October 22nd, 2015 – Montelupo (Florence), at the new headquarters of the Archaeological Group (via Gramsci, 67), hosts tomorrow an international conference on “The ceramics of Montelupo in museums around the world,” sponsored by the Montelupo Museum Foundation. The event looks at the Italian and foreign collections, in which there are Montelupo majolica and the reasons for its widespread use. Ceramic objects made in Montelupo are present in more than 50 Italian museums, including the Museum of the Bargello, the Uffizi, and the Crypta Balbi in Rome. And some are exhibited in museums and collections in Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, England, Holland, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Spain, USA, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland. Among the foreign museums, just to name the most famous, the ceramics of Montelupo can be found at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the Louvre in Paris, the Kunstgewerbemuseum SM PK in Berlin, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. A list that testifies to the widespread distribution that Montelupo ceramic has had over the centuries. But how did these ceramics reach such far away places? The answer to this question is a fascinating story that will be in part answered within the conference. Many will be the topics and curiosities discussed, such as the fact that the spread of Montelupo ceramic is partly related to the cultural phenomenon of the Grand Tour, which saw Italy as a coveted destination for the long journeys undertaken by the young members of the ruling classes across Europe. Drawn from the artifacts of Ancient civilizations and the Renaissance, these cultured “travelers” fell in love with glittering Italian majolica, especially the stained variations on which were depicted biblical episodes and the best known “facts” of the history of Rome. (Red)
