The 17th-century Palazzo Marucelli Fenzi (via San Gallo 10), usually closed to the public, opens its doors on occasion of the exhibition “Arti in dialogo. Echi tardo barocchi nelle sculture del Museo Ginori”, allowing visitors to admire the extraordinary painting cycle by Sebastiano Ricci, leader of the first Italian and European Rococò.
His paintings and frescoes with mythological subject, enriched by Baratta'stuccos, decorate the monumental hall of the ground floor. The sculptures on display are mainly ancient Ginori porcelains and models (in terracotta or wax, drawn from works by artists of the late Florentine Baroque) used for the mass production of the famous Richard Ginori manufacture of Doccia (Sesto Fiorentino): sculptures ideally dialoguing with the painting decoration of the Hall.
The building, designed in the 17th century with 18th-19th century transformations, belonged to the Marucelli (the family who gave its name to the famous Marucelliana Library, still existing and located in via Cavour ) and later to Emanuele Fenzi, the main financier of the Leopolda Railway, the ancient railway line (inaugurated in 1848 during the era of the Lorraine Grand Duke Leopold II), connecting Florence with Pisa and Livorno: this explains the presence of a locomotive carved over the front door.
For reservations (regular opening from January 10th every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3 to 7pm with guided tours every 45 minutes), please contact the Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Art and Entertainment of the University of Florence, to the email address: mostra.fenzi@gmail.com
