iMuseo Stefano BardiniOltrarno
Officina Bardini. Trame rivelate
Over fifty textiles, carpets, tapestries and historical garments from the Bardini heritage, in five sections, third chapter of the Officina Bardini series.
More in Florence
In 1900 Stefano Bardini's tapestry workshop had twenty-three women on its books, many very young, and a year later it closed. Their letters, rules and requests for money are on show here, beside the tapestries, carpets and silks the Bardini family bought, sold, restored and wore.
Over fifty works from the Bardini heritage, some never shown before, fill five sections across the ground and first floors. You start in the family's wardrobe: pieces of Emma Bardini's clothes and cork-soled Salvatore Ferragamo sandals, shown with their receipts. Ferragamo still sells shoes across the Arno on Via de' Tornabuoni; only here do you get the paperwork too.
Much of the story is told through inventories, numbered tags and letters, so it suits visitors who like provenance as much as cloth. Entry is €10, €7 for ages 18 to 25 and students, free under 18. Open Monday and Friday to Sunday, 11:00 to 17:00; guided visits run Fridays at 14:00 and 15:30, Saturdays at 11:00 and 12:30.
Look for
Emma Bardini's Ferragamo sandals
Look for a pair of cork-soled Salvatore Ferragamo sandals from Emma's wardrobe, displayed next to the receipts for them.
The rebuilt Stanza delle stoffe case
A display case from the fabric room Ugo Bardini set up at Palazzo Mozzi, refilled with its original velvets, damasks and lampas using photographs from the 1970s.
Mille-fleurs chairs from Cerreto Guidi
A pair of chairs upholstered in mille-fleurs tapestry, lent by the Medici villa at Cerreto Guidi, shows how Bardini reused old weaving on furniture.
Fragments with their sale tags
Textile fragments still carry Bardini's numbered tags, shown beside the photo album Collection Bardini, Étoffes anciennes he used to sell to distant clients.
Four centuries of clothes
The last section has an embroidered 16th-century linen woman's shirt, a 17th-century bodice in Genoese velvet and an 18th-century man's coat with matching waistcoat.
Good for
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
With kids
Under-18s go free. The museum's children's activities, such as Collezionare storie con Stefano Bardini for ages 7 to 12, run separately and aren't tied to this show.
Also at Museo Stefano Bardini
On now nearby
At Palazzo Pitti the 20th century showcased in 40 dreamlike dresses: the new arrangement at the museum of Costume and Fashion
Uffizi Gallery
iAt the Pitti Palace: The "Very Best" of the King's Furniture
Uffizi Gallery
iFerdinando Sarmi New York: A Journey Through Fashion from Florence to Fifth Avenue
Uffizi Gallery
Nearby
Image credits
8
- Officina Bardini. Trame rivelateCourtesy of Museo Stefano Bardini
- At the Pitti Palace: The "Very Best" of the King's FurnitureCourtesy of Uffizi Gallery
- Ferdinando Sarmi New York: A Journey Through Fashion from Florence to Fifth AvenueCourtesy of Uffizi Gallery
- Museo Stefano BardiniFrancesco Bini / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Villa Bardinisailko / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo GalileoEbonaiuti / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Uffizi GalleryArek N. (Arkadiusz Nanowski), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Vasari CorridorFreepenguin, CC BY-SA 3.0