Artigianato e Palazzo: for the sake of Russian legacy preservation

– How did the idea of the Artigianato e Palazzo Festival come up?

– When Princess Corsini family came back to Florence in the 19th century, they bought this villa. Being a piece of art itself, the villa required restoration, which was performed by true craftsmen. They have still maintained this rich and gorgeous heritage.

On the other hand, I graduated with a degree in industrial design and communicated with craftsmen on implementation of my own projects. At some point, our two initiatives coincided, and we decided to establish this charity project.

– The Festival is always held it the Corsini Gardens, isn’t it?

– Yes, it is. It is so wonderful that once a year Princess Corsini and her family provide their magical garden for the Festival, which ideally “frames” the arts and crafts legacy presented by talented artists and craftsmen.

We always emphasize that our exhibition is dedicated not so much to works of the arts and crafts, but rather to artists and craftsmen themselves: visitors can observe how this or that thing is created in real time. The idea is that people are able to see not just the result - the item, but the whole process of its creation, and, of course, so they could acquire something their hearts are set on.

– Your exhibition embodies certain contrast induced by modern art as well. Does it also contribute into preservation of Florentine and, this year, Russian-Florentine cultural legacy?

– When we decided to raise funds for charity at each festival, we invited artists who would create new objects of art based on one or another relevant topic.

For instance, last year we managed to open the Museum of Porcelain of the Richard Ginori factory, which had been closed for a long time due to lack of funds. This museum is unique; there is a collection of porcelain produced by Manifattura Ginori starting from the 18th century. Having in mind the principle that opposites attract, we proposed Duccio Maria Gambi, a sculptor who works with cement, to create objects combining two opposing materials - cement and porcelain. That is, to combine the rough, heavy, hard material and the light, gentle, fragile one. Duccio created 20 amazing pieces, which we sold at the Salone del Mobile in Milan and the Nomad di Montecarlo Show Room in Munich. We invested 50 thousand euros in the Ginori Museum, which is now open to the public.

– This year the Festival is devoted to Russian legacy in Florence. Could you please tell more about it?

– This year we have announced the new mission – charity fundraising for time-critical restoration and preservation of the great cultural and artistic legacy of Russian community that resided in Florence in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Having consulted with Natalia Parenko, the director of the Florentine branch of the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, we invited Riccardo Prosperi, aka Simafra, a Florentine artist. He created concentric globes of different diameters from minerals mined in the Ural mines, such as gold, malachite, diamonds, coal. They represent the so-called "geological eras." And all these precious layers are associated with the traditional image of the Russian Matryoshka doll, which, in its turn, is associated with the image of a mother. A series of 10 compositions by Simafra is called Madre Terra (Mother Earth).

In the end of the 19th century, the Russian community permanently residing in Florence engaged Italian craftsmen to build the Orthodox church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker designed by Mikhail Preobrazhensky, a Russian architect. While frescoes and icons were made by Russian artists, Italian craftsmen performed masonry, carvings and majolica. The scaled ceramic dome was made of materials supplied by the factory of Ulysses Cantagalli, the famous Florentine ceramist. The foundry works were performed by Giovanni Michelucci. The double portal leading to upper church was decorated with walnut wood depicting the Old Testament stories; it was made by Rinaldo Barbetti, one of the most renowned woodcarvers in the middle of the 19th century. The church is amazingly beautiful both inside and outside, but now it is in dire need of restoration, and we hope to raise funds for such works.

– Princess Corsini, I would like to ask you a question about those very Russian families that moved to Florence in the early 19th century, as well as those that followed them.

– In the 1800s, several noble Russian families came here. Unfortunately, there are almost no any offspring of theirs today. They were extremely attracted by local beauty and, of course, art, which could be seen and studied in the original. Those people came for a long time, so they acquired or built new villas and houses. It was important for them to live in the cradle of the Renaissance being surrounded by beauty. Those people of the first immigration wave were buried here.

– I would like to add that our charitable mission includes another very important project - the Cimitero Evangelico agli Allori (the Evangelical Cemetery at Laurels), where the remains of artists, sculptors, writers and collectors of art repose. Those include many of the very Russians who settled in Florence two centuries ago. In particular, Vladimir Levitskiy, an Archpriest who initiated construction of the Russian Church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Nicholas, was buried there. Not only the graves are in a poor condition, but also the cemetery itself, since the land has partially sunk in on the hill where it is located. We are actively looking for people who would like to help preserve the memory of their ancestors and the Russian mark in Italian culture.