Museo Stibbert & Giovanna Ferragamo - Bianca Minuto

Museo Stibbert & Giovanna Ferragamo - Bianca Minuto    

The Stibbert Museum has been my favorite attraction in all of Florence so far. I was beyond impressed by the extensive collection and the broad range of works and origins. It was truly a collection that stretched all over the world. As I waited for my tour I began to wonder what the rest of this massive estate would hold. I perused the photographs lining the hallway and waited for my “tour guide” to arrive. She entered and began our journey throughout the maze of rooms ornamented with precious pieces from across the globe. She led us into a large red room with a gorgeous sparkling chandelier and asked that we not take photos.

This disappointed me because I was shocked by the incredible portraits that lined the walls and not only was I unable to ask questions, but I could not take pictures either. That is probably what I disliked most about this museum. There was a lack of guidance or knowledge about the works. I thought of many questions, both fashion or art related that I was unable to have answered. I feel like the lack of information about the work really put a gap in my experience. 

However, I was still amazed by the immensity of Stibbert’s pride and joy, his worldly collection. The rooms ranged from European inspired to Islamic to Japanese. More specifically, they were decorated in baroque, international gothic, and many more styles. Yet, despite their differences there is a definite connection between the rooms that allows them to flow together. 

One thing that surprises me was the countless equestrian statues, many of which were created in ways that I had never before seen deployed for these monuments. Some were adorned with feathers, fabrics, and life-like, possibly even real, hair. Yet most were smaller than previous statues I have seen. Perhaps because most were not mounted at a high location, they were created to appear more realistic in size. 

There were many unique attributes of this residence. Some rooms had stain glass windows. Some had stain glass doors. Some walls were adorned with painted leather.

As for the garment part of this tour, there were many garments both integrated into the works as well as seen in the Giovanna Ferragamo Collection. 

Firstly, the countless pieces of armor created incredible insight into the detailed decoration of garments used for protection. They were often elaborately decorated with gold, engraving, velvet, and leather. I was surprised because I did not realize that the style of these uniforms were so important. Perhaps these were armor of important knights or maybe they were rather for fashion as opposed to protection.

Furthermore, I really enjoyed seeing the pieces from the Giovanna Ferragamo exhibit. There I saw a lot of structure, but range of styles. From a long flowing bright colored gown to a variety of a black and white classic day dress, Ferragamo exudes beauty and style. Her looks are put together and conservative in some ways, but still stylish and cutting edge in other ways. She broke boundaries by creating a wide range of different body altering styles. She made Ferragamo wearable for any woman, well who could afford it. Part of what made this collection a success is that it speaks for the Ferragamo name, one of class and one of the classics.