Pontormo's Visitation transferred to Poggio a Caiano

Pontormo ’s Visitation and other works housed in the church of San Michele Arcangelo in Carmignano (Prato), which is currently uninhabitable, will be moved to Poggio a Caiano, to two locations selected by the Diocese of Pistoia and the Superintendency. Preliminary operations for the move have begun, with transport scheduled for Sept. 10 and 11. This transfer marks the beginning of their exhibition in Poggio a Caiano. Pontormo’s Visitation will be placed in the Hall of the Frieze of the Medici Villa, while the other altarpieces will find space in the Hall of the Joust of the Municipality of Poggio a Caiano. This, then, is the solution eventually found by the Diocese and the Superintendency, when initially it was thought that the works would be transferred to the Museum of Palazzo Pretorio in Prato.

The arrival of the Visitation at the Villa will allow technicians from the Regional Directorate of National Museums Tuscany and the new autonomous institute of Florentine Villas and Monumental Residences to examine the work and prepare the protective case necessary to ensure its preservation. Until now, the work had been kept in the Church of Carmignano for security reasons.

Once the reliquary is completed, which will protect the work both physically and microclimatically, the Visitation will be displayed in the Sala del Fregio, next to the famous glazed terracotta attributed to Bertoldo and in the vicinity of the Leone X hall, where another Pontormo masterpiece, the fresco with Vertumno and Pomona from 1520-21, is kept.

At the same time, in the Sala della Giostra of the Municipality of Poggio a Caiano, the church’s altarpieces will be on display: the Madonna del Carmine and Saints (Giovanni Pietro Naldini), the Saints also by Giovanni Pietro Naldini, theAnnunciation and the Nativity of Jesus by the Florentine ambit, the Madonna of the Rosary by Cosimo Lotti and theEcstasy of St. Francis by Cigoli.

Pending the official opening, scheduled for the end of September, the Sala della Giostra will be accessible to the public during the evenings of the Siege of the Villa (Sept. 13, 14, 15). In the meantime, the Medici Villa, as usual open to the public, is preparing to present the new layout of the Sala del Fregio.

Pontormo's Visitation transferred to Poggio a Caiano

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