Benizi from about 1475-1476, respectively), Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino, their master Andrea del Sarto, and Franciabigio worked there. The name comes from the ex-votos to the Virgin Annunciate that were once donated and displayed right here.

Photo credit Wikimedia Commons

Florence: restoration of the Chiostrino dei Voti in the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata completed

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