Alternative Florentine Itinerary: The Museum at Palazzo Davanzati, The Lace Rooms

The menswear shows closed yesterday in London and the scene now moves onto Florence where the Pitti Uomo/Donna tradeshows are currently opening. A good way to fashionably distracting yourself in between the various appointments and events in Florence is going to visit the various museums and galleries in town. Among the others there is the Museum at Palazzo Davanzati, famous for its paintings, tapestries, pieces of furniture and lace collections. Last December the lace and embroidery rooms finally reopened after the extreme hail storm that hit Florence last September, damaging many historical sites.

Though Palazzo Davanzati had managed to reopen soon after the storm, some paintings from the 1600s-1700s and bits and pieces of textiles in the lace rooms were badly damaged. After months spent on restoring the paintings (Circle of Sofonisba Anguissola, Portrait of boy and his dog; Giovanna Fratellini's portraits of Cecilia Pazzi as a child, Elisabetta Bentivogli Tempi and Beatrice Violante di Baviera; Florentine School,16th century, Portrait of a Lady) and over 50 lace and embroidered pieces (including christening robes and accessories, handkerchiefs, ruffles and decorative elements for headdresses), the rooms can now be visited once again.

The works on display entered the collection at the end of the 1970s; the number of pieces included in the collection increased after acquisitions and donations (the most famous one was done by Giorgio Calligaris, last heir of the famous Italian lace manufacturer Navone) and, as the years passed, this section became the most important one of the entire Museum at Palazzo Davanzati.

Through the rooms it is possible to learn more about the history of lace (with a special focus on needle and bobbin lace) from the 16th century on.

While the rooms also feature looms, spinning wheels, shuttles, and spindles to understand a bit better the various lace techniques, the best pieces in these spaces are the ones preserved in the extractable drawers.

Visitors will be able to discover inside them Italian, French and Flemish lace and bobbin lace pieces from the 16th and 19th centuries, embroidered handkerchiefs and childrenswear from the 19th and 20th centuries, and linen samplers (17th-19th century) made by young schoolgirls learning the art of lace.

Among the fancier pieces, visitors will find christening robes and bonnets from Spain characterised by coloured paper inserts, ribbons and glass beads, and they will be surprised by the modernity of some Renaissance paintings.

Indeed, while looking at the portrait of Emilia Spinelli (1599-1608), quite a few fashionistas will definitely wonder if they are looking at a Renaissance lady or at a model on a Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld runway.