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...and how they came to be public treasures Family Heirlooms
[Maddalena Delli]
On February 17th, Florence pays a heartfelt tribute to a special benefactress. Although few people know, it's thanks to a bold act of love for the city that Florence has inherited the precious Medici properties that now make it the world capital of the arts. The heroine in question is the Palatine Electress Anna Maria Ludovica de' Medici, known as "the last of the Medicis", who could not bear the thought of Tuscany passing to the Austrian rule of the Lorraine dynasty on her death. So she wrote a detailed will and bequeathed all her family's priceless art collections to the city.If you wish to grasp even just a fraction of what her bequest implied, head for Palazzo Pitti, where until the end of May the Palatine Gallery hosts an exhibition called Palazzo Pitti. The Royal Palace Revealed. If with the Uffizi gallery the Medici more or less "invented" museums; if Vasari with his "Lives of the artists" invented art criticism; well, then Cosimo I "invented" royal palaces when he had Palazzo Pitti built for his family (and not bad for a home, uh? look at the gardens!). From St. Petersburgh to Vienna, from Paris to Madrid, all the later royal palaces followed this prototype.
Palazzo Pitti now contains more individual museums than most cities in the world can even dream; and think that virtually all the pieces on display in these museums were part of Maria Luisa's legacy! Next door to the Palatine Gallery in the Museo degli Argenti (Silver Museum) another delightful exhibition (until February 2nd) displays three centuries of Medici jewellery produced by leading artists and unknown craftspeople. The same applies: they are mostly treasures that Florence has through the Palatine Electress. So, no wonder the city has erected her a monument outside the church of San Lorenzo by the Medici Chapels - where she rests alongside the other great members of her outstanding family - and city officials solemnly bring a garland of flowers to the foot of her statue on the anniversary of her death each year!
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http://www.palazzopitti.it