Since 2013, Friends of Florence (FoF) has retained Bow Bridge to help build its profile in the media outside Italy by heightening awareness of its conservation projects and activities. Recent projects include Michelangelo’s Pietà housed in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo; Michelangelo’s Madonna of the Stairs and Battle of the Centaurs, Casa Buonarroti; Verrocchio’s Putto with a Dolphin and Juno Terrace, Palazzo Vecchio; Gionanni Maria Butteri’s Coronation of the Virgin with St. Helen and St. Mary Magdalen, Basilica of Santo Spirito; Chapel of St. Luke in the Convent of Santissima Annunziata; and Rosso Fiorentino’s Deposition, Pinacoteca Civica Museum in Volterra. In addition to supporting ongoing conservation oversight for Michelangelo’s David and Prisoners (or Slaves) in the Galleria dell’Accademia, FoF’s maintenance programs continue with the “adoption” of the Cloister of Vows in SS Annunziata and the High Altar in San Miniato a Monte and presentation of the National Archeological Museum’s Medici and Lorraine Gem Collection now on view for the first time.
Top Photograph: Cloister of the Vows, Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, Florence, Italy (after restoration 2013-17). Courtesy Friends of Florence Inset Photograph: Pontormo (Jacopo Carucci; Pontorme, Empoli 1494‒Florence 1557). Deposition, 1525‒8. Tempera on panel, 313 x 192 cm. Church of Santa Felicita, Florence, Italy. After restoration in 2017 with support from Friends of Florence. Photograph by Antonio Quattrone