because it was a monday, i got a two museums for the price of one. otherwise, i probably wouldn't... read more
because it was a monday, i got a two museums for the price of one. otherwise, i probably wouldn't... read more
Visiting times are not easy as this Cenacolo is run by a Foundation but try to visit as although... read more
This is a little museum in what was once the refectory of the Chiesa Santo Spirito in Florence.
The building suffered a lot of WW2 war damage – and the second oldest fresco in my knowledge of the chronology of Last Suppers in Florence, which was frescoed between 1343- 1355 by Andrea Orcagna - was almost totally destroyed by a pile of unused trams that had been piled up against the alter wall - but the remains are still interesting to see in relation to how the style developed from the stiff Byzantine to the lively denials of Andrea del Sarto to be found in the Cenacolo of San Salvi.
At the end of the war the room was turned into museum, and now houses the Salvatore Romano ( obviously no relation to the MadMen!) collection. This original Salvatore Romano was born in 1875 in Sorrento, near Naples.His ever-increasing interest in art objects developed into a passion for investing in violins, and then other art-works to the extent that he became a renowned antique dealer – and sellers sought him out as a purchaser.
There was already a thriving and irresistible trade in artefacts in Florence so he followed the trail of the expats and moved his business to the city the early 1920′s.where he found a central base to maintain his repository of articles. As well as his passion for violins he seems to have liked cats as large and small felines - including sea-lions - of pre-Roman as well as Renaissance provenance can be seen in this small museum.
Salvatore donated all these treasures to Santo Spirito to before his death on the understanding that he himself would be entombed in a sarcophagus which stands at the back of the refectory – and thus, like an Egyptian God – he would never be parted from his precious collection.
Well worth the €3 entry for the ruined Last Supper alone - open Saturdays 12-4pm