Past Events
Michelangelo's Legacy and The Medici in Late Renaissance Florence
The Italian Heritage Society presents Michelangelo's Legacy and The Medici in Late Renaissance Florence by Alan P Darr, Exhibition Project Director and Walter B. Ford II Family Curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts.
Wednesday, 26 February 2003
The Influence of Michelangelo and the Medici in Late Renaissance Florence Presented to Inaugurate and Celebrate the Exhibition.
The Medici family ruled Florence for over three centuries and ranks among Italy\'s most famous and influential families. Magnificenza! The Medici, Michelangelo and the Art of Late Renaissance Florence is the first exhibition ever in North America to examine the cultural achievements of the first four Medici grand dukes of Tuscany during the period from 1537 to 1631. It also explores their relationship with Michelangelo and his extraordinary artistic legacy to Florentine art during this period.
This exceptional exhibition features some 180 masterpieces of the Late Renaissance period and includes a rich and beautiful selection of paintings, sculptures and graphic and decorative arts - including porcelain, carved semi precious hard stones, tapestries and armor.
Many of these objects have never traveled outside Italy, including the life -sized Michelangelo sculpture of Apollo/ David, and they number among the greatest works from the collections of Florence\'s famed Uffizi Gallery, Bargello Museum and Palazzo Pitti. Works illustrate how the Medici commissioned local and international artists to build the family\'s power and prestige - and how they created a dynastic,image that rivaled the great European courts of their time and made Florence into a European center of artistic innovation and excellence.
Sponsors
- Italian Heitage Society
- Department of Romance Languages & Literatures Wayne State University
Participating Organizations
- Italian American Professional and Business Women\'s Club (AMIT)
- The Art Center in Mount Clemens
- Circolo de Medici
- Club Pacentro
- CIub Trappeto
- Com.lt.Es.
- Conca D\'Oro Club
- Coro Ital iano (IACS)
- C.G.I.E.
- Federation Abruzzese del Michigan
- Italian American Bar Association of Michigan
- Italian American Club of Livonia
- Italian American Cultural Society
- Italian American Delegates
- Italian Study Group of Troy
- Italian Tribune Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA)
- New Era Lodge 336
- Societa Dante Alighieri
- Venitian Club
The exhibit was organized by The Detroit Institute of Arts, the Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino, and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence, Italy, with the close collaboration of The Art Institute of Chicago and the Firenze Mostre, Florence. The exhibition was made,possible by the Bank One. Additional funding was received from the National Endowment for the Humanities; the DeRoy Testamentary Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; and an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The Ente Cassa di RisPilrmio, Florence, provided support and generous fUnding for the exhibition in the United States and Italy. In Detroit the exhibition was supported in part by the Italian Consul General; the Instituto Italiano di Cultura in Chicago; the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the City of Detroit.
